Research Notes & Special Studies by the Historian's Office

The SSA Historian's Office receives many requests for research assistance on topics related to the history of Social Security. A few of these requests are frequent enough that it is worthwhile to summarize the answers for broader use. These frequent research topics are addressed in a set of brief Research Notes and longer Special Studies.

Research Notes
Research Note #1	Origins of the "Three-Legged Stool" Metaphor
Research Note #2	The History & Development of the Lump Sum Death Benefit
Research Note #3	Detail of Ida May Fuller's Payroll Tax Contributions
Research Note #4	Inter-Fund Borrowing Among the Trust Funds
Research Note #5	Locations Involving Early Social Security History
Research Note #6	Early Automation Challenges for SSA
Research Note #7	Brief Legislative History of the Retirement Test
Research Note #8	The Special Role of the University of Wisconsin in the History of Social Security
Research Note #9	The Clark Amendment to the 1935 Social Security Act
Research Note #10	How the First Social Security Office Came to be in Austin, Texas
Research Note #11	The History of Social Security "Student" Benefits
Research Note #12	The Taxation of Social Security Benefits
Research Note #13	Listing of Social Security Advisory Councils & Commissions
Research Note #14	Key Data From Annual Trust Fund Reports
Research Note #15	The Roosevelt Administration's Proposal for Voluntary Annuities
Research Note #16	Summary of Major Benefits Under The Social Security Program
Research Note #17	The Townsend Plan's Pension Scheme
Research Note #18:	Social Security Legislation and Related Events During the Administration of President George H. W. Bush
Research Note #19:	Social Security Benefits as a Percentage of Total Federal Budget Expenditures
Research Note #20:	The Social Security Trust Funds and the Federal Budget
Research Note #21:	The Original Actuarial Projections for the Social Security Act of 1935
Research Note #22:	Locations of Signings of Social Security-Related Legislation
Research Note #23:	Luther Gulick Memorandum re: Famous FDR Quote
Research Note #24:	Origins of the term "Social Security"

Special Studies
Special Study #1	Abe Bortz Lecture on the History of Social Security (late 1970s)
Special Study #2	Professor Theron Schlabach's Book "Rationality and Welfare" (September 1969)
Special Study #3	Review of Biography of Wilbur Cohen (Spring 1996)
Special Study #4	Civilian War Benefits Program (1997)
Special Study #5	The 1937 Supreme Court Rulings on the Social Security Act (1999)
Special Study #6	John G. Winant: First Chairman of the Social Security Board (May 1999)
Special Study #7	The History and Development of the Social Security Retirement Earnings Test (August 1999)
Special Study #8	Foreign Social Security Developments Prior to the Social Security Act, by Lillian Liu (December 2001)