palmer thomas & parker
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University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of
Sociology.
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The Life Histories of W. I. Thomas and Robert E. ParkAuthor(s): Paul J. BakerSource: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 79, No. 2 (Sep., 1973), pp. 243-260Published by: University of Chicago Press
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The Life Histories of W. I. Thomas
and Robert E. Park
INTRODUCTION
Paul J. Baker
IllinoisState University
In
1927 LutherL. Bernardwrote o several minent ociologists
oncern-
ing his plans for cooperativeworkon the History f Sociology
n
the
United
States. He felt the need to bring together the facts regarding
thedevelopment f sociologyn each of the universitiesn whichthere
has been for ome ime n outstandingepartmentr chair n the subject.
Bernardwent on to write, Fortunately, lmost all of the founders f
these lder
departmentsre still ctively eaching nd it should
be
possible
for
them everally o tell the stories f the foundingnd developmentf
their
hairs r
departmentsirst
and. ' Hundreds f letterswere ent
to
sociologistshroughouthe UnitedStates asking hem o provide
nforma-
tionregardingheir areers nd the history f sociologyn the nstitutions
withwhich heyhad beenaffiliated.ach sociologistwas asked to write
his lifehistory
n
narrative orm; n addition 16-point utlinewas pro-
vided
to offer
frameworkor he autobiographicaltatement. he outline
included uch items s educationalbackground, ccupations efore nd
after
nteringociology, arious nfluentialeachers n sociology nd other
fields, ther significantntellectual nfluences, arious researchprojects
conducted,
nd
any other nfluences,ocational, rofessional,ndividual,
general, olitical, ocial,economic, tc.,whichhave helpedto mouldyour
career s
a
sociologist,iving he details. 2
W. I. Thomas and RobertPark, along with256 othersociologists,3
responded o Bernard's uery; however, he autobiographiesnd depart-
mentalhistories
were neverpublished.
uther
Bernard'swife,Jessie,
x-
plainsherhusband's nfinished ork: Once gathered, e seemed atisfied.
There would always be time to assemble nd edit
them
forpublication.
Further, therconcerns ngaged good
deal of his time
and
the
sheer
physical
abor
nvolved
n
processinghe mass
of
material orpresentation
to
the
professioneemed verwhelming. 4
1
Letter to Harry E. Barnes, April 11, 1927, Luther L. Bernard Papers, Box 3, Penn-
sylvania Historical Collections,Pennsylvania State University.
2
Suggested Outline for Data, Luther L. Bernard Papers, Box 3, PennsylvaniaHis-
torical Collections,PennsylvaniaState University.
3
The
autobiographies
nd
departmentalhistories re located in Special Collections,
RegensteinLibrary, University
f
Chicago,
and
Pennsylvania Historical Collections,
Pennsylvania tate University.
4
Personal etter o author,November 6, 1972.
AJS Volume
79 Number
2 243
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American
Journal f
Sociology
Careful study of
the entirecollection f
autobiographies rovides
worthwhileontext
for assessingthe significancef
Thomas and Park
during he first uarter f the 20thcentury. n comparisonwith many
of
Thomas's ndPark's contemporaries
ho responded o
Bernard's ues-
tionnaire,t is striking o observe hat
both men came
to sociologywith
littleor no interest
n many of the
intellectualssuesprevalent n the
sociological hought
f their ime.
Neither cholarwas ever preoccupied
with
the heateddisputeswhich
engaged early figures
uch as Sumner,
Ward, Giddings, r Small. Thomas
makes his own case
for marginality
to
early sociological
hought uite explicit n his
autobiography, hile
Park neverhad occasionto be exposed
to the early
debates of academic
sociologyn the United States. Their unconcern orthe grand theories
of
academic ociology
as linkedwith long-standing
nterestn empirical
observation. houghtheyhad quite
differentareer
patterns, oth men
developed keen
sense for theordinary ffairs f
people. This observa-
tional
sense
was
also grounded n a sharp awareness
of cross-cultural
differences.
The mutual espect ark and
Thomas mmediately
eld for ach other
was
based
n
part upontheir ommon
isdain
for
onventional
ociological
issues and their ommon nterest n directobservation. hese men pro-
vided an
importantntellectual
timulus or sociology raduate tudents
who
were
weary
f
the
debates
over
Social Darwinism,
he Social
Gospel,
and
the virtues f
progressive ocial
work. Numerous ociologistswho
studied
t
Chicago
during he
latter
years
of
the progressivera
made
special
referenceo
therefreshing
erspective
hese
men
ointly
offered.
In
contrast
o
many
of
the
founders f
American
ociology,
ark and
Thomaswere mong
hefirst osuccessfullyngage
n
significant
ollabora-
tive
endeavors.While
the 1927
survey y
Bernard
notes
that
many
other
sociologistsweremore nfluentialhroughouthe professionhan either
Park
or
Thomas,theseother
ociologists-Cooley,Giddings,
nd Ross-
were
ll isolated
figures
ho
were
not
collaborating
ith
other
olleagues
of similar tature r intellectualnclination.
lthough
homas and
Park
were
not thefirst
ociologists
o offer
raduate
tudents n
opportunity
or
fieldwork,
heirmutual
ntellectual
upport
or
one
another
rought
ew
enthusiasm
nd
interest
n
fieldwork
tudy
or ts ownsake.
Examining
he
life histories
f a number
f
Chicago
graduate
tudents
efore
nd
after
theThomas-Park
eriod
learly
eveals
significant
ransition
rom
hilo-
sophicaldisputesand reformistctivities o less grandiose heory nd
empirical
bservation.
ndeed,
t
s no
exaggeration
o
suggest
hat
Thomas's
excursion o
Tuskegee
to meet Booker T.
Washington
was one of the
importanturning
oints
n
the history
f American
ociology.
244
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W.
P.
THOMAS
January
10th
333
EAST
41ST
STREET
1
9 2 8
NEW
YORK
Dear
Bernard-
I
am
sending
you
the revised
sketchi.
The
additions
begin
on
page
7
and
end
the
middle
of
7a. I
have
also added
some
names
at
the
top
of
pae
7
and
imade
some
verbal
changes. On
page 3
is the
namne
Zupitza.
I
asked
you
to
inake
a
change
in
this
spell-
ing and
probably
made a
wrong
change
myself
under the influence of Polish spelling. The
name is
all
right
as it
starnds
on here.
You
will
notice
that
I
have added
the
names
of
Mead and
Cooley
to
thos-e
who
influenced
me.
I have
preferred to
say
nothing
about
Dewey.
When
he camae
to
the
University
I
was
already
offering
a
course
in
Social
Origins.
I gave
him
materials
used in
his
address as
President of
the
Philosophical Society about that
time and
it would be more correct to say that he
came
under
my
influence
than that
I came
under
his.
It is
true
that I was
interested
in
his
thought and
certainly
attermpted to
use
some
of
it
in
my
classes, but
Dewey has
always
seemed
to me to be
essentially
a
mystic and a
rmietaphysician and
I found
-
or
thought
I found
-
that
I
was
repudiating
almost
everything
he
said,
or
ignoring it.
It may
be,
nevertheless,
that
he had more
/4e
5?
f
of
c2f
influence
on me
than
I
remember.,
i
am
saying
this to you by way of explanation and as a
private
matter.
Please
keep
the
copy
I
am
now
sending
and return
the
copy
you
now
have.
Sincerely
yours,
Encl
osure
245
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LIFE
HISTORY
W. I. Thomas'
When t is
suggested
o me
that
reviewmypast
for
ociological
urposes
thispast seemsveryremote
o me. The changes
n ways of life have re-
cently
been so great as to separate ll of us
from ur early years pro-
foundly, nd in my case this separation eems to
be the moreprofound
because
I was born n an isolatedregion f old
Virginia, 0 miles
from
therailroad, n a social
environmentesembling
hat of the 18thcentury,
and I consequently eelthatI have lived in threecenturies,migrating
gradually oward hehigher
ultural reas. The fact hat reached
iviliza-
tion
at all
is evidently ue
to some obscuredecisionon the part
of
my
father
o attendan
institutionf
learning-Emory nd HenryCollege,
Virginia.
n
thisdecision eprovoked certain
mount f resentmentrom
his own
father, Pennsylvania utchman, ich n
land but with
peasant
attitudes.My father's
atrimonywas consequently iminished,nd
he
found
himself n a less
desirablegeographical ituation.
Nevertheless,
disturbedy the factthat
his sevenchildren ad
no adequateeducational
opportunities,e movedwith
his family o
Knoxville, ennessee, heseat
of the
state university.My
own childhoodwas of a strictly
manual,
perceptual-motorype,
taking he direction f
rifle hooting,whichwas
the
sport f themountain
eople.My zeal for his
was fanatical. reckon
that
passed not less than
seven years of myyouth n the woods
alone
with
rifle, ithout dog,
hootingt
a
mark, egrettinghedisappearance
of
arge
game nd thepassing f the ndian and of
pioneer ife.
Cultural
deals
established hemselves
n me
slowly.
For
the first
wo
years n theso-calleduniversity was indifferento learning, ut at the
end
of the
second year
I
had come
under
two decided nfluences-two
definitionsf the situation-one
n
terms f
Greek ulture
nd
the
other
in
terms
f
natural istory,s it
was
then
alled.
Eben
Alexander, rofessor
of
Greek, Yale man, fterward
inister o
Greece, nd whose
ommuni-
cationswith he Greekgovernment
ere lways
n
the
modern
Greek
an-
guage, nd who
was
later
president f the
University
f
North
Carolina,2
made
a
profoundmpression
pon
me
as a
representativef culture nd
scholarship. rofessor
icholson, eaching oology,
eology,
nd the
other
natural ciences,was a discipleof CharlesDarwin, nd at the timethe
1
The
cover letterfrom
Thomas to
Bernard
(January 10,
1928),
as
well as the life
history f W. I.
Thomas, is
located in
the Luther L.
Bernard
Papers,Box 2,
Pennsyl-
vania
Historical
Collections,
Pennsylvania State
University.
2
Thomas is in
error
oncerning
lexander's
position
at
theUniversity
f
North Caro-
lina. He
was dean
of the
university ut
never
president.
246
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Life
Histories
f
Thomas and
Park
teaching
f
evolution
was
not
noticed
n
Tennessee ecause
no one
appre-
ciated ts
dangers.
I recallthaton a hotAugust ay in the summer acation, etween he
sophomore
nd
the
unior
years,
had
a conversion.
fter ome-for
that
period-profound
eflection
determinedhat
would
go
in for
cholar-
ship.
consequently
mmediately
ade
a
visit
to Professor
lexander
nd
unfoldedmy
ife
plan.
I
do not
knowwhether t that time
had
read
a
volume ntitledGerman
Universities
y
Professor
art,
but
I
remember
that
shortly
fter
my
conversion
planned
to
go
to
Germany.
Going
to
Germany
emained
omethingather
ague
at
the
time,
ut to
my
friends
who
enquired
s
to
myplans
for
future
areer
always
replied:
I
am
going o Germany.
I
am
rather
urprised
lso
when
reflect hat
at this
time
was
a
subscriber o
the
Nation
and
that
ordered
s
many
books,
particularly
German
ooks,from
New
York
mporters I
havesince
ordered
t
any
period
of
my
life.
This
was
due to
the
influence
f
Alexander,
who
was
doing
precisely
hat.
Also
the
character
f
my
visits
to
the Cumberland
and
Smoky
Mountains
hanged.
Formerly
hey had
been
hunting nd
shooting
xpeditions,
ut
now
collected
list of about 300
Chaucerian
and
Shakespereanwords urvivingn thespeechof themountaineers,
which
gave
ater,
n
Berlin, o
the
American
ialectologist,
eorge
Hempel.
After
graduation
taught,
n this
university,
reek,
Latin,
French,
German
nd
English-how
inadequately
maybe
judgedby
thefact
that
when
reached
Berlin
could
understand
ardlythe
simplestGerman
sentence.
had
been
taught
German
nd
French
without
onversation,
precisely
s
Latin
and
Greek
were
taught t
that
time.
The
influence
f
Nicholson
was
not at
thattime
s
much
felt.
evidently
ad
recognition
largely
n
mind,
nd the
Greek
culture
ppearedto
me
of
more
worth
than the biological ciences. n Berlinand Gottingen, owever, gave
myself
ver
o
the
tudy
fold
English,
ld
French,
ndold
German
nder
Zupitza,
Brandl,
nd
Tolman,
with
ectures
n
Greek
under
Willamowitz.
From
Germany
returned
o
Oberlin
College
as
professor
f
English,
but
gradually
evelopedmy
work
longthe
ine
of
comparative
iterature.
At
the
Universityf
Tennessee
had read
someof
the
reports
f
the
Bureau of
Ethnology.
t
Oberlin
first
ead
Herbert
pencer's
rinciples
of
Sociology
ttentively,
nd
perhaps
he
Nicholsonian
efinition
f
the
situation
eganat
this
point
to come
to
the
front.
his
was
confirmed,
as I remembert,by thereading fSpencer nd indicated t thattime n
my
tendencyo
makemy
teaching
f
literature
omparative.
he
three
years of
my
teaching
t
Oberlin
were,
retrospectively,
mongthe
most
satisfactoryf
my
ife.
was
notat
that
time
ufficiently
rreligious
o
be
completelyut of
place
and yet a
sufficient
nnovation o be
a
novelty.
Nevertheless,
ith
the
establishment
f the
University
f
Chicago,
the
247
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American
Journal
f Sociology
announcement
f attractive
ourses
n sociology
nd
anthropology,nd
driven ertainly
y the
desirefornew
experience,
wentto Chicago
to
takeup a new ine ofwork.The distinctiveeature fmy choiceof work
in Chicagowas
that
selectedwhat may
be called
marginal
ourses o
sociology-biology,
hysiology
with
Loeb), brainanatomy
withAdolf
Meyer,
whowas then
s farfrom
is present osition
s
I was frommine),
with no idea of habit formationnd
preponderant
ttention
o brain
structure.
In reflecting
n my
ife t this ime,
can think
f what regard
s four
merits: 1) I
never ecame nfluenced
y
philosophys offering
nexplana-
tionof reality. 2)
I
kept notes
of reading nd
classified
nd reclassified
materials o that
eventually
ad at hand,
with xact references,
ll that
interested e
n the iterature.
3)
I
read
argelynd in
marginal
ubjects
-biology,
psychology,
thnology
and acquired
habit
of rapidreading.
I
recognize hat
this
was morecuriosity
han
deliberatemethod.
4)
I
exploredhe ity.
his
was alsolargely
uriosity.
rememberhat
Professor
Henderson,f
saintedmemory,
equested
me toget
him bit
of informa-
tion
from
he saloons.
He said
thathe
had never
himself
ntered saloon
or tastedbeer.
On theotherhand, didnot write egularlyr systematically,nd my
teaching
was
unsystematicnd
negligent.Reverting
o the matterof
reading, was
about
40 yearsold before
assumed
a critical
ttitude
toward
ooks
nd opinions.
may magnify
he ncident,
ut at one
time
collectedll theavailable
German heses
n a certain
oint
nd after ead-
ing
them
concluded hat
they were
so extremely
anal
as
to
have
no
merit
xcept hefactthat
theywere n
a foreign
anguage.Extending
his
observation,
concluded
hat
a
great
deal of
literature as
no claim
to
merit
xcept hat t appears
n print nd
that
we are toomuch
mpressed
by the printed age. It was in thisconnectionhat developed hehabit
of
inspecting
ather
han
reading,
ut
inspecting
great
mount,
ll
the
related
fields-anthropology,
iology, gyptology,
ssyriology,
iterature,
history, iography-with
auses
in the oases.
I
have
no doubt
that
this
also was
a
gratification
f
the desire
fornew
experience,
ut
I think t
is
true
hat
no book
deserves
complete
eading.
t is
possible
o
acquire
technique
or
eparating
he
wheat
from he chaff
which
will enable
the
student
o
be
sufficiently
ttentive
o what s
going
n in thefields
marginal
to his
own. t is,
in
fact,
n
thismarginal egion,
where ciencesmeet
nd
integrate,
hat
productive
deas
are most
ikely
o arise.
In
1896,
immediately
fter
receiving
he
doctor's
degree,
made
a
trip
o
Europe,
out
of
curiosity.
wanted
o
see
more
people
n different
groups,
nd
I
went s
far
as
the
Volga.
At
thistime
my
mind
was
visited
by
the
dea
of
a
comparative
tudy
of
European
nationalities,
ut
I
was
248
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Life Histories f Thomas and Park
not mature nough o elaborate method or resourcefulnough
o
seek
support.
Up to about 1909 I was not,as I remembert,a thoughtful erson.
I was exploratory,
ut by this ime
had matured omewhatnd
returned
to
the dea of a study f European ackgrounds. thenmade a
representa-
tionof
thiskind to a friend, ecuredfunds, nd wentto Europe
forthe
purpose f studying easant backgrounds ith referenceo the problem
of
immigration.his venturewas also exploratory, wanderlust t first,
but theengagemento get results, he problems rising, nd the control f
thewhole ituation ontributedo makeme more thoughtful.
I
do not feelthat have been greatlynfluencedy any of my teachers
ofsociology.My interests,s I have indicated, ere n the marginal ields
and not n sociology s it was organized t the time, hat s, the historical
and methodologicalpproach f Professor mall and the remedial nd the
correctionalnterests f ProfessorHenderson.But
about
the year 1910
I
received letter rom ookerWashington hich esultedn an important
influence. r. Washington rote nvitingme to participaten a conference
where
Negroes
from
1
countries
ere
o
be
present.
e
further
ent nto
an
analysisof my printedworks,disclosing he fact that
he had read
everything had written nd offeringome criticismsnd appreciations.
As a result attended heconferencet Tuskegee nd discoveredhat
this
letterwas not written y Mr. Washington t all but by a whiteman,
Robert E. Park. This was the beginning
f
a very ong
and
profitable
association.
ark
was not only ruminating
ll of
the time but imposing
his ruminationsn me, with ventualgreatprofit o myself.
Anothermportantompanionate elationwas the one establishedwith
the
brilliant olishphilosopher,ow sociologist, lorianZnaniecki,n our
association or iveyears n thework n The Polish Peasant. Both of these
menbrought erydifferenttandpointsnd interests hich ertainlyeft
a
residuumn myown thinking. was also influencedy Cooley, he work
of
Watson nd
the
nimal
sychologists,
nd
by
thewritings
f
Franz Boas.
I
have
now
ivedto thepoint
where
my
most
timulating
ontacts re with
the
younger ociologists,
uch as
Bernard,Burgess,Thrasher, orbaugh,
and
Shaw, ome
of
whom ave been mypupils.
It is certainly misapprehensionf thetruth, owever,o trace nfluence
predominantlyo personalities r masters. This representedhe truth
more completely t the time when primary roup normsprevailed n
society,whenoutstanding ersonalitiesssembled isciples nd followers
and
created ults nd schools.
But at
present he nfluencesre as diverse
as the great ociety s diverse
n
its models nd attitudes.We tend to
be more nfluencedy trends f thought nd method han by particular
persons,
nd
we
tend o be
influenced
y
dissent
rom, s
much s
acquies-
249
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American
ournal
f
Sociology
cence n, the systems f other ersons.
We may be influencedy a person
and at the same time ejecthis
conclusions. or example, was influenced
by Spencer, y his evolutionarynd anthropologicaliew of the develop-
mentof institutions,ut I was never a Spencerian. His view of
the
medicineman as the sourceof all the professionslways seemedto
me
grotesque. is suppressionf nconvenient
ata and selection f convenient
datawas little essthandishonest. ne of my early tudieswas a checkup
of his generalizationsn his Principles f Sociology nd the data in
his
Descriptive ociology, n the basis
of whichhe prepared he former
ork.
It
turned ut thathe had ignored
ll the data whichdid not confirmis
theories.Again, was influenced
y Loeb, but I agreed with Jennings.
I was influencedy Watsonbutnever cceptedbehaviorisms he formu-
lated t.
I
was greatly nfluenced
y anthropologistsut in my formative
period believe t s true hat hemajority f anthropologistsn the United
Statesheld verydogmaticallyo
the view that religionwas the sourceof
all
or manyof the institutions
f mankind art and tribalorganization,
etc.), and this never elieved or
minute. his is representativef
the
remark f Bacon thatthe statement
f error s the most timulatinghing
that happens n the progress f
thought.n my own case, except t the
most mmature eriod,when tended
o be a disciple, feelthat
was
more nfluenced y currents f
thought han by personalities.With the
multiplicationf personalitiesthe
ndividualwithers nd the race s more
and
more.
It was, believe, n connection ithThe PolishPeasant that
became
identified ith he life history
nd the method f documentation.
ere
again
I
may be oversimplifying,
ut
I
trace the origin
f
my
nterest
n
thedocument o a long etter icked
up on
a
rainy ay in thealley
behind
myhouse, letter rom girlwho
was taking trainingourse
n
a
hospital,
to herfather oncerningamily elationshipsnd discords. t occurred o
me
at the
time
hatone would
earn
a
greatdeal if one
had
a
great
many
letters
f
this
kind.
On
the
whole,
with
reference
o
my sociological istory,
feel that
my
dominant nterest
as been new
experience
f concrete
ypes.
feel that
I am
an
extroverteading
an introvertife.
The
thinking
r autistic
region eemsto
be
in
retirement,
unctioningccasionally
n crises
or
on
the
accumulation
f
the
data
resulting
rom
xploratory
xcursions.
his
retired
ortion
f the structure
as
originally omparable
o
the
parlor
or reception oom,not so muchfrequented. ithgradualmaturationnd
habituation
nd the
nvasion f various
roblems,
his
parlorhas,
however,
tended
o be
gradually
onverted
nto
the
dwelling-room.
f I
have
had
any
conflictsn
life,they
have
been between he extrovertnd
introvert
tendencies.
250
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LIFE HISTORY
RobertE. Park'
I was
born on a farm n
Luzerne County,
ennsylvania,bout six
miles
from
he ittle own f
Shickshinny,n the
SusquehannaRiver,where
my
grandfather
arnerwas a country octor.
Both my
grandparents ere
physicians; hey
grew p togethern
Montrose,
ennsylvania,
nd studied
medicine ogether,
ithmy
greatgrandfatherark. Grandfather
ark
went
west, nd
finally ettled n
Redwing,
Minnesota.
t
was there got
my
earlyeducation nd my first nowledge f life.Redwingwas originally
settled
y peoplefromNew
England.Shortly fter he
Civil War,
how-
ever,
GoodhueCounty, n
whichRedwing
was situated,was
invaded
by
Scandinavian
mmigrants,nd
Redwing ecame,more r
ess,
a
Scandinav-
ian
settlement.
It
happened hatthe section
f the city n which
my grandfather
ad
settled
ecame
n
due course f
time he
center f theforeign
ommunity.
I
grew p with
wedes ndNorwegians,
nd among he
first f mychild-
hood
heroeswas
Black Pete, the on of a
Norwegian
lacksmith.
Black Pete was two or threeyears olderthan and stood out above
all my
companions
y the factthat he
had an
imagination. e devised
all
sorts f
nterestingamesfor
heamusementf
myself nd other
oys
of
the
neighborhood, ostof
whichhad, as I
nowrealize, omepractical
and
utilitarianurpose. here
was always
good deal of work o be
done
about
Black Pete's place, and
like Tom
Sawyer,he got the boys of
the
neighborhoodo do a good deal
of t by
making t a game.
Gatheringlab
woodfrom he
river
n
the ummer,
nd
bringing
t
home
on
sleds in the
winter, orexample,was
one of the
most nteresting
f
theseoccupations. lack Pete had an old flat-bottomedoat that he and
his
fatherhad constructed,
hichhe used
to transport is
countrymen
across heriver, nd
not merely
cross heriver, utby
a winding hannel
throughhe slands,
crossthe
ake in themiddle f the
sland,
nd then
across
second
hannel o theWisconsin
mainland. his system f trans-
portationwas
probably llegal, s therewas
a
ferry, wo of
them
which
we
wereexpected o
use
in
making hat
ourney,
ut
we
did not mind
that.
When
was permittedo
make these
trips, ither oingor
coming,
I
usuallypulled n
oar. learned
greatdeal from lack
Pete.
But he was
merely ne of a
number f others, ll
older than
myself,
who
assisted
me in
making
f
my early
ife
happy,
omantic,
nd
vaga-
1
The lifehistory f Robert
Park is located n Luther L.
Bernard Papers, Box 2, Penn-
sylvania Historical Collection,
PennsylvaniaState University.
His
autobiography
s in
first raft form and contains
a
number
of minorerrorsregarding ates and spelling.
These errorshave been
corrected
y
Paul Baker.
251
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AmericanJournal
f
Sociology
bond existence. he consequencewas, thatthough managed o get thro'
high chool, foundwhen was ready o enter he universityhatexcept
for n ability o read,which acquiredfrommy earlydevotion o yellow-
backed novels nd cheap fiction, had almostno book knowledge.
I
neverhad any comprehensionf how ittleone could earn n school
until years afterward, hen discovered ow much more my children
knewof literaturet the ages of 10 and 12 than knewwhen was 18.
The resultwas that did not reallybeginmy education ntil entered
college. ife was like that, n theprairie owns,when was a boy.
However, learned ome things bout ifeduring
his
period
for
which
I
am verygrateful. or one thing gained n intimate cquaintancewith
Norwegian easants, o intimatehatwhen went oNorway omeyears
ago,
I
felt s if
I
were revisiting countrywithwhich
had
long
been
familiar.
saw there
laces
and
thepeople
which
myNorwegian
urse
had
made me familiar ith,
or very ight uringmychildhood
had insisted
on
two Norse tales before he carriedme upstairs
n
her
back,
to
bed.
I
am ashamed o say she did thatuntil was quite
a
big boy.
Litza
was,
aftermy mother,my first
nd most
intimate riend,
nd
remained
o
until he
died,
when was a
boy
at
college.
I learned good deal, also, during hese years, about America, nd
Americans. hose good New Englanderswho settledRedwing ived
at
the other
nd of the
town. was supposed
o
belong
to this
group,
nd
used to be occasionally nvited o parties. met the younger eneration,
too, nthe chool, ut ife t the other ndoftownwas alwayson
a
higher
plane. Now
in a
town of that size everyoneknows
all about
the
few
conspicuous eople.Therewas a greatdeal
of
gossip,
nd
without ealizing
that
was
doing o,
I
listened
agerly
o
all of it that
drifted
my way.
Gradually
built
up
in
my magination,
ut
of bits of
informationhat
pickedup casually, hepersonal istories f mostof the prominenteople
in
town.My knowledge f thesepeople was quite
differentrom hat
of
the
Scandinavian easants, mongwhom lived.
I
tookmy neighbors orgranted, nd as I look back upon t now see
that did
not
know
much bout
what was going
on
in
the minds f the
older
generation. hey moved about
in
my world, peaking language
which did not
understand,
n a
sortof
graytwilight.
here were
births
and deaths, ut thesewerenot discussed n my family ircle, nd theydid
not kindlemy maginations the others id. With the people n the other
endoftowntwasdifferent.nconsciously treasuredvery ittle ncident,
every ignificant
ord nd
revealing esture
hat
threwight
n
their
ives.
I
realize
now that theywere veryordinary eople,most of them, ut
they ived
a
glorifiedxistencen my magination. hey were almostthe
only lives that
I
knew completely.My knowledge f otherpeople was
only partial. have known hem t someone period of their ives,
but
252
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Life Histories
f Thomas
and Park
these
people
present hemselves o
me as
full-lengthortraits.
have
seen them
grow
up,
succeed,
nd
fail,
and in
general
meet
the
fortunes
forwhich heywerefated. ince t is characteristicf humanbeings hat
they
not
only
have character
nd
personality
ut
they
have
careers,
his
knowledge as
been
valuable
tome.
I
mention hese
hings
ecause,
while
books
have
helped
me to
think,
most hat
have
earned
f
the
aspects
of
life
n
which
my
nterests
ie has
come
out
of
my
personal
xperience.
I
assume
that,
until
we
have
accumulated much
arger
body
of
sys-
tematic
nowledgehan
now
exists,
hat hiswillcontinue
o be the
experi-
ence of
most
tudents
n
sociology.
Well,
I
grewup to
be
an
awkward,
entimental,
nd romantic
oy.
I published n amateurnewspaper alled the Ramblerand had some
ambition
o
write.
hen,
oneday,
reada
story
n
theold
Seaside
Library
that
nterested
me.
I
have
forgottenhe
title,
but
the
hero
of
it
was a
mining
ngineer-a
strong,
igorous
ersonality
ho
achieved uccess
n
the
faceof
great
bstacles-and I
determinedo
be an
engineer,ny
kind
of an
engineer.
went
out
for few
months
with
surveying
arty
nd
liked
t. My
father
wanted
me to be
a
merchant,ut
that
did not
offer
enough
f
adventure or
me,
so
I
left
home and
wentto
college
o
study
engineering.went oMinneapolis,o theStateUniversityfMinnesota.
There
began
to find
ut
how
ittle
knew.
had
never
cquired
the
habit
of
study
and
found t
hard
work.
The
next
year,at
my
father's
suggestion,went
o
Ann
Arbor
nd
startedife
anew.
It
was
Calvin
Thomas,
who
was
then
teaching
German t
Michigan,
who
first
aught
me
howpoor
a
student
was. He
returnedmy
first lass
paper
with he
remark
nsertedhat f
mywork
was
six times s
goodat
the end of
the
semester
s itwas
then hat
he
could
not
pass
me.
Then I
settled
own o
work.
Meanwhile
found
hat
was
interested
n
philoso-
phyrather han nphysical cience. t was there hat metJohnDewey.
He was
an
instructorn
philosophy
here,
n
inspiring
eacher,
nd his
influence,
hile
not
perhaps
designed
r
intended o do
so,
inspired
nd
encouragedn
me
an
intellectual
uriosity
n
regard o the
world or
which
there
was
no
justificationr
explanation
n
the
tradition
n
which
had
been
reared.
conceived
scheme f
life
that
houldbe
devoted o
merely
seeing
and
knowing
he
world
without
ny
practical
ims
whatever.A
course
had
with
Calvin
Thomas in
which
we read
and he
expounded
Goethe's
Faust
reenforced
his
resolution.
made up
my
mind
to go in
for xperienceor tsown ake,togatherntomy oul, s Faustsomewhere
says,
all
the
oys
and
sorrows f
the
world.
The
resultwas
that I
went nto
the
newspaper
usiness,
nd
forthe
next
few
years,
from
1887
thedate
of my
graduation
rom
Ann
Arbor,
until
1908
[sic
1898]
when
wentto
Harvardto
resume
my
studies,
I
livedthe
ife of
an
intellectual
agabond.
My
program
was
to see
and
253
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AmericanJournal
f
Sociology
know
whatwe
call Life. I worked s a
newspaperman
or
three
years
on
the
Minneapolis ournal.
was
a
court
eporter
t
first,
hen, ccasion-
ally, policereporter,utmainly was devotingmyselfo exploringnd
writingbout
the
ifeof
the
city.
That was
theperiod
when, nder
he
nfluencef
the
New York World
and
the
yellowournalism
whichPulitzer
ntroduced,
ewspapers
ll over
theworld,
nd
particularly
he
afternoon
aperswhich
were ddressed
t
that
timemainly
o the
owbrows
nd common
olk,
were
ncreasing
ircu-
lation
o rapidly
hatthe
newspaper ublic
multipliedmore
rapidly
han
the
urban
population.
The
yellow
ournals
went n for
reform,
nd
I
became
reformer.
he
word
muckraking, ithwhich
Roosevelt
ater
characterized his
sort
of
enterprise,ad
not
been
invented. he
cityeditor
f
theMinneapolis
Journal,
illyBrownlee,
ho
had
precededmeat
Ann Arbor
s
editor
f
the
college
paper,
discovered
hat
I
would
stay
on
a
story
onger
han
anyone
else,
so he set
me to
work
hunting own
gambling ouses
and
opiumdens.
This
was the
beginningf
my nterest
n
sociology,
lthough
at that time
did
notknow
theword.
I
did
a
lot
of
research, f a
sort,
both in
Minneapolis nd
later in
Detroit.Someof it was somethingmorethanmeremuckraking.
In
Detroit, or
xample, looked
up and
printed
he
record
f
a
quaint
little
old
woman
who
was an
habitual
drunkard. found
that she
had
spentsome 30
years of
her
life serving
hortterms
n
the
workhouse.
The
purpose
f this was
to
raisethe
question
whether abitualdrunken-
nessshould
notproperly
e
treatedmore
s a
disease
than
s
a
crime.
We had
a
diphtheria
pidemic.
plotted
he
cases
on a
map
of the
city
and
in
this
way
called
attention
o what
eemed he ource
f
the
nfection,
an
open ewer.
This, and similar nterprises,ed me to theconceptionhatwithwhat
I
called
scientific
eporting
he
newspaper
might o
systematically
hat
it
was then
doing
asually, ndwith
no other
urpose
hanthatof
ncreas-
ing
circulation, ake
tself
ctually he
powerful
gencyfor
ducation nd
reform
hat
t
had
sometimes
onceived
tself obe.
Some
years
ater,
fter
he
publication f
the
Pittsburgh
urvey, rom
1909 to
1914,
I
realizedthatmy
conception f
scientific
eporting
ad
been
moreor less
the
notion f
community
esearch
arried
out in
the
social
survey.
John
Deweyhad
mademe
familiar
withthe
notion hat
thought
nd
knowledge
ereto be
regarded s
incidents f
and
instruments
f action,
and
I
saw in
the
newspaper,
esponsible
or ts
mission, n
instrument
y
which
his
conception
might e
realized n
action,
nd on a
grand
cale.
This
notion
f
thefunction
nd
of thefuture
f the
newspaper
as not
original
withme.
There
were
groupof
us who
believed
hatthe
news-
254
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Life
Histories
f
Thomas and
Park
paper,
ythe
mere act f
reporting,
ith
hilosophic
nsight
nd
scientific
accuracy, he
trends f current
vents,
was
destined
o
bring
bout
pro-
found nd immediatehanges. t was nothinghort f revolution,ilent
and
continuous,hat
we
were
ooking
orward
o,
once
the
newspaper
ad
reached
the
point
where t
was
able
and
willing
o
report
olitical
and
social
events
with he
same
accuracy
hat t
was
then
reporting
he
stock
marketnd
the ball
games.
The
leader
of
this
movement
or
the
organization
f
intelligence,
s
he
called
it,was a
newspaperman
nd
philosopher,
ntroduced o
me
by
John
Dewey.His
name
was Franklin
ord.
The
organization
f
intelligenceid
not
proceed
s
expeditiously
s I
and othershad hoped t would, nd thenetresultwas that wentback
to the
universities
o
studythe
newspaper.
his
was
the
way
I
got
into
sociology.
hus
it was
that n
1908
[sic
1898]
I
found
myself nce more
a
student
f
philosophy,
nd
this
ime n
Harvard
University.
I
did
notfind
ut
until
aterthat
what
was
actually
tudying
t
this
time
was
collective
sychology.
Six
years
ater took
the
degree f
Ph.D.
in
Heidelberg
nd
the
subject
of
my
thesis
was The
Crowd
nd
the
Public
[Masse
und
Publicum.1
Meanwhile had becomeacquaintedwithsomevery mportantmen:
James
Royce,
antayana, nd
Munsterbergt
Harvard;
Simmel
t
Berlin;
Windelband
nd
Knoppat
Strassburg.
really
ompletedmy
education
t
Harvard,
Berlin,
trassburg,nd
Heidelberg.
p to
thattime
had
been
struggling
o
gain a
pointof
view
and
to
definemy
problem.
t
was at
Strassburg
nd
Heidelberg
hat
finally
worked
ut
my
thesis,
which
called
a
methodological
tudy. t
was,
as
I
see
it now,
nothing
more
nor
less
than
n
attempto
formulate
point
f
view
from
which
could
ook
at
the
newspaper
s
a
source
of
sociological
henomenon,
nd
second,
o
findanguagenwhich coulddescribetobjectivelyndgenericallys an
institution.
learned
great
deal
from ll
the
men
I
have
mentioned.
Harvardwas
at
that
time
great
place for
student f
philosophy
o
be.
James
ffered
seminarn
abnormal
sychology
he
first
ear
was
there.
He
was
just
then
writing
is
Varieties f
Religious
Experience,
nd he
read
to
us
one
day
in
classroom
is
familiar
aper
entitled,
A
Certain
Blindness
n
Human
Beings.
The
universe as
not
for
him
closed
ystem
nd
every
ndividual
man,
having
is
own
peculiar
xperience,
ad
some
nsight
nto
the
world hat
no
othermindcouldhave. The realworldwas theexperiencef actualmen
and
women
nd
not
abbreviated
nd
shorthand
escriptions
f it
that
we
call
knowledge.
Roycewas
lecturing
t
the
time
was
there, n
social
psychology,
sing
as a
text
Baldwin's
Mental
Developmentn
the
Child
and
in
the
Race,
and
Ethical
nterpretations
hich
had
just
issued
fromhe
press.
255
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AmericanJournal
f
Sociology
Imitation
was the great olving
word at that
time,
nd
Royce's nter-
pretation f
the social and philosophical
mplicationf the process
pened
up whatwas forme, t thattime, n entirely ew ine of observationnd
reflection.oyce's
ogical eminar
was at thattime forumn
which ome
of the mostacute minds n
the university
iscussedtheirfundamental
conceptions
f this science.
recall,
forone
thing,
hat we discussed he
logicof theconcept f mmunity.
I was more mpressed
y Miinsterberg'siscussions f the
distinctions
between istory
nd natural cience han
was in his laboratory
sychol-
ogy. James's
description f
laboratory sychologys little
more thanan
elaboration f the obviousstruckme at thattime as it does now, as a
particularlyappy and accurate
description.
ut Miinsterbergas, how-
ever,
profoundnd ingenious
mind nd
I
am
indebted o him.
Santayana
ad not at that imedeveloped
is ownphilosophy,s he has
sincedone,but his ectures n
thephilosophy
f art were mmenselynter-
esting
nd
suggestive,nd his
conception f therelation f art
and religion,
in
fact ll thathe has from
ime o timewritten
bout religion,eemsto
me to throw
more ightupon
the subject nd indicate more
atisfactory
point
of
view
for
ystematic
tudy han anything have read.
In Berlin attended aulsen's ecturesn philosophy,ut it was from
Simmel hat finally ained
a
fundamental
oint
of view for the
study
of
the newspaper
nd
society.
t
happened
hat this time ran across
a
methodological
reatise
y
Kistiakowski
alled
Gesselschaft
ndEinzelwe-
sen. Kistiakowski
ad been a student
f
Windelband,
nd as
I
discovered
in
thisbook
an
attackupon
themethodologicalroblem
hat
had come
to
regard s
fundamental decided
to
go
to
Strassburg
nd
write
my
doctor's hesiswithWindelband.
studied
two years
at
Strassburg
nd
when
n
the
last
year
of
my stay
in
Germany
Windelband
moved to
Heidelberg, wentwithhim.
In
Strassburg
metG. F. Knapp, the economist.
napp
was positively
the most
fascinating
nd
instructive
ecturer ever had the
opportunity
of
hearing.
is lectures
n
the
development
f
agriculture
nd
particularly
his accounts f
the
German
easant
and
the
German easantcommunity
were
the most
illuminating
escriptions
f
any society
that have
ever
comemyway.
A
few
years
ater,when was
living t
Tuskegee nstitute,
n
the
Black
Belt,
found
hat Knapp's ectures
n
the
German easant
had
given he
best possible
ntroduction
o
an understandingf the plantationNegro.
At
Strassburg
studied
withHettner,
he
geographer.
Geography,
s
Hettner
onceived t, was
a
revelation
o me,
and it
had
led me to
the
conclusion hat every tudent f sociology hould
have to
know
geography,
uman
geography
articularly,
or after ll, culture s
finally geographical
henomenon.
256
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Life
Histories
f
Thomas
and Park
With the
exception
f Simmel's ectures
never
had
any
systematic
instruction
n
sociology.
As
I
said,
I
got most
of
my
knowledge
bout
society nd humannature rommy ownobservations. am sure,however,
that
my
observation
would have
been
of
very ittleuse
to
me if
I
had
nothad
a
thorough
raining,irst
t
the
University
f
Michigan,
ater
at
Harvard
and
Berlin, nd
finally
nder
Windelband t
Strassburg
nd
Heidelberg
n
philosophy.Windelband's
hilosophy
as
mainly
ts
history,
and
his
history f
philosophy
as
a
historyf
thought.
e described
hilos-
ophy s a
science f
sciences,
undamentally science
f
method
ased
on a
history f
systematic
hought. here
s,
in
my
opinion,
o
other
way
of
getting
n
adequate
conception
f scientific
method. learneda lot
from
Windelband.
Aftermy
return o the
United
States n
1903
1
was
for
two years
an
assistant n
philosophy
t
Harvard.
spent
mostof the time
putting
my
thesis
n
shape. t
was
a thin
ittle
ook
andnot
easy to
read.
I
had
expected
o
produce
omething
hining nd
was
terribly
isap-
pointed nd
discouraged.
While
I
was
acting as instructort
Harvard
I
livedwith
my
family
n
Wollaston,
whichwas
a
partof
Quincy, ust
outside
f
Boston.
t
happened
hat
he
movement
irectedgainst
misrule
intheCongohaditsorigin, s far s Americas concerned,nQuincy.
Any
ambitionhat
had
ever
had to be
a
reformer
ad
quite
vanished
by
that
time.But
I
had
nothing
o do. I
was
quite
discouraged
boutthe
prospectsn
America f
collective
sychologys I
had
conceived
t.
I
was
readyto
take up
newspaper r
literary
work
gain.
The
Congo
Reform
ssociation
fferedn
opportunity.
went o
work
s a
publicity
agent
nd
became
the
first
ecretary f
that
ssociation. r.
Barber
nd I
formed
he
association-incidentally
became
interested
n
the whole
problem-and n
thenext
year
orso I
pickedup a
good
deal of
knowledge
aboutAfrica. sawfor nething hatKingLeopold'spositionwaswholly
tintenable.e
claimed o
be an
absolute
monarchn
the
Congo,
not
respon-
sible
to
Belgium,
or
whom
t
was
assured hat
he
was
holding
hecolonies
and
not
responsibleothe
nternational
oncern
n
whose
name
his
govern-
ment
was
established.
urthermore,
suspected,
he
more
studiedthe
matter,
hatmost
of
theevils
that
had
arisen
under
his rule
were
more
or
less
endemic nd
incurable,
he
nevitable
onsequence f
the
nvasion
of
European
ivilization
n
Africa.
The whole hing resentedtself s a veryreal,veryfundamental,nd
only
ncidentally
s an
administrative
roblem.
was
preparing o
go to
Africa
o
study he
work f
the
mission
chool
when
became
cquainted
with
Booker
Washington.
e
invited
me to
come
to
Tuskegee.
He
thoughthat
wouldbe
interestedn
the
kind of
school
he
had set
up
in
the
South,
nd
suggested hat,
f I
was
goingto
study
the
Negro
257
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American
Journal f
Sociology
problem n
Africa, might
ind t an advantage o study t
in
America
first. hat was
the way came
to go toTuskegee.
I went here irst ometimen 1905-6,andwas there, nd in theSouth,
mainly n the
winters, or henext even
years.Booker
Washington ave
me anopportunityuch s no
one else everhad,
am sure, o get cquainted
with he
actual and intimate
ifeof the Negro n
the South. traveled ll
over he
South;
pokedmyway nto very orner
where herewas anything
that
eemednstructiver
interesting.
I
became, or
ll intents nd
purposes, or hetime, Negro,
myself.
Incidentally
becameprofoundlynterested
n Dr.
Washington's ro-
gram. felt, ormyself,hat
had finally
ecome dentified ith omething
thatwas notonly oundbutgenuinelymportant.
I
feltnow,
for he first ime, hatmy
ntellectual agabondagewas over.
Here was
somethinghatwas as
romantic s anything
had ever
dreamed
of,
nd
thatwas
actually olving
problem.My job
was
that
of
a
publicity
man, but
I
did
almost nything hat wanted
o do.
Incidentally
was
responsible or he bureauof
research, hichwas established t
Tuskegee
after
leftunderMonroeN.
Work, he editor
f
theNegro
Year Book.
One of
the
most nterestinghings
did
duringmy
connectionwith
Tuskegeewas to takea trip crossEuropewithBookerWashington.
He had
a plan to take a look
at the
laborers n Europe. He had
an
impressionhat,
n spite of all the
disadvantages hat the
Negro
aborer
lived under n
America, is
condition as notso muchworse han that
of
the
laborer n
Europe.
In
one wayhe was right bout
that;
in another
he was wrong. n Europe the
statusof any
class is pretty
well defined
n
custom nd in
law,and he is protectednthat
tatus.
The
Negro'sposition
as definedn
law nowhere
orresponds
o
his
actual
status
as defined
n
custom, nd customs
everywhereifferent.
I was eagerto show Dr. Washington he condition f the European
peasant as
I
had
come to
know t throughmy studies with
Knapp
in
Strassburg. esides that, while
was
in
Strassburg
had
become
nti-
mately
acquainted with the
Black Forest. I had tramped ll
over it,
lived
in
the
littlecountry nns,
nd came in this way to learn
German
peasant ife at
firsthand.
The resultwas that, n the
ate summer f 1910, we sailed
forEurope.
I
went
head
and spent coupleof weeks
xploring ast
London,getting
acquaintedwith
part ofLondon thought
r. Washington
ouldmost
liketo see, andworking ut a plan for journey
crossEurope
thatwould
enable
us to
see in the shortest
imepossible
what t seemedto me, for
our
purposes,
most worth eeing. t was, as I
look back upon
t,
a
most
remarkable
ourney.
n
sixweekswe went
from ondon to
Skibo Castle,
to
visitAndrew
Carnegie, hen
wentfrom ondon as directly
s possible
to
Prague, topping nly
a
few
hours,
o
changetrains
n
Berlin.
From
258
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Life Histories
f
Thomas and Park
Praguewe
went o
Vienna, romhere s
directly s
possible,
with
short
stop-off
n
Rome,
to
Naples, then
o
Sicily,
visiting
he
sulphur
mines
n
ourwayto Catania.Thencereturned o Rome,crossed heAdriatic, nd
went
traight o
Budapest.
We
were
nterested
n
race
problems nd
in
peasants,
nd the
Austrian
Empire,with
ts mixed opulation,
as the
place tostudy oth.
From therewe went
to
Krakow,Poland,and in that
regionwe
spent
some time,
making xcursionsnto
outlying
illages, verywhere
eeting
men
who had
lived nAmerica
nd were
delighted o
talk
with
us.
Then we returned o
Berlin.Dr.
Washington ent
to Denmark,
o
get
acquaintedwith he
ruralhigh
chools, orwhichDenmark s so famous.
I had already een there nd was acquaintedwith hesituation.
We
made
this
ourney
n
the incredibly
hort
ime
of six weeks
and,
strange s itmay seem,
learned
more hatwas
interesting
nid
rofitable
there
han
ever did, n
the same
period, efore r
since.
learned, er-
haps, more
than Dr. Washington
id, for
was well prepared
by my
previous
tudies nd
my fouryears n
Europe for
what we were to see.
Out
of
observations n
that ourneywe
made the book called
The Man
Farthest own.
This titlewas takenfrom phrase thatRay StannardBaker in his
volume
Following he
Color Line
had applied to the
Negro.
Shortly fter
hat, s
I
recall,Dr.
Washington
rganized n international
conferencen
theNegro,which
rought oTuskegee
epresentative
egroes
and
colonial
dministratorsrom
frica nd
theWest ndies.
At thismeeting met
W.
I.
Thomas,whowas
at
that
ime
giving, mong
others, course
n
the
Negromind.
By thistime had a
good
manynotions bout the
Negro
and about
race
problems. had a
vast
amount f information
bout the
Negro
and
a gooddeal of insight, ut I had nothing,ctually, o write.The whole
situation
resentedtself
o me
as
a
series f
questions
nd
problems
hat
needed
to be
investigated,nd
what was
most neededhere, as
in
the
case of
the
newspaper,
as not so much
facts s some theoretical
cheme
in
which heseproblems
ould be
stated n theirmore
general
earings.
I
found n
Thomas,almost for
the first
ime, man who
seemed to
speak
the
same
language s myself.
When,
therefore,e invited
me
to
come
to
Chicago nd
give a course n the
Negro was delighted
o do so.
I
gave my
first ourse on the
Negro in Chicago n
1913 [sic
1914].
I foundChicago a congenial lace to work, nd I conceived he notion
that
the
thing or
me to do was
to stick
aroundand see if I
could not
work
out in
the
classroom he
more general
heoretical roblemswhich
had
arisen n
the firstnstance,
s far as I
was concerned, ut
of my
own
encounters ith
ife. did
not land in Chicago n
the
regularway,
but
as
a
professorial
ecturer. professorial
ecturer as
supposed o have
259
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American
Journal
f Sociology
special
knowledge.
had some
pecialknowledge
fthe Negro,
nd I had
written
thesis n collective
sychology.
have earned
great
deal,since
then, rommystudents.
Gradually,
ut ofthese
tudies,
s wellas those
f
themen with
whom
I havebeen most
ntimately
onnected,
he few
books
to which
my name
is
attached
have come
into existence.
ntroduction
o
the Science
of
Sociology
with
E. W.
Burgess,
n
1926 [sic
1921]; Old World
Traits
Transplanted
with
HerbertA.
Miller,
1921; The
Immigrant
ress
and
Its Control,
922;
The
City,
1925.
have been
most
uccessful,
suspect,
in
my
introductions
o other
men's
books-books
which
represent
he
problems
have
beenmost
nterested
n.
I am especially
rateful
o my
present
nd
formerolleagues,
AlbionW.
Small,
W. I. Thomas,Ellsworth
Faris,
and E.
W. Burgess,
for
the
assistance
heyhave
given
me, and
above
all the nteresthey
have shownn my cademic
nterprises,
nd
for
the confidence
hich
heirrecognition
as given
me
to
persevere
n
the
work
have attempted
o
do.
260