Palmer Thomas & Parker

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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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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

Documents

Palmer Thomas & Parker