Robert Staughton Lynd
Encyclopedia
Robert Staughton Lynd was an American
sociologist born in New Albany, Indiana
. He was a professor of sociology at Columbia University
, New York City
.
Robert and Helen Lynd
are best known for writing the groundbreaking "Middletown
" studies of Muncie, Indiana
- Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture (1929) and Middletown in Transition (1937), which are classics of American sociology
. Muncie was the first community to be systematically examined by sociologists in the United States.
Lynd attended college at Princeton University and earned a divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary. After working as a chaplain in Elk Basin, Wyoming, at a Rockefeller oil camp, Lynd wrote the article "Done in Oil" as an expose of the conditions there. This publication and his community work brought Lynd to the attention of the Rockefeller family and resulted in his being hired for the Middletown community study by the Rockefeller Institute of Social and Religious Research. Subsequent to the study of Muncie, Lynd earned a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University, using an abridged version of Middletown as his dissertation.
Staughton Lynd
, a lawyer and historian
noted for anti-war
, civil rights
and community activism
, was one of two children of Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Lynd.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sociologist born in New Albany, Indiana
New Albany, Indiana
New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River opposite Louisville, Kentucky. In 1900, 20,628 people lived in New Albany; in 1910, 20,629; in 1920, 22,992; and in 1940, 25,414. The population was 36,372 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of...
. He was a professor of sociology at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Robert and Helen Lynd
Helen Lynd
Helen Merrell Lynd was an American sociologist and social philosopher, and was the author of Shame and the Search for Identity and co-author of Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture with husband Robert Staughton Lynd.The model of shame that Lynd advocated in the book is loosely...
are best known for writing the groundbreaking "Middletown
Middletown studies
The Middletown studies were sociological case studies of the City of Muncie in Indiana conducted by Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, husband-and-wife sociologists. The Lynds' findings were detailed in Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, published in 1929, and Middletown in...
" studies of Muncie, Indiana
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...
- Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture (1929) and Middletown in Transition (1937), which are classics of American sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. Muncie was the first community to be systematically examined by sociologists in the United States.
Lynd attended college at Princeton University and earned a divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary. After working as a chaplain in Elk Basin, Wyoming, at a Rockefeller oil camp, Lynd wrote the article "Done in Oil" as an expose of the conditions there. This publication and his community work brought Lynd to the attention of the Rockefeller family and resulted in his being hired for the Middletown community study by the Rockefeller Institute of Social and Religious Research. Subsequent to the study of Muncie, Lynd earned a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University, using an abridged version of Middletown as his dissertation.
Staughton Lynd
Staughton Lynd
Staughton Craig Lynd is an American conscientious objector, Quaker, peace activist and civil rights activist, tax resister, historian, professor, author and lawyer. His involvement in social justice causes has brought him into contact with some of the nation's most influential activists, including...
, a lawyer and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
noted for anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
, civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and community activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
, was one of two children of Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Lynd.
Works
- Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture (1929)
- "The Consumer Becomes a 'Problem'", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 173, The Ultimate Consumer. A Study in Economic Illiteracy (May, 1934), pp. 1-6
- Middletown in Transition (1937)
- Knowledge for What? The Place of the Social Sciences in American Culture, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press (1939)
External links
- Irving Louis Horowitz, "Robert S. and Helen Merrell Lynd," International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences: Biographical Supplement, ed. David L. Sills, Free Press, 1979.
- "Series 1 - Robert & Helen Lynd", Staughton Lynd Collection, Kent State University
- http://www.bsu.edu/middletown/ Center for Middletown Studies, Ball State UniversityBall State UniversityBall State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...
] - Middletown Studies Collection and Digital Archives, Ball State University Archives and Special Collections Research Center
- FBI file on Robert Lynd