Albion Woodbury Small (May 11, 1854 – March 24, 1926) founded the first independent Department of

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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in 1892. He was influential in the establishment of sociology as a valid field of academic study.

Biography

Albion Woodbury Small was born in

Buckfield, Maine Buckfield is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Buckfield is included in the Lewiston- Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England City and Town Area. It is a member of Regional School Unit 10 along with nearby Hartford and Sumner. The ...

to parents Reverend Albion Keith Parris Small and Thankful Lincoln Woodbury. He lived in Bangor, Maine, and then

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

where he attended public schools in both places. He attended Colby University, now known as

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

, from 1872 until he graduated in 1876. He studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

from 1876 to 1879 at the Andover Newton Theological School. From 1879 to 1881 he studied at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

and the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

social economics Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...

and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

. While in Germany, he married Valeria von Massow in June 1881, with whom he had one child. From 1888 to 1889 he studied history at the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and was promoted in 1889 with a PhD thesis (''The Beginnings of American Nationality'') at the same time continuing to teach at

. From 1889–1892 he was the 10th President of Colby. In 1892 he founded the first Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. He chaired this department for over 30 years. In 1894 he, along with George E. Vincent, published the first textbook in sociology: An introduction to the study of society. In 1895 he established the American Journal of Sociology. From 1905 to 1925 he served as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature at the University of Chicago. Albion Woodbury Small was a member of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...

fraternity (Xi chapter).

Influence on sociology

Albion Small can be attributed with many "firsts" in the field of sociology. In 1892, he helped to create a Department of Social Science at the University of Chicago, which was the first ever sociology department in the United States. Then, in 1894, along with colleague

George E. Vincent George Edgar Vincent (March 21, 1864 – February 2, 1941) was an American sociologist and university president. Biography He was born at Rockford, Illinois, the son of Bishop John H. Vincent. He studied at Yale, where he was a member of De ...

, he wrote the first sociology textbook titled ''An Introduction to the Study of Society.'' Lastly, he founded the first Sociology Journal in the United States in 1895, the ''American Journal of Sociology.''

Works

* ''An Introduction to the Study of Society'' (1894) * ''General Sociology'' (1905) * ''Adam Smith and Modern Sociology'' (1907) * ''The Cameralists'' (1909) * ''The Meaning of the Social Sciences'' (1910) * ''Between Eras: From Capitalism to Democracy'' (1913)

References

External links

*
Guide to the Albion W. Small Papers 1904-1924
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Albion Woodbury 1854 births 1926 deaths American sociologists Colby College faculty Johns Hopkins University alumni People from Bangor, Maine Presidents of the American Sociological Association Presidents of Colby College People from Buckfield, Maine American Journal of Sociology editors

Biography

Influence on sociology

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links