George Elliott Howard (October 1, 1849 – June 9, 1928) was an American educator and author. He was a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1889 to 1891, and a professor at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

from 1891 to 1901. He was also the president of the

American Sociological Society The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

in 1917.

Early life

George Elliott Howard was born on October 1, 1849, in Saratoga, New York, to Howard and Margaret Hardin. He moved to

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

with his family in 1868.

Career

After receiving an

A.B. degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

from the Peru State College, Howard traveled to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for to study

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

from 1876 to January 1878. He joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty in 1879. One of his most prominent students was Amos Griswold Warner. Howard was named to the "first faculty" of the

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1901. Controversy erupted after professor

Edward Alsworth Ross Edward Alsworth Ross (December 12, 1866 – July 22, 1951) was a progressive American sociologist, eugenicist, economist, and major figure of early criminology. Early life He was born in Virden, Illinois. His father was a farmer. He attended ...

was fired by Stanford president

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

because of his political views on

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

. Howard defended Ross, citing the

first amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...

. Jordan demanded an apology from Howard, but Howard resigned instead, along with several other professors. He did several lectures at the

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

from 1903 to 1904. Howard returned to the University of Nebraska in 1904, and his colleagues included Edward Alsworth Ross and

Roscoe Pound Nathan Roscoe Pound (October 27, 1870 – June 30, 1964) was an American legal scholar and educator. He served as Dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law from 1903 to 1911 and Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936. He was a membe ...

. In 1906, Howard was named head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology. Howard retired in 1924.

Death

Howard died in 1928, in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

Publications

* ''Local Constitutional History of the United States'' (1889) * ''The Evolution of the University'' (1890) * ''The King's Peace and the Local Peace Magistracy'' (1891) * ''History of Matrimonial Institutions'' (three volumes, 1904) * ''Preliminaries of the Revolution'' (1905) * ''Social Control and Function of the Family'' (1906) * ''General Sociology'' (1907) * ''The Family and Marriage'' (1914)

References

External links

* * 1849 births 1928 deaths American education writers Historians from New York (state) American social sciences writers American sociologists People from Saratoga Springs, New York University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni University of Paris alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty Stanford University Department of History faculty Cornell University faculty University of Chicago faculty Presidents of the American Sociological Association {{US-sociologist-stub