William Foote Whyte (June 27, 1914 – July 16, 2000) was an American sociologist chiefly known for his ethnographic study in urban sociology, ''

Street Corner Society ''Street Corner Society'' (originally titled ''Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum'') is an ethnography written by William Foote Whyte and published in 1943. It was Whyte's first book. It received little attention when ...

''. A pioneer in

participant observation Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology (incl. cultural an ...

, he lived for four years in an Italian community in Boston while a Junior Fellow at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

researching social relations of

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

s in Boston's North End.

Early life

Whyte, from an upper-middle-class background, showed an early interest in writing, economics and social reform. After graduating from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

, he was selected for the Junior Fellows program, where his landmark research was done. After his research in Boston, he entered the sociology doctoral program at the University of Chicago. ''Street Corner Society'' was published by the University of Chicago Press in 1943. He spent a year teaching at the University of Oklahoma, but developed polio in 1943 and spent two years in

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

at the Warm Springs Foundation. Rehabilitation was only partially successful; Whyte walked with a cane for the rest of his life, and used two arm crutches in his later years.

Professional career

He briefly returned to the University of Chicago in 1944, then joined the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in 1948, remaining at Cornell for the remainder of his career. At Cornell he supervised

Chris Argyris Chris Argyris (July 16, 1923 – November 16, 2013) was an American business theorist and professor emeritus at Harvard Business School. Argyris, like Richard Beckhard, Edgar Schein and Warren Bennis, is known as a co-founder of organization deve ...

with hi
doctorate
He worked for social reform and social change, directing his efforts toward "empowering the disenfranchized and narrowing the gap between rich and poor." He studied industrial and agricultural workers and workers' cooperatives in Venezuela, Peru,

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and in the Basque region of Spain, as well as in the United States. He authored hundreds of articles and 20 books including an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

. He is considered a pioneer in industrial sociology.

Family

At his death William F. Whyte was survived by his wife, Kathleen (King) Whyte, his sons

Martin King Whyte Martin King Whyte (born 1942) is an American sociology professor emeritus at Harvard University who is best known for his research on contemporary Chinese society in both the Mao and reform eras. He joined the Harvard Faculty in 2000. Previously, h ...

and John Whyte, and his daughters Joyce Wiza and Lucy Whyte Ferguson.

Education

Professor Whyte received his bachelor's degree in economics from

in 1936, and was selected for the Junior Fellows program at Harvard University, where his landmark research was done. After his research in Boston, he entered the sociology doctoral program at the University of Chicago.

Association

Whyte served as the president of the

American Sociological Association 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 1981 and also of the Society for Applied Anthropology in 1964.

References

External links

Picture and Information about Whyte at the American Sociological Association

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whyte, William Foote 1914 births 2000 deaths American sociologists American cooperative organizers Harvard Fellows Cornell University faculty Swarthmore College alumni University of Chicago alumni Presidents of the American Sociological Association People from Lansing, New York 20th-century American anthropologists