This website is devoted to making the history of

the Rural Sociological Society and rural sociology more accessible.

Additions and suggestions are always welcome!

"Firsts" in Rural Sociology

Below is a list of "firsts" in Rural Sociology.  These include items such as the first textbook or the first department. 

This list is a continual work in progress.  If you know of other "Firsts" that should be included, please email the RSS Historian.

First Course:

   1894 at the University of Chicago.

First Course at an Agricultural College:

    1904  Rhode Island Agricultural College.

First Textbooks:

    Constructive Rural Sociology. John M. Gillette. 1913.  (New York: Sturgis and Walton).

    Introduction to Rural Sociology. Paul L. Vogt. 1917.  (New York: Appleton).

First Department:

    Cornell University.  Department of Rural Social Organization.  1918.

First national organization to have “Rural Sociology” in its name:

   National Association of Rural Sociology Extension Workers. (est. 1931)

First President of the Rural Sociological Society:

   Dwight Sanderson (1938-1939)

First editor of the journal Rural Sociology:

   Lowry Nelson (1936-1940)

First section organized in the American Sociological Association [Society]:

   Rural Sociology Section (1922).

First Chair of the Rural Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association [Society]:

   Dwight Sanderson (1922).

First President of the American Sociological Society [ASA] to serve in the position while

employed outside of academia:

   Carl C. Taylor.  (RSS President 1939-1940.  At the time, Taylor was head of the USDA’s Division of

   Farm Population and Rural Life.)

Most Influential Research Report in Early Rural Sociology:

    The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community.  Charles J. Galpin. 1915.  (Research Bulletin No. 34, Wisconsin Agricultural

     Experiment Station.  Madison, WI.)

Please send suggestions, ideas, or changes to:

Julie N. Zimmerman

RSS Historian

Associate Professor, Rural Sociology

Dept. of Community and Leadership Development, University of Kentucky

jzimm@email.uky.edu

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