This website is devoted to making the history of

the Rural Sociological Society and rural sociology more accessible.

Additions and suggestions are always welcome!

Publications Related to the History of Rural Sociology

and the Rural Sociological Society

See also:

• Internet Locations of Archives of Rural Sociologists

• Internet Locations of Interviews with Rural Sociologists

• Rural Sociology's History Online

Published Interviews with Early Members:

Fuguitt, Glenn. 2009. “William Sewell on the Founding of the Rural Sociological Society.” The Rural Sociologist. 29(2):30-36.

Fuguitt, Glenn. 2009. “Conversation with Olaf Larson, October 23, 2001 (part 1)." The Rural Sociologist. 29(3):42-46.

Fuguitt, Glenn. 2009. “Conversation with Olaf Larson, October 23, 2001 (part 2)." The Rural Sociologist. 29(4):39-43.

Zimmerman, Julie N. 2006. “A Conversation with Olaf Larson: Part 3.” The Rural Sociologist. Vol. 26(2):13-15.

Zimmerman, Julie N. 2006. “A Conversation with Olaf Larson: Part 2.” The Rural Sociologist. Vol. 26(1):32-34.

Zimmerman, Julie N. 2005. “A Conversation with Olaf Larson: Part 1.” The Rural Sociologist. Vol. 25(4):30-32.

Articles:

Bakker, J. I. Hans.  1987.  "Canadian Political Economy and Rural Sociology: Early History of Rural Studies in Canada." 

The Rural Sociologist.  7(5):470-484.

Bertrand, Al.  1987. "Rural Sociological Research in the South: An Historical Overview." Southern Rural Sociology.

(Now: Journal of Rural Social Sciences). 5(1):86-95.

Brown, David and Irma T. Elo. 2011. "Calvin Beale's Legacy for Rural Demography." Rural Sociology. 76(1):24-30.

Buttel, Frederick H. 2001. "Some Reflections on Late Twentieth Century Agrarian Political Economy." Cadernos de Ciência

& Tecnologia, Brasilia. 18(2):11-36.

Collard, Clyde V. 1984. “The Founding of Rural Sociology and the Rural Sociological Society.” The Rural Sociologist.

4(4):324-335.

Friedland, William H. 2010. “Who Killed Rural Sociology? A Case Study in the Political Economy of

Knowledge Production.” International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food. 17(1):72-88.

Hofstee, E. W. 1963. "Rural Sociology in Europe." Rural Sociology. 28(3):329-341.

Holik, John S. and Edward W. Hassinger. 1986a. “The Rural Sociological Society: Its Beginnings.” The Rural Sociologist.

6(5):331-340.

Holik, John S. and Edward W. Hassinger. 1986b. “The RSS: Coming to Formalization.”  The Rural Sociologist. 6(6):407-420.

Lobao, Linda. 2007. “Rural Sociology.” Pp. 465-475 in 21^st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook. Volume 1. Clifton D.

Bryant and Dennis L. Peck (eds). London: Sage Publications.

Nelson, Lowry. 1969. Rural Sociology: Its Origins and Growth in the United States. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Nolan, Michael F., Robert A. Hagan, and Mary S. Hoekstra.  1975.  "Rural Sociological Research, 1966-1974." Rural Sociology.

40(4):435-454,

Philip Lowe.  2010.  "Enacting Rural Sociology: Or what are the Creativity Claims of the Engaged Sciences?"

Sociologia Ruralis. 50(4): 311-330.

Sewell, William H. 1965. “Rural Sociological Research, 1936-1965.” Rural Sociology. 30(4):428-451.

Stokes, C. Shannon. and Miller, Michael K. 1975. “A Methodological Review of Research in Rural Sociology since 1965.” Rural

Sociology. 40(4):411-419.

Summers, Gene F. and Frederick H. Buttel. 2000. "Rural Sociology." Encyclopedia of Sociology.  2nd Edition. Macmillian Reference

Willits, Fern K., Linda M. Gelfi, and Michele E. Lipner.  1988.  “Women in the Rural Sociological Society: A History.” The Rural

Sociologist. 8(2):126-141.

Additional Resources on the History of Rural Sociology

Brunner, Edmund deS. 1957. The Growth of a Science: A Half-Century of Rural Sociological Research in the United States. 

New York: Harper & Brothers.

Christenson, James A. and L. E. Garkovich. 1985 "Fifty Years of Rural Sociology: Status, Trends and Impressions." Rural Sociology,

Vol. 50(4):503‑522.

Christenson, James A. and A. Lee Coleman. 1985. “Rural Sociology and its Editors: A Brief History.” Rural Sociology 50(4):606-613.

Friedland, William H.  2010. "Who Killed Rural Sociology? A Case Study in the Political Economy of Knowledge Production."

International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food. 17(1): 72–88.

Hoffer, Charles R. 1961. “The Development of Rural Sociology.” Rural Sociology. 26(1):1-14.

Holik, John S. and Edward W. Hassinger. 1987a. “The RSS: Ties that Bind.” The Rural Sociologist. 7(1):3-18.

Holik, John S. and Edward W. Hassinger. 1987b. “RSS During the Depression and World War II Years.”  The Rural Sociologist.

7(3):154-165.

Holik, John S. and Edward W. Hassinger. 1987c. “RSS in Midlife: 1950-1962.”  The Rural Sociologist. 8(1):5-31.

Holik, John S. and Edward W. Hassinger. 1987d. “The RSS: Reaching Outward and Inward, the 1960s and 1970s.”  The Rural

Sociologist. 8(5):385-404.

Larson, Olaf F. and Julie N. Zimmerman (with the assistance of Edward O. Moe). 2003. Sociology in Government: The Galpin-Taylor

Years in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1919-1953. Published in cooperation with the American Sociological Association and

the Rural Sociological Society. Rural Studies Series. Penn State University Press: University Park, PA.

Larson, Olaf F. and Julie N. Zimmerman. 2000. “The USDA’s Bureau of Agricultural Economics and Sociological Studies of Rural

Life and Agricultural Issues.” Agricultural History. 74(2):227-240.

Nelson, Lowry. 1965. “The Rise of Rural Sociology: The Pre-Purnell Period.” Rural Sociology 30(4):407-427.

Smith, T. Lynn. 1957. “Rural Sociology in the United States and Canada: A Trend Report.” Current Sociology 6(5):5-18.

Vaughn, Gerald F. 2001. "The Influence of Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class on Rural Sociologist Fred Roy Yoder." Journal of

Economic Issues. 35(4):979-993

Zimmerman, Julie N. and Olaf F. Larson.  2010. Opening Windows onto Hidden Lives: Women, Country Life, and Early Rural Sociological

Research.  Rural Sociological Society, Rural Studies Series. Penn State University Press: University Park, PA

Some Early Influentials

"John M Gillette.  Univ. of No. Dak. Founder of Rural Sociology."  Webpage devoted to Gillette at the University of North Dakota.

(http://www.und.edu/org/ndrural/john_gillette.htm)

Galpin, Charles J. 1938a. “The Development of the Science and Philosophy of American Rural Society.”  Agricultural History.

12(3):195-208.

Larson, Olaf F. 1958. “Liberty Hyde Bailey’s Impact on Rural Life.” Baileya: A Journal of Horticultural Taxonomy. 6(1):10-21.

Nelson, Lowry. 1966. “On George Edgar Vincent: Rural Social Scientist.” Rural Sociology. 31(4):478-482.

Nelson, Lowry. 1969b. “Sir Horace Plunkett: A Promoter of Rural Sociology.” Rural Sociology 34(1):91-95.

Nelson, Lowry. 1970. “Henry C. Taylor and Rural Sociology.” Rural Sociology. 35(1):97-98.

Country Life Commission

Collins, Timothy and Stephen H. Hicks. "A Foundation for Sustainable Rural Community Development: The Country Life Commission."  Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, Western Illinois University.  (Website devoted to the 100th Anniversary of

the Country Life Commission).  http://www.iira.org/clc/

Bowers, William L. 1974. The Country Life Movement in America, 1900-1920. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press.

Danbom, David B. 1979. The Resisted Revolution: Urban America and the Industrialization of Agriculture. 1900-1930. Ames, IA:

Iowa State University Press.

Ellsworth, Clayton S. 1960. “Theodore Roosevelt’s Country Life Commission.” Agricultural History. 34:177-72.

Hooks, Gregory M. and William L. Flinn. 1981a. “The Country Life Commission and Early Rural Sociology.” The Rural Sociologist.

1(2):95-100.

Johnstone, Paul H. 1940. “Old Ideals Versus New Ideas in Farm Life.” Pp. 111-170 in Farmers in a Changing World.  Yearbook of

Agriculture, 1940.  Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Larson, Olaf F. and Thomas B. Jones. 1976. “The Unpublished Data from Roosevelt’s Commission on Country Life.” Agricultural

History. 50(1): 583-599.

McConnell, Grant. 1953. The Decline of Agrarian Democracy. New York: Atheneum.

Peters, Scott J. and Paul A. Morgan. 2004. “The Country Life Commission: Reconsidering a Milestone in American Agricultural History.”

Agricultural History. 78(3): 289-316.

Wunderlich, Gene. 2004.  "Theodore Roosevelt’s Country Life Commission and the American Country Life Association (Essay by Gene Wunderlich on the second Country Life Commission)." Presented as part of a symposium, “Do We Need a New Country Life Commission?” at the American Agricultural Economics Association meeting in Denver, CO (2004) and the Rural Sociological Society annual meeting in Sacramento, CA (2004).  http://www.iira.org/clc/essay1.pdf

Wunderlich, Gene. 2004.  "Teddy Roosevelt’s Silent Echo: The Second Country Life Commission. (Essay by Gene Wunderlich on the American Country Life Association)." Presented as part of a symposium, “Do We Need a New Country Life Commission?” at the American Agricultural Economics Association meeting in Denver, CO (2004) and the Rural Sociological Society annual meeting in Sacramento, CA (2004). http://www.iira.org/clc/essay2.pdf

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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