Sociologists - North America

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“Sexism, Racism and Sociology in North America”

Sex roles were rigid in the 1800 leading to very few female sociologists.
Females were expected to stick to the four C’s: church, cooking, children and clothes.
Most early female sociologists, who managed to study, viewed sociology as a path to social reform.

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Martineau was a sociologist from England who did extensive analysis of US social customs.
Sexism was so pervasive that when Martineau first began to analyze social life, she would hide her writing beneath her sewing when visitors arrived.
Until recently, Martineau was known primarily for translating Comte’s ideas into English.

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Jane Addams was a prominent sociologist and social reformer who became one of the founding members of the American Sociological Society.
On a trip to Europe, she saw the work being done for the poor and decided to work for social justice.
She campaigned for 8-hour work days and for laws against child labor.
She wrote books on poverty, democracy and peace which made her win a Nobel Prize for Peace.

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Racism was prevalent in the 19th and 20th century in North America.
W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt) Du Bois (1868–1963) was a black man who was graduate of Fisk University, Harvard and University of Berlin.
He spent his lifetime studying relations between African Americans and whites.
Du Bois combined the role of academic sociologist with that of social reformer.
Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
At age 93, dismayed that so little improvement had been made in race relations, he moved to Ghana, where he was buried.