American Association for the Promotion of Social Science
Encyclopedia
The American Association for the Promotion of Social Science (est.1865) was founded in Boston
, Massachusetts
, by several high-profile academics. Officers in the first years of the society included William B. Rogers
, Thomas Hill
, George S. Boutwell
, Francis Lieber
, Erastus O. Haven
, Mary Eliot Parkman, David A. Wells, Emory Washburn
, Caroline Healey Dall
, Samuel Eliot
, F. B. Sanborn
, Joseph White, George Walker, Theodore W. Dwight, and James J. Higginson.
In 1865 the group intended "to aid the development of social science, and to guide the public mind to the best practical means of promoting the amendment of laws, the advancement of education, the prevention and repression of crime, the reformation of criminals, and the progress of public morality, the adoption of sanitary regulations, and the diffusion of sound principles on questions of economy, trade, and finance. It will give attention to pauperism, and the topics related thereto ; including the responsibility of the well-endowed and successful, the wise and educated, the honest and respectable, for the failures of others. It will aim to bring together the various societies and individuals now interested in these objects, for the purpose of obtaining by discussion the real elements of truth; by which doubts are removed, conflicting opinions harmonized, and a common ground afforded for treating wisely the great social problems of the day."
The society divided itself into departments of inquiry (education; health; jurisprudence; economy, trade and finance) and laid out research questions to guide collection of the most pertinent "data required." The questions proposed for research reflected key issues of the time in American society: national debt and a national currency; taxation and revenue; labor and capital; hasty and excessive legislation; crime and punishment; the province of law in regard to education, public health, and social morals; education of neglected and vicious children; relative value of classical and scientific instruction in schools and colleges; fine arts in education and industry; half-time system of instruction; quarantine considered in its relation to cholera; the tenement house; inspection of food and drugs; pork as an article of food; sewerage of great cities; and management of hospitals and insane asylums."
Meetings took place in Boston at the State House
(Oct. 1865) and the Lowell Institute
(Dec. 1865); and in New York at the YMCA on 5th Ave. (Nov. 1867). In 1866 the group joined with the "Boston Social Science Association" to form a joint committee called the "American Social Science Association
" (ASSA); the committee met in Boston's city hall
to discuss school reform and other matters. "The first annual meeting of the ASSA ... was ... held [in] 1868."
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, by several high-profile academics. Officers in the first years of the society included William B. Rogers
William Barton Rogers
William Barton Rogers was a geologist, physicist and educator. He is best known for setting down the founding principles for, advocating for, and finally obtaining the incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1861...
, Thomas Hill
Thomas Hill (clergyman)
-References:...
, George S. Boutwell
George S. Boutwell
George Sewall Boutwell was an American statesman who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S...
, Francis Lieber
Francis Lieber
Francis Lieber , known as Franz Lieber in Germany, was a German-American jurist, gymnast and political philosopher. He edited an Encyclopaedia Americana...
, Erastus O. Haven
Erastus Otis Haven
Erastus Otis Haven was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1880, and the president of several universities.-Biography:...
, Mary Eliot Parkman, David A. Wells, Emory Washburn
Emory Washburn
Emory Washburn was a United States political figure. Born in 1800 in Leicester, Massachusetts, Washburn was the 22nd Governor of Massachusetts from 1854 to 1855. He was elected as a member of the United States Whig Party defeating Henry W. Bishop and Henry Wilson with 46% of the vote...
, Caroline Healey Dall
Caroline Healey Dall
Caroline Wells Healey Dall was an American feminist writer, transcendentalist and reformer. She was affiliated with the National Women's Rights Convention, the New England Women's Club, and the American Social Science Association...
, Samuel Eliot
Samuel Eliot
Samuel Eliot was a historian, educator, and public-minded citizen of Boston, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut.-Biography:...
, F. B. Sanborn
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn was an American journalist, author, and reformer. Sanborn was a social scientist, and a memorialist of American transcendentalism who wrote early biographies of many of the movement's key figures...
, Joseph White, George Walker, Theodore W. Dwight, and James J. Higginson.
In 1865 the group intended "to aid the development of social science, and to guide the public mind to the best practical means of promoting the amendment of laws, the advancement of education, the prevention and repression of crime, the reformation of criminals, and the progress of public morality, the adoption of sanitary regulations, and the diffusion of sound principles on questions of economy, trade, and finance. It will give attention to pauperism, and the topics related thereto ; including the responsibility of the well-endowed and successful, the wise and educated, the honest and respectable, for the failures of others. It will aim to bring together the various societies and individuals now interested in these objects, for the purpose of obtaining by discussion the real elements of truth; by which doubts are removed, conflicting opinions harmonized, and a common ground afforded for treating wisely the great social problems of the day."
The society divided itself into departments of inquiry (education; health; jurisprudence; economy, trade and finance) and laid out research questions to guide collection of the most pertinent "data required." The questions proposed for research reflected key issues of the time in American society: national debt and a national currency; taxation and revenue; labor and capital; hasty and excessive legislation; crime and punishment; the province of law in regard to education, public health, and social morals; education of neglected and vicious children; relative value of classical and scientific instruction in schools and colleges; fine arts in education and industry; half-time system of instruction; quarantine considered in its relation to cholera; the tenement house; inspection of food and drugs; pork as an article of food; sewerage of great cities; and management of hospitals and insane asylums."
Meetings took place in Boston at the State House
Massachusetts State House
The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the "New" State House, is the state capitol and house of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is located in Boston in the neighborhood Beacon Hill...
(Oct. 1865) and the Lowell Institute
Lowell Institute
The Lowell Institute is an educational foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., providing for free public lectures, and endowed by the bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell, Jr., who died in 1836. Under the terms of his will 10% of the net income was to be added to the principal, which in...
(Dec. 1865); and in New York at the YMCA on 5th Ave. (Nov. 1867). In 1866 the group joined with the "Boston Social Science Association" to form a joint committee called the "American Social Science Association
American Social Science Association
In 1865, at Boston, Massachusetts, a society for the study of social questions was organized and given the name American Social Science Association. The group grew to where its membership totaled about 1,000 persons. About 30 corresponding members were located in Europe...
" (ASSA); the committee met in Boston's city hall
Old City Hall (Boston)
Boston's Old City Hall was home to its city council from 1865 to 1969. It was one of the first buildings in the French Second Empire style to be built in the United States and is now one of few remaining...
to discuss school reform and other matters. "The first annual meeting of the ASSA ... was ... held [in] 1868."
Further reading
- Constitution, address, and list of members of the American Association for the Promotion of Social Science, with the questions proposed for discussion: to which are added minutes of the transactions of the association. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1866. Google books.
- Social Science Association: Fifth general meeting; the labor question; lodging-houses for working women. New York Times, Nov. 20, 1867
- Playing at philosophy. New York Times, Nov. 24, 1867
- F.B. Sanborn. History of the American Social Science Association in a Letter to Its Present Secretary, I.F. Russell, New York. Journal of Social Science. 1909. Google books