Thomas, William Isaac (1863-1947) Also known as: W. I. Thomas

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James MacArthur to Jane Addams, March 4, 1907

Nathan William MacChesney to Gino C. Speranza, December 1, 1910

Gino C. Speranza to Grace Abbott, March 21, 1911

Edward Fisher Brown to Jane Addams, May 1, 1911

Jane Addams to Paul Underwood Kellogg, December 11, 1914

Jane Addams to Albert Pike Bourland, March 31, 1915

Harriet Park Thomas to Jane Addams, September 28, 1916

Jane Addams to Amy Woods, February 29, 1924

William Isaac Thomas to Jane Addams, March 20, 1907

William Isaac Thomas to Jane Addams, December 27, 1909

William I. Thomas to Jane Addams, December 12, 1911

William Isaac Thomas to Jane Addams, August 1, 1922

William Isaac Thomas to Jane Addams, August 9, 1922

William Isaac Thomas to Jane Addams, August 18, 1922

Memorandum on the Study of the Races, August 18, 1922

William Isaac Thomas to Jane Addams, October 14, 1922

William James to William Isaac Thomas (fragment), [December 27, 1909]

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Birth Date

1863-08-13

Death Date

1947-12-05

Birthplace

Lebanon, Virginia

Biographical Text

William Isaac Thomas graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1884 and then became one of the university's adjunct professors in English and Modern Languages. Later he attended the Universities of Berlin and Gottingen. When he returned to the United States, Thomas taught English and sociology at Oberlin College. He later took graduate courses at the University of Chicago, and then became a sociology professor there. He was also co-editor of the American Journal of Sociology. In 1907 he published his first major work, Sex and Society. In 1908, Thomas received a grant to be used towards studying Eastern European immigrants, and Thomas chose to study Polish immigrants. While conducting his research, Thomas met Polish sociologist Florian Witold Zanies, who became Thomas's research assistant, and the two co-wrote The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. However, because this book discussed left-wing opinions on crimes committed by Polish immigrants, and because he had done research on sexual behavior, he faced much criticism from conservatives in Chicago. In 1918, he was arrested by the FBI under the Mann Act, which made "interstate transport of females for immoral purposes" illegal, because he was with the wife of an army officer, Mrs. Granger. Though he was acquitted, Thomas's career plummeted, and he was dismissed from all of his jobs. He then moved to New York, and continued to conduct research through the support of some philanthropists and institutions. In 1927 he was made honorary president of the American Sociological Society because of a younger generation of supportive scholars.

Thomas married Harriet Park in 1888. In 1935 he divorced Harriet Park and married Dorothy Swaine. Thomas died in 1947.

Occupation

Author

Professor

Sociologist

Source

Wheeler, Edward J. Current Literature. Vol. 42. New York: Current Literature Pub. Co., 1907. Pg. 446.

Collection

People

Map

Rights

Public domain

Contributor

Risman, Samantha

Sciancalepore, Victoria

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Gender

Male

First appears

1907

Bibliography and Links

SNAC

W. I. Thomas, Wikipedia

William I Thomas, U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925

William Isaac Thomas, California, Death Index, 1940-1997

Citation

“Thomas, William Isaac (1863-1947),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed September 30, 2023, http://mail.digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/1956.