Robert E. Park

Robert Ezra Park (February 14, 1864 – February 7, 1944) was an American urban sociologist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in early U.S. sociology. From 1905 to 1914 Park worked with Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute. After Tuskegee, he taught at the University of Chicago, from 1914 to 1933, where he played a leading role in the development of the Chicago School of sociology. Park is noted for his work in human ecology, race relations, migration, assimilation, social movements, and social disorganization.

Park was born in Harveyville, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1864. He grew up in Red Wing, Minnesota. Park attended the University of Michigan where he studied under John Dewey. Dewey introduced Park to Franklin Ford, a reporter, who would help shape Park’s career in the coming years.

After he graduated in 1887 Park's concern for social issues, especially issues related to race in cities, led him to become a journalist. Franklin Ford and Park planned a newspaper, Thought News, which would register public opinion like business papers recorded changes in the stock market. It was never published, but Park still pursued a career as a journalist. From 1887 to 1898, Park worked as a journalist in Detroit, Denver, New York City, Chicago, and Minneapolis. His encounter with journalism influenced his later work in sociology.

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