William Graham Sumner
| William Graham Sumner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 30, 1840 Paterson, New Jersey |
| Died | April 12, 1910 (aged 69) Englewood, New Jersey |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Yale College |
| Influences | Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Social Darwinism |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Yale University |
| Notable students | Kate Claghorn, Albert Galloway Keller, Irving Fisher, Thorstein Veblen |
| Main interests | Sociology |
| Notable works |
What the Social Classes Owe To Each Other (1883) Folkways (1907) |
| Notable ideas | Diffusion, folkways, ethnocentrism, social mores |
William Graham Sumner (October 30, 1840 – April 12, 1910) was a classical liberal (now a branch of "libertarianism" in American political philosophy) American social scientist. He taught social sciences at Yale, where he held the nation's first professorship in sociology. He was one of the most influential teachers at Yale or any major schools. Sumner was a polymath with numerous books and essays on American history, economic history, political theory, sociology, and anthropology. He supported laissez-faire economics, free markets, and the gold standard. He introduced the term "ethnocentrism" to identify the roots of imperialism, which he strongly opposed. He was a spokesman against imperialism and in favor of the "forgotten man" of the middle class, a term he coined. He had a long-term influence on conservatism in the United States.
Sumner wrote an autobiographical sketch for the fourth of the histories of the “Class of 1863 Yale College. In 1925, Rev. Harris E. Starr, class of 1910 Yale Department of Theology, published the first full length biography of Sumner. A second full length biography by Bruce Curtis was published in 1981. Other authors have included biographical information about Sumner as shown by citations in this “Biography” section.
Sumner was born in Paterson, New Jersey, on October 30, 1840. His father, Thomas Sumner, was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1836. His mother, Sarah Graham, was also born in England. She was brought to the United States in 1825 by her parents. Sumner’s mother died when he was eight.
In 1841, Sumner’s father went prospecting as far west as Ohio, but came back east to New England and settled in Hartford, Connecticut,in about 1845. Sumner wrote about his high regard for his father: “His principles and habits of life were the best possible.” Earlier in his life, Sumner said, that he accepted from others “views and opinions” different from his father’s. However, “at the present time,” Sumner wrote, “in regard to those matters, I hold with him and not with the others.” Sumner did not name the “matters”.
Sumner was educated in the Hartford public schools. After graduation, he worked for two years as a clerk in a store before going to Yale College from which he graduated in 1863. Sumner achieved an impressive record at Yale as a scholar and orator. He was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society in his junior year and in his senior year to the secretive Skull and Bones society.
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