© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Eubank, Earle Edward. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Eubank's interest in sociology began during his years (1904-1908) at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Concentrating on social philosophy and social problems and influenced by a conception of sociology as a humanitarian reform movement, Eubank resolved to pursue a career in charity administration. He entered the University of Chicago in 1912, intending to study sociology and philanthropy under the Reverend Charles Henderson. But his contact with Albion Small, W. I. Thomas, and Robert E. Park led him to shift his orientation in the direction of theoretical and historical sociology. In 1916 he received the Ph.D. degree, cum laude, having written his dissertation, "A Study of Family Desertion," under Park's direction.
After holding a number of short-term positions and heading the Department of Sociology at YMCA College in Chicago from 1914 to 1921, Eubank accepted an appointment in 1921 as head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati, a position which he held until his death in 1945. From 1923 to 1931 he was also director of the School of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati.
In 1927, Eubank published Lockstep and Corridor in which his co-author, convicted felon Charles L. Clark, described thirty-five years of prison experiences with Eubank adding a sociological analysis in an extended "criminological note". However, Eubank's academic reputation developed primarily through his so-called "conceptual approach" to sociology. In his 1932 book, The Concepts of Sociology, he drew upon Durkheim's definition of concepts as "collective representations" and attempted to organize them logically into "a single, inclusive, coherent, and consistent scheme" of sociology. He developed his theory of sociology under the rubrics of "societary composition, societary causation, societary change, and societary products," and in his book presented an extensive bibliographic review of sociological literature, classified by concept.
At the time of Eubank's death in 1945 he was still at work on his most ambitious undertaking, an international history of sociology in one or two volumes, entitled The Makers of Sociology. He intended to trace the historical development of the discipline, examining in some detail scholars who had "made the most outstanding contributions to sociological theory." At the outset Eubank had written to leading American sociologists, soliciting their opinions of who constituted the key sociologists of Europe (11:10). On this basis he compiled a list of persons to whom he wrote, requesting interviews during his trip to Europe in the summer of 1934. Most assented and Eubank visited some twenty-five sociologists in England, Germany, Austria, France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Russia. Following the same general scheme in each interview, he sought information about the life, work, and theories of these leading sociologists, as well as their candid assessments of the state of sociology. Eubank began the study in 1933, but with changes in the projected publisher's perception of the market and the onset of the author's illness, the project was never completed. While there are no drafts of the book, Eubank's detailed interview summaries constitute a valuable source of information about European sociology in the 1930's.
The Eubank Papers are arranged in three series:
Series 1: The Makers of Sociology, comprises three-fourths of the collection and contains Eubank's correspondence, reading notes, interview notes, articles, bibliographies, and photographs for his projected history of sociology.
Subseries 1: Individuals, Eubank's files on interviewees, as well as on other leading European and American sociologists and social thinkers, constitutes this sub-series. Each file includes a bibliography of the individual's own works, as well as literature about him. Where applicable, Eubank's interview notes and detailed summaries are included, as is his correspondence with the individual. In some cases there are also translations of articles by or about the sociologist. Eubank's files of correspondence with Antonin Obrdlik (4:3-4) and Franz Oppenheimer (4:5-7) document his role in assisting these refugee scholars' entry and settlement in the United States.
Subseries 2: Countries. The second sub-series is composed of files on sociology in various countries. These include bibliographies of sociology in that country, as well as Eubank's summaries of his observations on the nature and history of the discipline there.
Subseries 3: Working materials. Eubank's working materials for the book including reading notes, outlines, and questionnaires. His correspondence with D. H. Ferrin, vice president of Appleton-Century, the contracted publisher, and with E. A. Ross of the University of Wisconsin, editor of the Century Social Science Series in which the proposed study was to appear, is also in this sub-series.
Subseries 4: Photographs. Eubank compiled a collection of photos of sociologists which he planned to use in his book. While he took most of the photographs himself at the time of the interviews, others were solicited from the sociologists or their families. Some negatives are included.
Series II: Lockstep and Corridor includes files of correspondence regarding publication of Eubank and Clark's 1927 book, as well as cover and dust-jacket designs and reviews of the book, make up this series.
Series III: The American Seminar consists of materials related to Eubank's 1934 trip to the Soviet Union with the American Seminar, a group of educators, businessmen, and clergymen directed by author and religious leader, Sherwood Eddy. The group visited communes, factories, schools, prisons, and social service institutions, attempting to observe the strengths and weaknesses of Soviet society. The series includes Eubank's summaries of his observations and his analysis of them, as well as photographs which he took on the trip.