The Forgotten History of the Chicago Women’s School

Abstract

Although many manuals attribute part of the origins
of the history of sociology in the Chicago School to
Mead, Dewey, Thomas, etc., few include the names,
portraits and works of the University of Chicago
women who combined theory, investigation and
activism, thus contributing to the reinforcement of
social sciences both inside and outside the academy.
This article analyzes the collective work of the
Chicago Women’s School from interdisciplinary
positions and the science-reform confusion in the
context of early 20th century United States. For this
purpose we analyze their works published in the
American Journal of Sociology from its inaugural
issue until 1920, and by so doing we aim to reflect on
the politics of gender and recognition within the
social sciences and the supposed neutrality of their history.