Dorothy Swaine Thomas
(In)Visible Women in Social Sciences and Social Work

Dorothy Swaine Thomas (1899-1977)

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    Short Introduction

    Dorothy Swaine Thomas was an US-American sociologist and economist. She was born on October 24th 1899 in Baltimore, Maryland and died aged 77 in Bethesda on May 5th 1977. Dorothy was one of the most successful sociologist at the time and painstakingly emphasized professionalism and objectivity. Between 1924 and 1948 she held teaching and research positions at various universities and institutions. Furthermore she became the first female professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. She contributed a lot to social sciences and her academic achievements helped the implementation of sociology in American universities. On top of that she supported other women, who strived for an academic career in sociology.

    Bannister, Robert C. (n.d.): Dorothy Swain Thomas: The Hard Way in the Profession., swarthmore.edu, URL: http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/rbannis1/DST.html [17.12.2021].

    Brief biography

    Dorothy Swaine Thomas was born on 24 October 1899 in Baltimore (USA) and died in Bethesda on 1 May 1977. She was an American sociologist and economist.

    In 1922 she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College. In the following 2 years she attended the University of London School of Economics to become a statistician and obtained her Ph.D. in 1924. At the defence of her Ph.D., she was awarded the Hutchinson Research Medal, which led to the publication of her dissertation "Social Aspects of Business Cycles" in the L.S.E. Dissertation Series and to the publication of part of her results in the journal Economica. However, when reviewers began to point out problems in her dissertation, her faith in statistics was shaken. During her time at L.S.E., she also developed careful measures of variables and performed time-series correlations, in an age when only crude calculators existed. Praise for such an achievement was to follow six decades later.

    After this pertinent event, she decided to shift her career towards demography. Her work and research focused primarily on internal migration and was notable for its emphasis on the importance of careful measurement and sensitivity to the interplay of demographic and economic change.

    When she joined the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1948, she was the first woman to become a professor there. During her tenure as professor of sociology, she was instrumental in developing the graduate programme in demography. In addition, Thomas was co-director of the Study of Population Redistribution and Economic Growth from 1952 to 1959, research director of the Population Studies Center from 1959 to 1970, and co-director of the Population Studies Center from 1964 to 1970 before retiring in 1970. She received an honorary doctorate from the university for her influential work in the field of demography.

    One of the most influential researchers in sociology and demography, she held numerous high-level positions in various professional associations throughout her career and helped to establish sociology permanently in American universities. She was a trailblazer for all women who wanted to make a name for themselves in research.

    Most important work

    • Thomas, Dorothy S. & Thomas, William I. 1928. The Child in America, Knopf, New York.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S. 1925. Social Aspects of the Business Cycle. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (New York: Knopf, 1928.) Reprinted, New York: Gordon and Breach, 1968.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S. 1938. Research Memorandum on Migration Differentials. New York: Social Science Research Council.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S. 1941. Social and Economic Aspects of Swedish Population Movements, 1750–1933. New York: Macmillan.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S. 1952. "Experiences in Interdisciplinary Research." American Sociological Review 17: 663–669.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S. 1964. "Temporal and Spatial Interrelations between Migration and Economic Opportunities." In Population Redistribution and Economic Growth, United States 1870–1950, Vol. III: Demographic Analyses and Interrelations, ed. Hope T. Eldridge and Dorothy Swaine Thomas. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S., Charles Kikuchi, and James Sakoda. 1952. Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement: The Salvage. Berkeley: University of California Press. doi:10.2307/2941811.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S., ed., with Simon Kuznets. 1957, 1960, 1964. Population Redistribution and Economic Growth, United States, 1870–1950. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. Vol. I: Methodological Considerations and Reference Tables, 1957; Vol. II: Analysis of Economic Change, 1960; Vol. III: Demographic Analyses and Inter-relations, 1964. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, 45, 51, 61.
    • Thomas, Dorothy S., and Richard S. Nishimoto. 1946. Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement: The Spoilage. Berkeley: University of California Press.
    Further links and literature
    Funding

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