Park, Robert E(zra)

(born Feb. 14, 1864, Harveyville, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 7, 1944, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. sociologist. After 11 years as a newspaper reporter, Park attended various universities and studied with scholars such as John Dewey, William James, Josiah Royce, and Georg Simmel. He then worked for Booker T. Washington and later taught at the University of Chicago—where he was a leading figure in the “Chicago school” of sociology, characterized by empirical research and the use of human ecology models—and at Fisk University. He is noted for his work on ethnic groups, particularly African Americans, and on human ecology, a term he has been credited with coining. Park wrote Introduction to the Science of Sociology (1921) and The City (1925) with Ernest W. Burgess; Race and Culture (1950) and Human Communities (1952) were published posthumously.