A Study of the Type of the Place of Birth and of the Occupation of Fathers of Subjects of Sketches in 'Who's Who in America

Bibliographic Data

ID2196125
AuthorsStephen S Visher (corresponding author)
Year1925
Volume30
Issue5
Pages551-557
Publication date1925-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/213739
OpenAlexW1977621143
LanguageEN
Citations received4

Replies from 18,400 persons sketched in the current edition of Who's Who in America indicate that 25.9 per cent were born on farms, 24.5 per cent in villages and towns, 24.8 per cent in small cities, 20.6 per cent in large cities, and 4.1 per cent in suburbs. In proportion to population at the 1870 census, cities contributed nearly 6 times as many as did farms, villages 9 times as many, and suburbs 11 times. The fathers of 70 per cent of these persons belonged to the professional or business classes (34.3 per cent and 35.3 per cent respectively); 23.4 per cent were farmers, 6.3 per cent were skilled or semiskilled laborers and only 0.4 per cent were unskilled labores. In proportion to population at teh 1870 census, these classes ranked in this order in the production of notables and had a value of about 1,400, 600, 70, 30,adn 1 respectively. Clergymen fathered 2,400 times as many notables as did unskilled laborers. in proportion to number. Indicated variations in the productivity of certain professions and demoninations are also given, as well asa statement as to the interpretations of these findings

Census · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Population · Productivity · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Architecture, Design, and Social History · Demography · Race, History, and American Society

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