ABSTRACT
Raised in a sober and pious midwestern Baptist home, Edwin H. Sutherland acquired his father's sense of duty, honesty, and fairness. One of his biographers has written of him as a man whose personality exemplified "decency, integrity, and compassion". When he entered the University of Chicago in 1906 to begin graduate work, Sutherland's plans changed quickly. A course in sociology was required as a prerequisite for graduate work in history, his intended major. Between 1906 and 1913 Sutherland drifted away from sociology. He grew increasingly disillusioned with the quality of his sociology instructors. In particular, he grew impatient with Charles Henderson's social reform approach to sociology and with Albion Small's empty talk about methodology. After graduation he accepted a position as professor of sociology at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. After the publication of Criminology, Sutherland's reputation soared. In 1926 he was offered a position at the University of Minnesota, then the fourth-ranked department of sociology in the country.
