ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with an episode in intellectual history through its treatment by subsequent scholars. It describes structuralist analysis of the intellectual worlds of the men and women in the Chicago sociology department. The chapter presents a contribution to feminist scholarship by a theorised reinterpretation of M. J. Deegan's work, and the general issues raised about scholarly women. Deegan's work on the lost women not only makes an impact as a piece of women's history: it also changes the way one conceptualizes the development of American sociology. The chapter presents the heroines of the story gained their university education in the USA, and met American 'old fogies' equally opposed to their participation in scholarly activities. It focuses on the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago between 1892 and 1942. Chicago sociology was dominant in the USA until 1935-36, when the rest of the country's sociologists rebelled.
