The Man Farthest Down - A Record of Observation and Study in Europe #431492

Robert Ezra Park (February 14, 1864 – February 7, 1944) was an American urban sociologist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in early U.S. sociology. Park was a pioneer in the field of sociology, changing it from a passive philosophical discipline to an active discipline rooted in the study of human behavior. He made significant contributions to the study of urban communities, race relations and the development of empirically grounded research methods, most notably participant observation. From 1905 to 1914, Park worked with Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute. After Tuskegee, he taught at the University of Chicago from 1914 to 1933, where he played a leading role in the development of the Chicago School of sociology. Park is noted for his work in human ecology, race relations, Human migration, Cultural assimilation, social movements, and social disorganization.

In 1904, Park began teaching Philosophy at Harvard as an assistant professor. Park taught there for two years until celebrated educator and author, Booker T. Washington, invited him to the Tuskegee Institute to work on racial issues in the southern United States. Park and Washington originally met through their mutual interest in helping Africans through the Congo Reform Association of which Park was secretary and Washington was vice president. Over the next seven years, Park worked for Washington by doing field research and taking courses. In 1910, Park traveled to Europe to compare US poverty to European poverty. Shortly after the trip, Washington, with the help of Park, published The Man Farthest Down (1913). This publication highlights Parker and Washington's journey to explore Europe in the hopes of finding the man "the farthest down" in order to explore these people were choosing to emigrate and the likeliness of a future change in positions. This led them on a six-week journey through the British Isles, France, Italy, Poland, Denmark, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.