Western Illinois University

A Foundation for Sustainable Rural Community Development

Charles Josiah Galpin

Rural Sociologist

Charles Josiah Galpin (1864-1947), professor and considered to be a founder of rural sociology, was born in Hamilton, NY. He graduated from Colgate University in 1885 with his bachelor’s and received his master’s in 1888. He earned a second master’s degree from Harvard University in 1895. He served as professor of history at Kalamazoo College in Michigan from 1888 to 1891 and was principal of Union Academy in Bellville, NY, from 1891 to 1901. Galpin moved to Madison, WI, serving as Baptist pastor at the University of Wisconsin (1905-1911). In 1911, he was appointed part-time instructor in the university's department of agricultural economics, became a full-time faculty member in 1912, and was later promoted to associate professor.

At Wisconsin, Galpin initiated rural life studies based on community studies. In 1915, he completed a study of Walworth County, The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community, the first Experimental Station bulletin in rural sociology. He left Wisconsin to become head of the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C. (1919-1934). After leaving this post, he was succeeded by Dwight Sanderson. Galpin continued as an advisor to USDA and maintained his residence in Virginia.

Galpin occupied several leadership positions in the American Country Life Association, including vice president and secretary. He was elected vice-president of the American Sociological Association in 1932.

Works by Charles Josiah Galpin

  • 1915. The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community. Madison: University of Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 34.
  • 1918. Rural Life. New York: The Century Company.
  • 1930-1932. With Pitirim Sorokin and Carle Zimmerman. A Systematic Source Book in Rural Sociology. (3 vol.) Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • 1938. My Drift into Rural Sociology, Memoirs of Charles Josiah Galpin. University, La.: Louisiana State University Press.

Recommended Resources

  • Larson, Olaf F.; Zimmerman, Julie N. 2003. Sociology in Government: The Galpin-Taylor Years in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1919-1953. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
  • Wisconsin Historical Society “Charles Josiah Galpin.” (Accessed: June 12, 2008).