Lynd, Helen Merrell, 1896-1982

Helen Merrell Lynd (March 17, 1896 – January 30, 1982) was an American sociologist, social philosopher, educator, and author. She is best known for conducting the first Middletown studies of Muncie, Indiana, with her husband, Robert Staughton Lynd; as the coauthor of Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture (1929) and Middletown in Transition: A Study in Cultural Conflicts (1937); and a pioneer in the use of social surveys. She was also the author of England in the 1880s: Toward a Social Basis for Freedom (1945), Shame and the Search for Identity (1958), and essays on academic freedom. In addition to writing and research, Lynd was a lecturer at Vassar College, and a professor at Sarah Lawrence College from 1929 to 1964.

Helen Merrell was born in La Grange, Illinois, on March 17, 1896. Merrill studied philosophy at Wellesley College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1919. She began teaching at a New York City boarding school, but left the position after two years to begin graduate studies at Columbia University. Merrell earned a master's degree from Columbia University in the History of Ideas in 1922 and a Ph.D. degree in history and philosophy from Columbia in 1944.

Helen Merrell met Robert Staughton Lynd while hiking Mount Washington in New Hampshire. They married in 1921. Robert Lynd died on November 1, 1970.

The Lynds had two children, a son, Staughton Lynd, who became a historian and social activist, and a daughter, Andrea Merrell (Lynd) Nold.

Helen Merrell began her career as an educator in New York City, but after her marriage to Robert Lynd and earning a master's degree from Columbia University, she became a sociologist, author, and college professor.

Helen Lynd died on January 30, 1982, in Warren, Ohio, at the age of eighty-five.