Lynd, Helen Merrell, 1896-1982

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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.

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Role	Title	Holding Repository
creatorOf	[Sarah Lawrence College memorial observances : Helen Lynd] [sound recording].	Sarah Lawrence College, Esther Raushenbush Library
referencedIn	Bendix, Reinhard. Reinhard Bendix papers, 1929-1998.	University at Albany, University Libraries
referencedIn	Betty. 1 ALS, [1966] Oct. 14, R.F.D. Cornwall Bridge, Conn. to Muriel Rukeyser.	New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf	Brock, Lina Lee. The Helen Merrell Lynd colloquium [sound recording] : concepts of the person and the self.	Sarah Lawrence College, Esther Raushenbush Library
referencedIn	Bunting, Mary Ingraham, 1910-. 2 TLS, 1964 Feb. 20 and 1967 May 3, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass. to Muriel Rukeyser.	New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn	Cogan, Edward J. (Edward Jack), 1925-. The Helen Merrell Lynd colloquium [sound recording] : Sarah Lawrence Education : a vanishing difference?.	Sarah Lawrence College, Esther Raushenbush Library
creatorOf	Davis, Michael, 1947-. The Helen Merrell Lynd colloquium [sound recording] : traditions of the new III : the possibilities of friendship.	Sarah Lawrence College, Esther Raushenbush Library
referencedIn	Dejarlais, Robert. The Helen Merrell Lynd colloquium [sound recording] : institutions and identity.	Sarah Lawrence College, Esther Raushenbush Library
creatorOf	Doyle, Charlotte. The Helen Merrell Lynd colloquium [sound recording] : creative inquiry in arts and science.	Sarah Lawrence College, Esther Raushenbush Library
referencedIn	Erich Fromm papers, 1929-1949, 1932-1949	New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division

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Relation	Name
associatedWith	Bendix, Reinhard.
associatedWith	Betty.
correspondedWith	Brinton, Crane, 1898-1968
correspondedWith	Buchanan, Scott Millross, 1895-1968
associatedWith	Bunting, Mary Ingraham, 1910-
associatedWith	Case, Mary.
associatedWith	Columbia University.
associatedWith	Columbia University. Oral History Research Office.
correspondedWith	Diamond, Sigmund
correspondedWith	Erikson, Erik H. (Erik Homburger), 1902-1994