University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives


Manuscript Register
for

F. Stuart Chapin Collection

M77.4.1

These materials consist of various publications about and by the Tennessee Valley Authority, including bulletins, studies, newspaper clippings, and pamphlets.

For more information on TVA, see also the book TVA and the Grass Roots, by Philip Selznick (UNCA GENERAL HD9685.U6 A1395)

Dr. Francis Stuart Chapin was born February 3, 1888, the son of Rev. and Mrs. Charles B. Chapin, in Brooklyn, New York.  In 1909 he received a Bachelors of Science degree from Columbia University in New York, and in 1911 earned his Ph. D.  He then taught at Wellesley and Smith colleges, and during his career as a professor of sociology and social work he wrote nine reference books and multiple journal articles.  In 1923 Chapin became head of the University if Minnesota’s Sociology department and helped to devise quantitative methods and empirical research in sociology.  He married Eula Pickard and they had two sons, Edward and Francis Stuart Jr., and one daughter, Mrs. Claude Manning.

In 1928 Chapin was a consultant on the Sub-Committee on Science and Bibliography, which was chaired by Mme. Curie of the League of Nations.  He was active in professionalizing American sociology, helping to create the Social Science Research Council and being an active participant in the American Sociological Society, becoming its president in 1935.

In 1930 Chapin’s parents moved to Buncombe County, North Carolina, where his father was the pastor of Oak Forest Presbyterian Church in West Asheville.  After leaving Wellesley and Smith, Chapin taught at the University of Minnesota.  In 1951 he was consultant to UNESCO in Paris, and in 1961 he was Consultant to the World Heath Organization in Geneva. 

In 1953, Chapin  retired from the University of Minnesota, a year after giving up the Chair of the Department of Sociology, and he moved to Asheville.  He was highly active in local politics, being a member of the Mountain City Club, member and former Vice President of the Asheville Civitan Club, consultant on the North Carolina Board of Higher Education, a member of the board of commissioners of Asheville Housing Authority and later chairman, and a member of the Commission of Education Beyond High School. His work with TVA issues is well recorded in this collection

Francis Stuart Chapin died in Asheville on July 7, 1974 at the age of 86. 

Books (chronological order)

Education and The Mores. (New York, 1911)

An Introduction to the Study of Social Evolution. (New York: Century.1913)

Historical Introduction to Social Economy. (New York, 1917).

An Introduction to the Study of Social Evolution. (2nd edn: New York, 1919).

Field Work and Social Research.(New York: Century. 1920)..

Cultural Change. (New York: Century, 1928).

Contemporary American Institutions: A Sociological Analysis(New York: 1935)

Experimental Designs in Sociological Research. (New York, 1947). 

Articles (chronological)

"The Variability of the Popular Vote." American Journal of Sociology 18 (1912): 222-40.

"How We Waste Our Coal." Independent.74 (1913): 1102-1104.

"The Elements of the Scientific Method in Sociology," American Journal of Sociology 20 (September, 1914)): 371-91.

"Our Submerged Forbearers." Independent 77 (1914): 30-31.

"The Elements of Scientific Method in Sociology." American Journal of Sociology 20 (1914): 371-91.

"An Ounce of Prevention." Independent 82 (1915): 540.

"Moral Progress," Popular Science 86 (1915), 467-71.

"Organizing the Labor Market." Independent 83 (1915): 330-31.

"The Business System in the Professor's Study."School and Society 2 (1915): 709.

"The Experimental Method and Sociology." Scientific Monthly (1917):4:l3-34, 23-87.

"The Experimental Method and Sociology." Scientific Monthly 4 (1917):133-43, 238-47.

"Primitive Social Ascendency," PASS 12 (1917):

"The Relations of Sociology and Social Case Work," Proceeding of the National Conference on Social Work 1919, pp. 358-65. Atlantic City, NJ..

"Methods of Conducting Research Courses for College Students." Publications of the American Sociological Society 17 (1922):168-77.

[review of Giddings, Scientific Study], Annals of the American Academy 122 (1925): 273.

"The Meaning of Measurement." Publications of the American Sociological Society 24 (1929):83-94.

"Present "The Present State of the Profession." American Journal of Sociology 39 (1933-34): 506-8.

"The Observability of Social Institutions." Sociology and Social Research 17 (1933): 230-33.

"What Has Sociology to Contribute to Plans for Recovery from the Depression?" Social Forces, 12 (1934): 473-75.

"Measurement in Sociology." American Journal of Sociology 40 (January, 1935): 4780.

"Some Results of a Quantitative Analysis of the Institutional Patterns of Churches." Social Forces 13 (1935): 340-49.

"Social Theory and Social Action." American Sociological Review I (February, 1936): 1-11.

"Social Theory and Social Action." American Sociological Review 1 (1936): 1-11.

"Social Participation and Social Intelligence." American Sociological Review 4 (1939): 157-66.

"An Experiment on the Social Effects of Good Housing." American Sociological Review 5 (1940): 868-79.

"Preliminary Standardization of a Social Insight Scale," American Sociological Review 7 (1942): 214-28.

1. Development and Utilization of Electricity in Tupelo, Miss. under TVA Power Program

2. Operations of the Alcorn County Electric Power Association under the TVA Power Program

3. Progress in the Utilization of Electricity in Athens, Alabama under the TVA Power Program

4. Economics of Electric Distribution.

1950 Annual Report of Electric System Operations

TVA Financial Statements for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1950

Food at the Grass Roots: The Nation's Stake in Soil Minerals Soil, People, and Fertilizer Technology

3 pamphlets: 

"The Widening of Economic Opportunity Through TVA" and two which concern soil and forest conservation in relation to natural water control.