Editing Lester Frank Ward (section)

==Biography==
===Childhood: 1841–1858===
Most, if not all of what is known about Ward's early life comes from the biography, ''Lester F. Ward: A Personal Sketch'',<ref name="Cape">{{ cite book | last = Cape | first = Emily Palmer | title = Lester F. Ward: A Personal Sketch | year = 1922 | url = https://archive.org/details/lesterfwardperso00capeiala }}</ref> written by [[Emily Palmer Cape]] in 1922. Lester Frank Ward was born in [[Joliet, Illinois]].<ref name="auto4"/> He was the youngest of 10 children born to Justus Ward and his wife Silence Rolph Ward. Justus Ward (d. 1858) was of New England colonial descent and worked on farms in addition to being an itinerant mechanic.<ref name="auto4"/> Silence Ward was the daughter of a clergyman; she was educated and fond of literature.<ref name="Cape" /> The family lived in poverty during Ward's early years.<ref name="auto4"/>

When Ward was one year old, the family moved closer to Chicago, to Cass, now known as [[Downers Grove, Illinois]] about twenty-three miles from Lake Michigan. The family then moved to a homestead in nearby [[St. Charles, Illinois]] where Ward's father built a saw mill business making railroad ties.<ref name="Cape" /> As a child, Ward had to worked in farms, mills, and factories to supplement his family income, giving him little time for his education.<ref name="auto4"/> Ward first attended a formal school at [[St. Charles Township, Kane County, Illinois|St. Charles]], Kane County, Illinois, in 1850 when he was nine years old. He was known as Frank Ward to his classmates and friends and showed a great enthusiasm for books and learning, liberally supplementing his education with outside reading.<ref name="Cape" /> Four years after Ward started attending school, his parents, along with Lester and an older brother, Erastus, traveled to Iowa in a covered wagon for a new life on the frontier.

===Starting college: 1858–1862===
In 1858, Justus Ward unexpectedly died, and the boys returned the family to the old homestead they still owned in St. Charles. Ward's estranged mother, who lived two miles away with Ward's sister, disapproved of the move, and wanted the boys to stay in Iowa to continue their father's work.<ref name="Cape" />
The two brothers lived together for a short time in the old family homestead they dubbed "Bachelor's Hall," doing farm work to earn a living, and encouraged each other to pursue an education and abandon their father's life of physical labor.<ref name="Cape" />

In late 1858, the two brothers moved to [[Pennsylvania]] at the invitation of Lester Frank's oldest brother Cyrenus (9 years Lester Frank's senior), who was starting a business making wagon wheel hubs and needed workers. The brothers saw this as an opportunity to move closer to civilization and to eventually attend college.<ref name="Cape" />

The business failed, however, and Lester Frank, who still didn't have the money to attend college, found a job teaching in a small country school; in the summer months he worked as a farm laborer. He finally saved enough money to attend college and enrolled in the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute in 1860. While he was at first self-conscious about his spotty formal education and self learning, he soon found that his knowledge compared favorably to his classmates', and he was rapidly promoted.<ref name="Cape" />

===Civil War service and further studies: 1862–1873===
Ward was a "fervent opponent of slavery"<ref name="auto4">Sniegoski, S. J. (1985). "State Schools 'versus' Parental Rights: The Legacy of Lester Frank Ward". ''The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies'', 10(2), 215.</ref> and enlisted in the [[Union Army]] to fight in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] in August, 1862.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Martha Mitchell |author1-link=Martha Mitchell |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=W0050 |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana |date=1993 |publisher=Brown University Library |location=Providence, RI |language=English |chapter=Ward, Lester F. |quote=He enlisted in the Union army in August 1862, only a few days after his secret marriage to Elisabeth Vought. |access-date=February 11, 2022 |archive-date=February 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211032306/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=W0050 |url-status=live }}</ref> He suffered three gunshot wounds in the [[Battle of Chancellorsville]] and was discharged from service on November 18, 1864 due to physical disability.<ref name=":0" /> After the war, Ward moved to Washington. In Washington, he worked at the Treasury Department from 1865 until 1872.<ref>The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 19 April 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1913-04-19/ed-1/seq-5/</ref> Ward attended [[Columbian College]], now the [[George Washington University]], and graduating in 1869 with the degree of [[A.B.]]<ref name="auto9">Cape, E. P. (1922). ''Lester F. Ward: A Personal Sketch'' GP Putnam's Sons. p. 31</ref> In 1871, after he received the degree of [[LL.B]], he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. However, Ward never practiced law.<ref name="auto9"/> In 1873, he completed his [[Master of Arts|A.M.]] degree.<ref name="auto9"/>

===Government work and research in Washington, DC===
[[File:Ward and fossil tree trunks.jpg|350px|right|thumb|Ward and fossil tree trunks]]
Ward concentrated on his work as a researcher for the federal government. At that time almost all of the basic research in such fields as geography, paleontology, archaeology and anthropology were concentrated in Washington, DC, and a job as a federal government scientist was a prestigious and influential position. From 1881 until 1888 Ward worked as an assistant geologist at the [[U.S. Geological Survey]]<ref>
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 19 April 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1913-04-19/ed-1/seq-5/></ref> In 1883 he was made Geologist of the U.S. Geological Survey. While he worked at the Geological Survey he became friends with [[John Wesley Powell]], the second director of the US Geological Survey (1881–1894) and the director of the [[Bureau of Ethnology]] at the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. In 1892, he was named Paleontologist for the USGS, a position he held until 1906.

According to Edward Rafferty, Ward was part of a group of "Washington intellectuals" who "wanted to place social science within the structure of government and public life itself".<ref>Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 7</ref> Ward believed that centering research activity in government actions would benefit democratic progress, and evade the partisanship, corruption, and conflict of post-Civil War politics.<ref>Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought'', 1841–1913. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 10</ref> Broadly, Ward's overarching project represented the "monumental exposition of the relation of the state to social progress"<ref name="auto5">Barnes, H. E. (1919). "Two Representative Contributions of Sociology to Political Theory: The Doctrines of William Graham Sumner and Lester Frank Ward". ''American Journal of Sociology'', 25(1), p. 3.</ref> Working from the perspective that social research could be used to improve policy and the function of government, Ward was noted by his contemporaries for engaging in "the most advanced views yet taken by an avowed sociologist in the advocacy of a comprehensive program of social reform through the medium of legislation".<ref name="auto5"/>

During this time, Ward was very productive in writing and circulating works on his interests concerning nature and society. Ward published his ''Guide to the flora of Washington and vicinity'' (1881), followed shortly afterwards by the first volume of ''Dynamic Sociology: Or applied social science as based upon statistical sociology and the less complex sciences'' (1883), alongside his ''Sketch of Paleobotany'' (1885), ''Synopsis of the Flora of the Laramie Group'' (1885), and ''Types of the Laramie Flora'' (1887).

===Gaining notability===
Reflecting his growing prominence as a scholar and acceptance in academic circles, Ward was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1889.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Lester+F.+Ward&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=search.amphilsoc.org |archive-date=June 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614175348/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Lester+F.+Ward&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1900, he was elected as the president of [[International Institute of Sociology]] in France.<ref>Cape, E. P. (1922). ''Lester F. Ward: A Personal Sketch''. GP Putnam's Sons. p. 35</ref> Ward was also a fellow of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], and a member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]].<ref>Cape, E. P. (1922). ''Lester F. Ward: A Personal Sketch''. GP Putnam's Sons. p. 34</ref>

From 1891 to 1905, Ward continued to publish numerous texts on natural history and sociology, with the circulation of his work in both areas contributing to his growing notability. These works included sociological writings on ''Neo-Darwinism and Neo-Lamarckism'' (1891), ''The Psychic Factors of Civilization'' (1893), multiple articles in ''Contributions to Social Philosophy'' (1895–1897), the second volume of his ''Dynamic Sociology'' (1897), and his ''Outlines of Sociology'' (1898).

===The founding of the American Sociological Association: 1905===
In 1905, American sociologists debated the creation of an independent professional association that would be distinct from other existing collectives for historians, economists, and political scientists.<ref name="auto2">Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 262</ref> C. W. A. Veditz, a professor at George Washington University who admired Ward's work, sought Ward's opinion on the matter, with Ward arguing in favor of an organization that could mirror Paris' International Institute of Sociology.<ref name="auto2"/>

At a meeting of approximately three hundred sociologists at the December 27th 1905 American Economic Association, Ward made a strong argument for the establishment of the American Sociological Association, with the assembled sociologists passing Ward's motion and forming a committee to establish the association's charter and founding officers.<ref name="auto2"/> Ward became the first president of the American Sociological Association on December 28, 1905, after his colleauges Ross, Small, and Giddings motioned for him to receive the honor.<ref name="auto2"/> Ward was chosen for the role out of a belief among the committee that "all sociologists are under a heavy debt of gratitude" to his work, and because of Ward's commitment to raise the discipline's profile and esteem in a society where sociology was "not merely discredited, but almost entirely unknown".<ref name="auto2"/>

===Teaching at Brown and final years: 1906–1913===
After becoming the first president of the American Sociological Association, Ward's reputation and prominence as a sociologist in America was at its peak. In 1906, Ward became chair of sociology at [[Brown University]].<ref>Cape, E. P. (1922). ''Lester F. Ward: A Personal Sketch''. GP Putnam's Sons.</ref> Previously, Ward had given "extended courses of lectures on sociology" at the [[University of Chicago]] and at [[Stanford University]].<ref>The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]), 08 March 1906. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn91070630/1906-03-08/ed-1/seq-9/></ref>

Prior to taking up the position at Brown, Ward and his wife travelled to Europe and Ward took part in various presentations and debates.<ref>Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 269–272</ref> Ward was popular at Brown, as a teacher and colleauge; a fellow professor, Samuel Mitchell, described him as "pre-eminent" among the "many able scholars and teachers" at Brown.<ref name="auto10">Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 275</ref> One of Ward's students, Sara Algeo, wrote that "studying with Prof. Ward was like sitting at the feet of [[Aristotle]], or [[Plato]] ... He was the wisest man I have ever known."<ref name="auto10"/> In 1910, Ward taught at the University of Wisconsin Madison's sociology department during their summer school<ref>Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.), 10 March 1910. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85040245/1910-03-10/ed-1/seq-4/></ref>

Ward delivered public lectures and seminars in the United Kingdom and across the United States. Towards the end of his life, Ward critiqued the [[eugenics movement]] as founded on a "distrust of nature" and "egotism", and instead argued that a program of social welfare (or '[[euthenics]]') would be far more effective in curing social ills than what was proposed by eugenicists.<ref>Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 280</ref>

Despite gaining recognition for his work and professional esteem, Ward felt increasingly isolated in this later stage of his career as his focus on systematization was at odds with the work of other social scientists who were more focused on policy and legislation.<ref>Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 273–274</ref> During his later years, Ward remained a productive writer. In 1906 Ward published ''Applied Sociology: A Treatise on the Conscious Improvement of Society by Society'', and in 1908 an article on ''Social Classes in the Light of Modern Sociological Theory'' followed in the ''American Journal of Sociology''. Ward's final major work, ''Glimpses of the Cosmos'', was published posthumously, with the help of Sarah Comstock and Sarah Simons, in six volumes beginning in 1913 and continuing until 1918.<ref>Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 283</ref>

===Death: 1913===
After several weeks of sickness, Ward died on April 17, 1913 at his home on Rhode Island Avenue.<ref name="auto3">Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 281</ref> Prominent social scientists including [[Emile Durkheim]], [[Ferdinand Tonnies]], [[Patrick Geddes]], [[Thorstein Veblen]], and [[Albion Small]] mourned his death.<ref name="auto3"/> His colleagues at Brown University  eulogized Ward as a "profound student, and an original investigator in the most abstruse problems which the human mind can grapple", describing him as "a genial associate" and "an inspiring teacher".<ref name="auto3"/> In a eulogy in the Washington Herald, C. W. A. Veditz remarked that "his death marks the disappearance of a scientists who will unquestionably rank as one of the half-dozen greatest thinkers in his field that the world has produced"<ref name="chroniclingamerica.loc.gov">The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 27 April 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1913-04-27/ed-1/seq-27/></ref>

Ward was first buried at [[Glenwood Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)|Glenwood Cemetery]] in Washington, but was later moved to Brookside Cemetery, [[Watertown, New York|Watertown]] in Jefferson County, New York to be with his wife.<ref>Cape, E. P. (1922). ''Lester F. Ward: A Personal Sketch''. GP Putnam's Sons. pp. 65–66</ref> The only surviving public memorial commemorating Ward is in the Pennsylvania village of Myersburg, where a state historical sign describes Ward as "the American Aristotle".<ref>Rafferty, E. (2003). ''Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841–1913''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 2</ref>