author
Ernest R. (Ernest Rutherford) Groves
1877–1946
A pioneering teacher of marriage and family life, he helped bring subjects once treated as private or taboo into the college classroom. His books explore family relationships, social change, and everyday questions of modern life with a practical, humane eye.
1 Audiobook
Rural Problems of Today
by Ernest R. (Ernest Rutherford) Groves
About the author
Born in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1877, Ernest Rutherford Groves studied at Yale Divinity School and Dartmouth College before building a career that moved from ministry into sociology and family studies. He became known as an early educator in marriage and the family, and later taught at the University of North Carolina.
Groves wrote widely on family life, social adjustment, marriage, and rural society. Archives and historical organizations describe him and his wife, Gladys Hoagland Groves, as pioneer educators in sex and marriage, and his work helped turn these subjects into serious areas of public discussion and academic study.
He also served as president of the National Council on Family Relations from 1940 to 1942. For readers today, Groves is especially interesting as a writer who tried to connect sociology with ordinary experience, treating family life not as a side topic but as one of the central forces shaping society.