author
James Elbert Cutler
1876–1959
An early sociology scholar and educator, he is best remembered for studying lynching in the United States and for helping build social work education at Western Reserve University. His work joined research, teaching, and public concern in a way that still feels strikingly modern.
1 Audiobook
Lynch-law; an investigation into the history of lynching in the United States
by James Elbert Cutler
About the author
Born in Princeville, Illinois, in 1876, James Elbert Cutler became a sociologist, teacher, and university leader. He studied at the University of Colorado and earned a Ph.D. at Yale before going on to teach and write about major social questions of his time.
Cutler taught the first formal sociology courses at Western Reserve University and later helped found its School of Applied Social Sciences, serving as its first dean. That role placed him at the center of early efforts to connect university study with practical social work and public service.
As an author, he is especially known for Lynch-law: An Investigation into the History of Lynching in the United States, an early scholarly study of racial violence and mob justice in America. He died in 1959, leaving behind a career that linked careful academic research with a strong interest in social problems.