Charles Horton Cooley Accomplishments

Date and Place of Birth/Death:
Charles Horton Cooley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on August 17, 1864. On May 7, 1929 he died where he was born, two months after he was diagnosed with cancer in March of 1929.

Life and Education:
Charles Horton Cooley was born to Mary Elizabeth Horton and Michigan Supreme Court Judge, Thomas McIntyre Cooley. He was the fourth of six children in his family. In 1880 he graduated high school. After high school, Cooley attended the University of Michigan, where, after seven years he received a degree in mechanical engineering. In 1890 he returned to the University of Michigan to study political economy and sociology. In 1894 he received his PhD in economics.

Profession and Career:
In 1889 Charles Cooley began
Some of them include the reading of his dissertation paper “The Theory of Transportation, as well as his second writing called “Social Significance of Street Railways” to the American Economic Association in 1890. Another achievement of his, is the fact that he taught the very first formal sociology course at the University of Michigan in 1899, while he was an assistant professor of sociology. Another of Cooley’s major achievements came in 1905 when he helped to form the American Sociological Society. In 1918, Cooley would become the organization's eighth president. While a member of the American Sociological Society, Cooley wrote and published many articles through the organization. One of his most recognized achievements is the formation of the theory of the “Looking-Glass self” which states that a person's self, grows out of a person’s social interactions with
His influence on the field of sociology extends past his written works and theories. The fact that he was one of the first sociology professors in America is another influence he had on modern sociology, and society as a whole. His part in the formation of “The American Sociological Society” is another influential aspect of his life. Charles Cooley helped to modernize the field of sociology, he essentially caused/witnessed the popularization of the field through America. His theory of the “Looking-Glass Self” was one that was debated by many. Herbert Mead criticised Cooley’s theory, however, he expanded on the theory, creating his own idea which became the “Symbolic Interactionist Perspective”, a widely accepted idea in modern sociology. Charles Cooley influenced future theories in the field of sociology while also influencing the field itself through the modernization and popularization of the field through the creation of “The American Sociological