Biography: Herbert Blumer

Major Theorists of Symbolic Interactionism

Herbert Blumer (1900-1987)

Herbert Blumer grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. After earning an A.B and an A.M from the University of Missouri, Blumer joined the faculty there as an instructor. Moving on to the University of Chicago, Blumer took the unusual turn of becoming a professional football player (with the now defunct Chicago Cardinals) while earning a doctorate of Sociology.

He was on faculty at the University of Chicago for 27 years, taking leave only to perform military service during World War II and for visiting appointments at various universities. In 1952 he became the Chair of the newly formed Sociology department at the University of California-Berkeley. He served as the secretary-treasurer, and later as President, for the American Sociological Society. He also chaired the Board of Arbitration of the United States Steel Corporation, where he gained expertise in labor-management relations.

While developing the Sociology department at the University of California-Berkeley, Blumer elaborated on the theory of racial prejudice, explored industrialization on traditional societies, and oversaw a study of drug-usage by adolescents. Known as a scholar demanding of empirical reasoning, he was honored by the American Sociological Association with its Award for a Career of Distinguished Scholarship in 1983.

Blumer's major works include:
Movies and Conduct (1933)
Movies, Delinquency, and Crime (1933)
Human Side of Social Planning (1935)
Critiques of Research in the Social Sciences: An Appraisal of Thomas and
Znaniecki's "The Polish Peasant in Europe and America" (1939)
Symbolic Interaction: Perspective and Method (1969)

Lyman, Stanford M. and Arthur J. Vidich. 1988. Social Order and the Public Philosophy: An Analysis and Interpretation of the Work of Herbert Blumer. The University of Arkansas Press.


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Major Theorists of Symbolic Interactionism Herbert Blumer (1900-1987) Herbert Blumer grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. After earning an A.B and an A.M from the University of Missouri, Blumer joined the faculty there as an instructor. Moving on to the University of Chicago, Blumer took the unusual turn of becoming a professional football player (with the now defunct Chicago Cardinals) while earning a doctorate of Sociology. He was on faculty at the University of Chicago for 27 years, taking leave only to perform military service during World War II and for visiting appointments at various universities. In 1952 he became the Chair of the newly formed Sociology department at the University of California-Berkeley. He served as the secretary-treasurer, and later as President, for the American Sociological Society. He also chaired the Board of Arbitration of the United States Steel Corporation, where he gained expertise in labor-management relations. While developing the Sociology department at the University of California-Berkeley, Blumer elaborated on the theory of racial prejudice, explored industrialization on traditional societies, and oversaw a study of drug-usage by adolescents. Known as a scholar demanding of empirical reasoning, he was honored by the American Sociological Association with its Award for a Career of Distinguished Scholarship in 1983. Herbert Blumer died on April 13, 1987. Blumer's major works include: Movies and Conduct (1933) Movies, Delinquency, and Crime (1933) Human Side of Social Planning (1935) Critiques of Research in the Social Sciences: An Appraisal of Thomas and Znaniecki's "The Polish Peasant in Europe and America" (1939) Symbolic Interaction: Perspective and Method (1969) Information from this biography was collected from: Lyman, Stanford M. and Arthur J. Vidich. 1988. Social Order and the Public Philosophy: An Analysis and Interpretation of the Work of Herbert Blumer. The University of Arkansas Press.