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Gunnar Myrdal died in 1987, less than 70 years ago.
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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - Author’s Preface
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however, was necessary. Without it our later studies will have no concrete points at
which to be fixed.[1]
After a period of library work a first memorandum on the planning of
the research to be undertaken was submitted to Mr. Keppel on January 28,
1939. It was later mimeographed, and I had, at this stage of the study, the
advantage of criticisms and suggestions, in oral discussions and by letter,
from a number of scholars and experts, among whom were: W. W.
Alexander, Ruth Benedict, Franz Boas, Midian O. Bousfield, Sterling Brown,
W. O. Brown, Ralph J. Bunche, Eveline Burns, Horace Cayton, Allison
Davis, Jackson Davis, John Dollard, W. E. B. Du Bois, Edwin Embree,
Earl Engle, Clark Foreman, E. Franklin Frazier, Abram L. Harris,
Melville J. Herskovits, Charles S. Johnson, Guion G. Johnson, Guy B.
Johnson, Eugene Kinckle Jones, Thomas Jesse Jones, Otto Klineberg,
Ralph Linton, Alain Locke, Frank Lorimer, George Lundberg, Frank
Notestein, Howard W. Odum, Frederick Osborn, Robert E. Park, Hortense
Powdermaker, Arthur Raper, Ira DeA. Reid, E. B. Reuter, Sterling Spero,
Dorothy Swaine Thomas, W. I. Thomas, Charles H. Thompson, Edward
L. Thorndike, Rupert B. Vance, Jacob Viner, Walter White, Doxey A.
Wilkerson, Faith Williams, Louis Wirth, L. Hollingsworth Wood,
Thomas J. Woofter, Jr., Donald R. Young.
During the further planning of the study in terms of specific research
projects and collaborators, Donald R. Young of the Social Science Research
Council, Charles S. Johnson of Fisk University, and Thomas J. Woofter,
Jr., then of the Works Progress Administration, were relied upon heavily
for advice. Mr. Young, in particular, during this entire stage of the study,
was continuously consulted not only on all major questions but on many
smaller concerns as they arose from day to day, and he placed at my
disposal his great familiarity with the field of study as well as with
available academic personnel. Upon the basis of the reactions I had
received, I reworked my plans and gradually gave them a more definite
form in terms of feasible approaches and the manner of actually handling
the problems. A conference was held at Asbury Park, New Jersey, from
April 23 to April 28 inclusive, at which were present: Ralph J. Bunche,
Charles S. Johnson, Guy B. Johnson, Richard Sterner, Dorothy S. Thomas,
Thomas J. Woofter, Jr., and Donald R. Young. As a result of the
conference I submitted to Mr. Keppel, in a letter of April 28, 1939, a more
definite plan for the next stage of the study. The general terms of reference
were defined in the following way:
The study, thus conceived, should aim at determining the social, political,
educational, and economic status of the Negro in the United States as well as defining
opinions held by different groups of Negroes and whites as to his “right” status. It
must, further, be concerned with both recent changes and current trends with respect
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