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Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 21:1/2 (1994) ► pp.137–156

The Saleski family and the founding of the LSA linguistic institutes

| Michigan State University
| The University of Hong Kong

The Linguistic Institutes (LIs) of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) were first envisaged by R. E. Saleski (1890–1971), an obscure scholar who for a time played a prominent role within the LSA (including the administration of the early LIs), but was inexplicably marginalized around 1931–32. E. H. Sturtevant’s 1940 history of the LI does not even mention Saleski’s name. Saleski proposed a course on “The Sociological Study of Language” for the 1929 LI – an extremely early date for such a course – and we consider the sources of his interest in this and related subjects. In addition to sketching Saleski’s life and career, we examine the careers of his sisters Else and Mary Agnes, like him minor academics, but steadfast members of LSA in its fledgling years.

Published online: 1 January 1994
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.21.1-2.08fal
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