Reports on the Cost of Administration of Criminal Justice in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, 1933: A Facsimile Edition & Contextual Casebook.

Authors

Hattie Plum Williams, University of Nebraska
Michael R. Hill, Jane Addams Research CenterFollow
Mary Jo Deegan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Files

Description

The professional life of Hattie Plum Williams (1878–1963) epitomized the first generation of professional women sociologists on the Great Plains. At the University of Nebraska, she became the first woman in the world known to hold a regular appointment as chair of a coeducational, doctoral department of sociology (1923–1928). Often characterized as a social worker, her professional allegiance remained to sociology. Williams’ unsung labors in the early 1930s on behalf of the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (NCLOE) resulted in two detailed, typewritten accounts of crime and criminal justice in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. Her data collection, along with that of many researchers in other cities, provided an empirical foundation for the repeal of prohibition. Unlike other reports, however, Williams’ studies of Lincoln and Omaha were the only cost of crime investigations undertaken, directed, and completed essentially singlehandedly by a woman researcher. The reports are classic examples of her selfless dedication to scholarship, her state, and her university. This edition preserves Williams’ vulnerable typescripts and, together with an illuminating introduction by Michael R. Hill, presents her work for the NCLOE in the format of a contextual casebook providing instructive appendices by and about Williams as well as related materials issued by the NCLOE

ISBN

978-1-60962-323-4

Publication Date

2024

Publisher

Zea Books

City

Lincoln, Nebraska

Keywords

crime, law enforcement, cost investigation, Nebraska

Disciplines

Criminology | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance | Social Statistics | Sociology

Comments

Copyright © 2023 by Michel R. Hill and Mary Jo Deegan

Recommended Citation

Williams, Hattie Plum; Hill, Michael R.; and Deegan, Mary Jo, "Reports on the Cost of Administration of Criminal Justice in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, 1933: A Facsimile Edition & Contextual Casebook." (2024). Zea E-Books Collection. 155.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/155