Helen Merrell Lynd (March 17, 1896 – January 30, 1982) was an American sociologist, social philosopher, educator, and author.
She began teaching at a New York City boarding school, but left the position after two years to begin graduate studies at Columbia University.
[6][7] Helen Merrell began her career as an educator in New York City, but after her marriage to Robert Lynd and earning a master's degree from Columbia University, she became a sociologist, author, and college professor.
In 1924, Helen and Robert Lynd moved to Muncie, Indiana, to begin an eighteen-month study of daily life in this small, Midwestern community.
The Lynds provided details of their observations and analysis of their findings in Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture (1929), which they coauthored.
[7] Reviewers praised Middletown's "careful research and is scientific character," but its popularity was due to the authors' detailed descriptions of American life.
"[14] During the era of McCarthyism in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Helen and Robert Lynd were the subjects of federal investigations for alleged involvement in the Communist party.
Beginning with Frederick Lewis Allen in the 1930s, scholars have followed the Lynds pioneering efforts by producing numerous articles and books.