It received little attention when it was first published, but upon being reissued in 1955 it became a bestseller as well as a standard college text, and established Whyte's reputation as a pioneer in participant observation.

In the late 1930s, on a fellowship from Harvard University,[1] Whyte lived in the North End of Boston, which was mostly inhabited by first- and second-generation immigrants from Italy.

Whyte, who came from a well-to-do family, considered the neighborhood a slum, and wanted to learn more about its "lower class" society.

The book was first published as Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum by the University of Chicago Press in 1943.

It received little attention at the time, but when it was republished in 1955 it garnered critical praise and became a bestseller and a standard college text.