The Ohio State University and Columbus and the foundations of the Linguistic Society of America

In my first Editor’s Department (in Language 78.1.1–2, 2002), I noted (with some pride) that The Ohio State University (OSU) had been involved in various ways in the early days of the Linguistic Society of America and of Language itself. At the time, I promised to explore resources here at OSU, such as the University Archives, to determine what information might be gleaned about OSU’s role in that formative period for our society. The piece that follows—departing somewhat from my usual format for this column in being coauthored (with one of Language’s editorial assistants)—presents some preliminary results of this exploration, examining the early leaders and members of the LSA from the perspective of the interconnections and likely interactions among them, their ‘networking’ as it were, not only the figures here at OSU but to some extent those elsewhere as well. It thus provides what might (perhaps generously) be termed a ‘micro-social-history’ of the people and places involved in this period. Brian D. Joseph Columbus, Ohio September 10, 2004