Cooley's early work, a paper on theSocial Significance of Street Railways,? whish he read at a meeting of the American Economic Association in 1890, as well as his aforementioned dissertation, both grew from two years of work in Washington, first from the Interstate Commerce Commission and later for the Bureau of the Census. These were written in the tough-minded andrealistic? tradition of whish his father presumably approved. His mature work, which is characterized throughout by a tender-minded, introspective approach more congenial to his fundamental nature, began to take shape only after he stated to teach at the University of Michigan and has achieved independence from his father.? (Coser, 1977).
Also he married a woman by the name, Elsie Jones.Elsie Jones was the daughter of a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan.? (Coser, 1977)The couple lived a quiet and somewhat secluded like with their three children, a boy and two girls.? (Coser, 1977) His wife was pretty much the total opposite from him, she was outgoing and very energetic. the children served Cooley as a kind of domestic laboratory for his study of genesis and growth of .
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the self.? (Coser, 1977).
Cooley was not a popular teacher when he began teaching at the University of Michigan in 1892. He tended to be a nervous speaker and sometimes appeared sickly, some undergraduates would say. However, graduates students felt different about his way of teaching, they loved his way of teaching with is intense intellect and very complicated mind (Major). Some felt so privileged to sit in on his class and just listen to him speak. Cooley rose pretty rapidly in rank at the University, from assistant professor in 1899 to an associate professor in 1904 and finally a full professor just three years later. (Coser, 1977).
?In 1905, Cooley participated in the formation of the American Sociological Society and later became president of the society in 1918.