Roland L. Warren

Roland L. Warren passed away on February 14, 2010. He was born in Islip, N. Y. on June 24, 1915, the son of Ruy W. and Jennie Simonds Warren. He spent his childhood and early youth in Brooklyn, N. Y. and did his undergraduate work at New York University, "commuting" by subway. In Heidelberg, Germany, while studying for his Ph.D., he met Margaret Armstrong Hodges, and they became engaged. In 1937 he received his doctorate in Economics, and Margaret received hers in Art History, both at the University of Heidelberg. They were married in New York City in 1938. Roland Warren began his teaching career at Hofstra University (then Hofstra College). In 1941 he and Margaret moved to Alfred, N. Y., where he taught sociology and philosophy in the Liberal Arts College, but soon devoted himself exclusively to sociology. During World War II, he saw duty as a Naval Reserve Officer on the small carrier Block Island, which was torpedoed and sank in the Atlantic on May 29, 1944. He then went with the surviving crew members to commission the new Block Island, where he saw duty in Okinawa and other Pacific engagements. After the war, he returned to Alfred and collaborated with Henry Langer in the Alfred University Area Study. At Alfred, he published his first book, Studying Your Community. He spent the academic year 1956-57 in Stuttgart, Germany, as a Guggenheim Fellow, studying citizen participation in that metropolis. He returned to Alfred for a year, and then left in 1958, to spend four years on a grant from Russell Sage Foundation as a social scientist giving research consultation to voluntary and public health and welfare agencies in Upstate New York. His book, Social Research Consultation, resulted from this activity. A Quaker, he served as American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Quaker International Affairs Representative to East and West Germany from 1962 to 1964. He and his wife lived in Berlin, which at the time was the focus of the Cold War, and carried on peace activities in both the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic, engaging in interviews with high officials in both parts of Germany to promote a less hostile climate where peace could be possible. He directed International Student Seminars for the AFSC in Denmark and Austria, and International Diplomats Conferences in Switzerland. Roland served on the Board of Directors for the AFSC for several years, and he led and participated in peace missions to East Germany, North Korea, South Korea, and Nicaragua. His writings were published by Pendle Hill and in the Friends Journal. He and his family were among the founding members of Alfred Friends Meeting (Quakers) and Rye Friends Meeting in New York State. Roland returned to the United States in 1964 as Professor of Community Theory in the School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare at Brandeis University. There, he was awarded a senior research fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health, which permitted him the available time for research and analytic work which resulted in a series of books, entitled The Community in America; Perspectives on the American Community; Politics and the Ghettos; Truth, Love, and Social Change; Social Change and Human Purpose, and two co-authored books: The Structure of Urban Reform, and Families in the Energy Crisis. During his career, he published more than fifty articles in learned journals. In 1982 he was honored by the American Sociological Association "for outstanding academic achievements and inspiring contributions to the study of Community." Perhaps more than any other social scientist, he explained how communities exist as independent localities that are simultaneously dependent upon external, national and international forces — an understanding that still guides community research. As a boy, Roland sang in the Trinity Church Choir in New York City, and he sang a solo each week on the WJZ Children's Hour, a radio show hosted by Milton Cross. After their children were born, Roland and Margaret joined the children in learning to play musical instruments, and they played in orchestras and chamber groups in Berlin, Germany, in Alfred and Westchester County, N. Y., and in Nashua, N. H. Margaret owned a violin building and repair business for many years, and two of their children became professional musicians. On his retirement from Brandeis University, the Warrens moved back to the Alfred area, as they had planned when leaving Alfred several decades earlier, taking up residence in Andover. In his retirement, he turned to research and writing about 17th Century Massachusetts, and published Mary Coffin Starbuck and the Early History of Nantucket; Loyal Dissenter: The Life and Times of Robert Pike; and a lengthy monograph on the life and poetry of John Greenleaf Whittier, as well as several historical novels, short stories, and opinion pieces on politics, religion, behavior, and ethics. In the late 1980s Roland was instrumental in the fight to defeat the proposed placement of a nuclear waste dump in rural Allegany County, New York. At one point he led a group of seniors, "Grandparents for the Future" to chain themselves together as a blockade onto the proposed site. This was just one of many instances throughout his life in which he reinforced his strong convictions with visible action. He led a full and enriched life during which he brought his considerable intellect to bear on a wide variety of topics. He and Margaret created a family environment full of stimulation and experience. Roland could hold his own in English, German, French, Spanish, and Latin. He was an intellectual, a gentleman, a devoted husband, and a true Renaissance man. He touched many people in many ways and was a model human being. He is survived by his son David Warren (of Forbes Park, Colorado), daughter Robin Warren (of Merrimack, N. H.), grandson Michael Warren and great-grandchildren Leila and Wynn Warren (all of Larchmont, N.Y.). He was predeceased by his wife Margaret and his daughter Ursula Warren. A Memorial Gathering will be held on Tuesday, March 9, 6:00 pm, in the Auditorium of the Unitarian Universalist Church, 58 Lowell Street, in Nashua, New Hampshire. In place of flowers, the family suggests a donation to your charity of choice or to your local hospice organization.