Background
A Massachusetts native, Lindstrom was born in the town of Palmer, located within the Springfield metropolitan area.
demographer sociologist statistician
A Massachusetts native, Lindstrom was born in the town of Palmer, located within the Springfield metropolitan area.
He attended the University of Chicago, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1938 and Master of Arts in 1941. Following service in World World War II, he returned to the University on the G.I. Bill, earning his Doctor of Philosophy in 1950.
His family background was mixed, including Swedish, German-Jewish, and other European forebears. He received a secular upbringing. After teaching for three years at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he relocated to Arizona, where he chaired the Arizona State University Department of Sociology for a record number of years.
He also served multiple terms as Secretary-Treasurer of the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA).
Lindstrom was considered to incarnate the outlook and practices of the Chicago school, of which he was a historian, contributing to the special issue of the journal Sociological Perspectives (Volume(s) 31, Number 3, July 1988) entitled Waving the Flag for Old Chicago. As a student of popular culture, he maintained an extensive collection of jazz and blues records, ranging from 78s to CDs, and frequently offered a course entitled The Sociology of Jazz and Blues.
His official area of specialization, however, was demography. Before serving in the war, he had specialized in literature—after his change of academic field, he was involved with sociology of the arts and the teaching of sociology through literature.
Lindstrom died at the age of 82.