This chapter provides a broad overview of the history and use of ethnography as a tool for studying crime and deviance. It traces the development of ethnographic methods, including participant observation, from ancient times to the present, exploring how early-twentieth-century anthropologists and sociologists, First and Second Chicago School ethnographers, and scholars from a variety of intellectual traditions have shaped, problematized, and codified ethnography—leaving us with some of the most canonical studies of crime and deviance in the process. This chapter serves as an historical steppingstone for the remainder of the handbook, highlighting some of the most influential people, places, studies, and movements that have shaped how contemporary crime ethnographers understand and practice their craft.