Mary Whiton Calkins is the most influential woman in psychology’s history. She not only took enormous steps forward in women’s issues, she also developed new ways of thinking. Calkins is an inspiration. Against all odds, she was able to advance in the world of psychology. Remarkably, she did all of this without a Ph.D.
Most known for being the first women president of the American Psychological Association (APA), Calkins had many other accomplishments that have gone unnoticed by many. Calkins dedicated her life to psychology and philosophy, even though her degree was in neither of these. Calkins was a feminist and used any setbacks she encountered as a tool to advocate women’s rights.
Calkins was the oldest of 5 children. She was born in March of 1863 in Hartford, Connecticut. Calkins mother was a puritan, while her father was Welsh. Her father, Wolcott Calkins, was a minister and was not encouraged by traditional American schools. He preferred that his children learn culture from French families. However, knowing that women received little education, Calkins’ father decided to push her education. In 1882, her father encouraged her to apply to Smith College. Unfortunately, Calkins’ sister Maude fell drastically ill. Calkins decided to take time away from school to care for her sister, who soon died. In 1884, Calkins began her senior year at Smith College and graduated with a degree in Classics and Philosophy.
After her graduation, Calkins went to Europe for over a year with her family. “Within a week of her return, Wellesley College asked Calkins to fill a temporary vacancy in their Greek department” (4000 Years of Women in Science, 1997-2008). Calkins began teaching in 1887 and continued in this position until 1890. In 1890, Wellesley College began to contemplate the expansion of their philosophy department to include psychology, a new study at the time. Because of her interest in philosophy and her advanced abilities as an instructor, Calkins was awarded the position of teaching in this new department. Calkins had no training in Psychology or Philosophy.
Because Calkins had no training in the subject she would be teaching, it was required that she study Psychology for one year. Unfortunately, many schools at that time did not offer a psychology department, and the ones that did would not admit women. Calkins considered studying abroad, but was encouraged to stay within the United States for her education. The University of Michigan would accept women, but would limit her to philosophical psychology, not physiological psychology. This was not appealing to Calkins and she quickly ruled out Michigan.
Instead, Calkins decided to take classes at a Harvard Annex. These classes were taught by Josiah Royce and were not officially part of Harvard University. “Royce, however, pushed her to try to attend regular Harvard classes because not all of his classes were available through the Annex and none of the courses taught by William James were. However, Charles Eliot, the president of Harvard, believed strongly that the two sexes should be educated separately” (4000 Years of Women in Science, 1997-2008). After pressure from Royce and William James, Eliot finally allowed Calkins to begin taking regular classes at the university. He did notate, however, that she would not be considered a student.
Calkins began attending classes that fall and was fortunate to be the only remaining student in the class. Calkins was given a private session with James. “In addition to taking classes with James and Royce, Calkins began studying experimental psychology under Dr. Edmund Sanford of Clark University” (4000 Years of Women in Science, 1997-2008).
One year later, in 1891, Calkins was appointed to the teaching position in the new psychology department at Wellesley College. The psychology department was a sub-department of the philosophy department. Almost immediately, Calkins established a psychological laboratory at the Wellesley.
Even though Calkins was a successful instructor, she felt she needed to further her education. She decided to pursue higher education in the field of Psychology and requested guidance on where to attend from former instructors Sanford, James, and Royce. The best plan, they decided, would be to study under Hugo Munsterberg, who had had a female student in the past. Munsterberg would be instructing at a familiar university the following year: Harvard. Again, Calkins needed to submit a petition in order to attend classes; and again, she was told that she could attend classes but not as a student.
While studying at Harvard, Calkins conducted many experiments and documented her findings. It was while she studied at Harvard that she invented the paired-associate technique. Calkins invented a new way to study memory and called it the method of paired associates. “G.E. Muller refined the technique and later (Edward B.)Titchener included it in his Student’s Manual, taking full credit for it” (Bumb, n.d.). Unfortunately, women in the late 19th century often did not get credit for their hard work.
Calkins continued to study under Munsterberg for the next two years, until Munsterberg was convinced that Calkins deserved a doctoral degree in psychology. At this time, Munsterberg wrote to President Eliot of Harvard University in order to request that Calkins be considered for a Ph.D. Sadly, Harvard refused the request. Several instructors agreed that Calkins had met the requirements for the degree, which was noted by the University, but not considered.
The next year, Calkins began teaching at Wellesley College again. In 1898, she was promoted to Professor. Calkins wrote several papers and books that are regarded as being some of the most influential and fundamental sources in psychology. In addition to her many psychology writings, Calkins also write many papers on philosophy.
“After 1900, Calkins’ major contribution to psychology was the development of a system of self-psychology” (Bumb, n.d.). Like her mentor (Royce), Calkins believed in idealism and that consciousness is the basis of psychology. Calkins did most of her research on topics such as emotion, space and time consciousness, color theory, dreams, and association. Soon after, Calkins accomplished yet another feat that no woman before her had been able to accomplish.
In 1905, Calkins became the first woman president of the American Psychological Association. Thirteen years later, she became the first woman president of the American Philosophical association. In 1908, Calkins was listed as the twelfth most leading psychologist in the United States. On that list, both men and women were considered. Calkins received two honorary doctorate degrees: one in Letters from Columbia and one in Laws from Smith.
In 1929, Calkins retired from Wellesley College. At this point, she had the title of Research Professor. She was offered positions at two other universities, but declined their offers. Calkins’ retirement proved to be a short one; she died in 1930 as a result of inoperable cancer.
Although she received two honorary doctoral degrees, Calkins never received the degree she worked so hard to receive from Harvard. To this day, Harvard University refuses to grant Calkins her degree. There have been several efforts, even after her death, to persuade Harvard to issue a doctoral degree in psychology to Calkins, but so far these efforts have not yielded any results.
Calkins is the most influential woman in psychology. Calkins paved the way for many important women who would follow in her footsteps. The world of psychology was changed, but more importantly, the world of education was changed. Women are taken more seriously in degree programs and as professors because of Calkins. Through all of the hardships forced upon her, Calkins pressed on; and what she accomplished is immeasurable.
References:
4000 Years of Women in Science. (1997-2008). Mary Whiton Calkins. Retrieved from http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/CALKINS.html
Bumb, J. (n.d.). Mary Whiton Calkins. Webster. Retrieved from http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/marycalkins.html
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