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APA Historical Database: Selected Entries


On September 5:

1831 - Charles Darwin was interviewed by Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle for the position of ship's naturalist. Fitzroy almost rejected Darwin because of the shape of Darwin's nose.

1889 - Volume 1 of James M. Baldwin's Handbook of Psychology was published.

1935 - The APA voted to approve a petition from the Psychometric Society for affiliation with the APA. Louis L. Thurstone, Paul Horst, and Myron W. Richardson submitted the petition.

1938 - The first annual meeting of the American Association for Applied Psychology (AAAP) was held at the University of Minnesota. The AAAP was organized at a meeting on August 30-31, 1937, and its constitution was approved at this 1938 meeting. The AAAP merged with the APA when the APA reorganized in 1944.

1939 - The APA voted to "attempt to obtain a certificate from the United States Treasury Department indicating that contributions made to the Association may be deducted from the income tax of the donor."

1946 - A convocation at the University of Pennsylvania, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the APA, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the first psychological clinic. The clinic had been founded in 1896 by Lightner Witmer.

1961 - The organizing meeting of the APA's reconstituted Division 6 (Physiological and Comparative Psychology) was held. The original Division 6 had merged with Division 3 (Theoretical-Experimental Psychology) in 1949 but reconstituted itself as a separate division in 1962. Sidney Weinstein led the petition drive for the reborn division.

1961 - The first annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research was held in New York. Chester W. Darrow was president of the organization.

1965 - Fred Keller first presented his personalized system of instruction to a professional audience. His address was delivered to the 73rd Annual Meeting of the APA.

1965 - The first formal meeting of the Council of Chairmen of Graduate Departments of Psychology began at 1:00 p.m. during the annual meeting of the APA in Chicago. Lloyd Humphreys of the University of Illinois was chairman of the organization. In 1979, the group adopted its present name, the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology.

1967 - The APA Council of Representatives admitted Division 29 (Psychotherapy). The new group was originally Psychologists Interested in the Advancement of Psychotherapy, a section of APA Division 12 (Clinical Psychology). Fred E. Spaner was the first president of the new division.

1970 - The first American Psychological Foundation Distinguished Contributions to Education in Psychology Awards were presented to Fred S. Keller and Freda Gould Rebelsky at the APA convention in Miami Beach.

1971 - The APA Council of Representatives admitted Division 32 (Humanistic Psychology). The organizing meeting of the new division was held on the same day at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Washington, DC.

1971 - Leona Tyler was awarded the Edward K. Strong Memorial Gold Medal for her theoretical and practical work in vocational interest testing.

1972 - The APA Council of Representatives admitted Division 33 (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities).


Copyright © 1995, American Psychological Association. Web version by permission. Source: Street, W. R. (1994). A Chronology of Noteworthy Events in American Psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. The American Psychological Association and Central Washington University have supported the development of the APA Historical Database.

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