APA Historical Database: Selected Entries

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On December 12:

1836 — The first patient was admitted to the Vermont Asylum for the Insane in Brattleboro, Vermont. This early mental hospital, the 11th in the United States, was founded on September 28, 1835 at the first meeting of its board of trustees. William H. Rockwell was the first superintendent. Gifts of land allowed access to outdoor activities for the patients and summer retreats began in 1882. The hospital's name was changed to the Brattleboro Retreat on May 27, 1893.

1904 — Ivan P. Pavlov received the Nobel prize. The prize honored Pavlov's work in the physiology of digestion, but Pavlov mentioned his work with conditioned reflexes in his acceptance speech.

1928 — Oliva M. Espin was born. Espin has expanded the domain of clinical and counseling psychology by promoting a dialogue between mainstream psychology and the worlds of immigrant and refugee women, Latina women, and lesbians. APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions, 1991.

1953 — Lee J. Cronbach and Goldine C. Gleser's article "Assessing Similarity Between Profiles" was published in Psychological Bulletin.

1957 — The first certificate to practice professional psychology in the state of New York was awarded to Frank S. Freeman, chair of the State Board of Examiners in Psychology. James E. Allen, State Commissioner of Education, made the presentation. New York's certification law had been passed on April 18, 1956.

1961 — The APA bought property for a new headquarters building located at 1200 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC, for $1.1 million. Building costs were estimated at $2.39 million.

1971 — The Journal of Clinical Child Psychology was first published by Division 12 (Clinical Psychology) of the APA. Gertrude J. Williams was the journal's editor.

1980 — The original National Medal of Science Act of August 25, 1959, was amended to include the behavioral and social sciences in addition to the biological, physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences. Three psychologists had won the award before 1980. Herbert A. Simon, in 1986, was the first psychologist to win the National Medal of Science under the new provisions.

1987 — The first meeting of the APA Task Force on Women and Depression was held. Ellen McGrath chaired the group, which gathered research and produced an influential report in 1990.

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