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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 150 items) |
Abstract | The Department of Psychology was officially established in 1920, though coursework in psychology had been offered since the 1890s. Records include correspondence and other files relating to the administration of and programs in the Department of Psychology. |
Creator | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of Psychology. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives. |
Language | English |
Processed by: University Archives Staff
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, February 2021
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
The history of the psychology program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has its roots in the Philosophy Department, dating from 1795. However, it was more than a century before a course with recognizable psychological content was offered at the university. In 1891, Henry Horace Williams was selected to fill the chair of Mental and Moral Science, and in 1906 he began to offer his two-term psychology course as a junior/senior elective. In 1911, this course was taken over by Harry W. Chase. In 1914, Chase was appointed the university's first Professor of Psychology, and courses in experimental and scientific methodology were soon added to the original general course. With the election of Chase as President of the University in 1919, Professor J. F. Dashiell took over and continued to develop the curriculum and to expand enrollment.
In 1920, the Department of Psychology was formally established in the College of Liberal Arts. Harry W. Crane joined the faculty in 1921, adding clinical perspectives to the curriculum. Courses in social psychology were later developed by Professors Floyd H. Allport and English Bagby. In 1925, the School of Education assumed full responsibility for the course in educational psychology, increasing the department's resources for research and graduate training. With the renovation of New West in 1928, the department moved into expanded quarters with the first floor devoted to offices and classrooms, while the top two floors were furnished as laboratories.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the department continued to expand its undergraduate and graduate programs as well as its impact upon the curricula of other university departments and schools. In 1952, a major development was marked with the addition of Louis L. Thurstone and his Psychometric Laboratory from the University of Chicago. This addition made the department one of the centers of quantitative psychological research. The department's move into a renovated Davie Hall in 1967 further improved the research and teaching functions of the department.
Back to TopRecords include correspondence and other files relating to the administration of and programs in the Department of Psychology.
Back to Top