Mary Whiton Calkins: Life and Contributions

Throughout history, there have been numerous women figures who made substantial contributions to the fields of Humanities and Social Sciences, yet they remain mostly unnoticed by the general public. Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930) is one such influential figure who defied the norms of her time and went on to make remarkable advancements in the field of her expertise. Rightly put by someone, Calkins was ready for an academic career long before the male-dominated academia was prepared for her!

Early Life, Education and Work

Born on 30 March 1863 in Hartford, Connecticut, Calkins grew up in Buffalo, New York as the eldest daughter along with her four siblings, and later moved to Newton, Massachusetts with her family. After graduating from Smith College in 1885, Mary Calkins started her career as a Greek tutor at Wellesley College in 1887. Three years later, she was given the offer to join the faculty of Psychology looking at her zeal towards the subject. She was not only the first female Psychology professor in America but also the first person to establish an Experimental Laboratory at Wellesley.

With a strong inclination towards philosophy and psychology, she began advanced studies in these fields at Clark University and Harvard University. Under the mentorship of notable figures like William James and Josiah Royce, Calkins went on to pursue a doctoral degree in the discipline. Spending 30 years of her life in active teaching, she finally retired from Wellesley in 1927 as a Research Professor.

Attending Seminars at Harvard

Calkins wanted to learn more about psychology in the late 1880s. Despite Harvard’s position as an all-male institution, she was granted special permission to attend seminars led by famous professors William James and Josiah Royce. This was a result of her father’s hard efforts and Wellesley College’s president’s support. Her involvement in these seminars, especially as the only female student in James’s graduate seminar in 1890, was critical to her intellectual progress. She also spent 1892-1895 working in Hugo Münsterberg’s lab, where she did extensive study on memory. These experiences, despite the constraints imposed on her as a female scholar, established the framework for her future contributions to psychology.

Significant Life Events

One of the significant chapters of her life includes her experience of gender discrimination that was prevalent in academia during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Despite completing all the requirements of the degree and receiving unanimous approval from the thesis committee, she was refused a formal Ph.D. degree by Harvard, solely based on her gender. However, such incidents did not thwart her dedication and she continued making progress in the field, now with stronger determination, and more knowledge and recognition.

Calkin’s achievements of the ‘firsts’ did not end with being the first female professor of Psychology or being the first one to start a laboratory at a women’s college. Mary Whiton Calkins was elected as the first woman president of the American Psychological Association. Remarkably balancing her interests in Philosophy along with Psychology, she also served as a President of the American Philosophical Association.

In addition to these intellectual pursuits, Calkins has been an important personality in advocating for women’s rights. Her refusal to accept a special doctorate from Radcliffe College (the women’s college associated with Harvard) demonstrated her preference for actual equality beyond token gestures. Calkins’ perseverance and excellent career established her as a role model for women in higher education, motivating subsequent generations to fight for their rights and opportunities.

Scholarly Contributions

In the course of her career, Calkins wrote over a hundred scholarly papers related to Psychology as well as Philosophy and published around half a dozen books writing in detail about the psychological concepts studied. Some of these concepts include the paired association technique, self-psychology, space and time consciousness, colour theory, dreams and much more. Some of them can be discussed in brief as follows—

• Paired-Associate Technique: This experimental paradigm is a classic memory paradigm that is used to understand how people encode and retrieve newly formed associations among stimuli. This technique, developed by Calkins, laid the groundwork for further studies in memory and cognition.
• Self-Psychology: One of Calkins’s most influential theories was her conception of self-psychology. In contrast to the behaviourist school dominant at the time, Calkins argued that the conscious self should be the central focus of psychology. Her work in self-psychology explored the nature of the self, consciousness, and personal identity, providing a more expanded understanding of human experience.

Mary Calkins has authored several well-known books, including

• An Introduction to Psychology (1901)
• The Persistent Problems of Philosophy (1907)
• A first Book in Psychology (1909)
• The Good Man and The Good (1918)

An Inspirational Figure

Mary Whiton Calkins is an inspiring character because of her firm determination and resilience in the face of prevalent prejudice based on gender. In an age when women were frequently denied educational and professional opportunities, Calkins followed her love of learning with perseverance and drive. Despite being prevented from pursuing a PhD at Harvard because of her gender, she refused to let this setback define her. Instead, she advanced in her profession, becoming a recognised educator and leader. Her path exemplifies the force of persistence, demonstrating how one may transcend cultural restrictions and leave an ever-lasting influence. Calkins’ biography inspires us to defy expectations, pursue our passions passionately, and campaign for equality and justice.