WOMAN IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

Woman in the history of psychology

Woman In The History Of Psychology

Leta Hollingworth was not only an important figure in the history of psychology but she was also a feminist. Leta Stetter Hollingworth did exceptional work in a variety of areas in psychology but is primarily known for her work with gifted children and their education. She also made contributions in the areas of sex differences (Rutherford, 2003).

Leta Stetter Hollingworth was born on May 25th 1886, in Dawes county Nebraska near the town of Chadron to Margaret Elinor Danley and John G. Stetter (Silverman, 1992). Leta S. Hollingworth was the first of three daughters in her family; she never knew her mother as Margaret Danley died after the birth of her third child (Silverman, 1992). Leta and her sisters spent the next ten years of their life with their maternal grandparents; at age twelve Leta and her sisters went to Valentine to join their father and stepmother (Silverman, 1992). In 1902 at the age of 16 Leta Hollingworth graduated high school and entered the University of Nebraska as an undergraduate. It was here that Leta met her future husband, Henry Hollingworth. Leta and Henry became engaged while both attending the University of Nebraska; Hollingworth went to New York to complete his graduate degree while Stetter remained in Nebraska completing her undergraduate degree (Silverman, 1992). In 1906 Stetter Hollingworth received her Bachelor of Arts degree along with a State Teacher's Certificate, thus qualifying her to teach English Language and Literature at any Nebraska public high school (Silverman, 1992). Stetter taught for two and a half years in Nebraska before moving to New York to join Hollingworth. They were married on December 31, 1908 (Silverman, 1992).

Leta Hollingworth was unable to secure a teaching position in New York and after a few years began taking some graduate classes in literature. After observing a great deal of problems having to do with social maladjustment Hollingworth decided to change her career path and began taking classes to specialize in education and sociology, receiving her Masters in Education at Columbia University in 1913 (Silverman, 1992). After graduation Leta Hollingworth had the opportunity to gain some experience working at the Clearing House for Mental Detectives where she administered the Binet intelligence test. In 1914, the Civil Service began to monitor the administration of these tests and anyone who wanted to administer them had to become eligible by taking a competitive exam (Silverman, 1992). Leta Hollingworth received the top score and became the first psychologist under Civil Service in New York, this position was at Bellevue Hospital where she was later offered the job of chief of the soon to be psychological lab (Benjamin and Shields, 1990). Leta Hollingworth completed her Ph.D. in June of 1916 at Columbia University under Edward L. Thorndike (Silverman, 1992). It was around this time that Leta Hollingworth was offered a position at Columbia Teacher's College in educational psychology which she “reluctantly” accepted according to her husband ...