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Wayne Dennis Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 332

Abstract

Wayne Dennis (1905-1976) was born September 1, 1905 in Washington County, Ohio. He received his B.A. from Marietta College (1926) and his Ph.D. from Clark University (1930). He was known as one of the most distinguished psychologists and child development specialists of his generation. A sizable portion of the collection consists of children's drawings collected by Dr. Dennis in his cross-cultural studies of behavior and intelligence.

Dates

  • Creation: 1929-1976

Extent

13.44 Linear Feet (32 MS boxes and 10 vol.)

Creator

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

COllection materials primarily in English

Restrictions

Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Donor's copyrights were transferred to the public domain. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Biographical Note

Wayne Dennis (1905-1976) was born September 1, 1905 in Washington County, Ohio. He received his B.A. from Marietta College (1926) and his Ph.D. from Clark University (1930). He was known as one of the most distinguished psychologists and child development specialists of his generation. He retired in 1970 from academic life as professor emeritus of Brooklyn College, where he was professor and chair of the Department of Psychology from 1951 to 1962. He last directed the doctoral program in general psychology at the City University of New York from 1962-1964.

Dennis' academic career took him to several colleges and universities throught the South and East. His first position was assistant professor at the University of Virginia (1929-1942), but he also trained in cultural anthropology and was a social science research fellow at Yale (1936-1937). In 1942 he became professor and department head at Louisiana State University, while concurrently serving as a lieutenant in the Human Engineering Section of the Office of Naval Research. He left for the University of Pittsburgh in 1946 where he was again psychology department head. He then transferred to Brooklyn College.

Throughout his academic career, Dr. Dennis studied and researched abroad, most notably as Visiting Professor at the American University of Beirut (1955-56; 1958-59; 1964-65; 1974-75). There he compiled data for most of his important studies, combining his training in psychology and cultural anthropology. It was on a side trip to Tehran, Iran, during his first visit to the Middle East that he discovered the orphanages that would become the subjects of his field work on child development. It was also here that he began his many cross-cultural studies of performance on the Goodenaugh Draw-a-man test, which he ultimately combined into a set of mean IQs of typical children from some 50 cultures around the world.

Dr. Dennis spent his professional life exploring his thesis of child development and its emphasis on the predetermination of development, on the importance of maturation, and on the unimportance of experience in childhood development. His work helped coin the term "autogenic," a term used to describe the development of children's behavioral organizations without parental or other environmental tutelage. Dennis constantly questioned his own understanding and teachings, especially when he discovered evidence that contradicted his findings and beliefs. He died in July 1976 from complications following an automobile crash near his home in Doswell, Virginia.

Collection Summary

A sizable portion of the collection consists of children's drawings collected by Dr. Dennis in his cross-cultural studies of behavior and intelligence. Includes a large number of notes and printed matter on the subject of intelligence testing of children. Contains material Dr. Dennis was working with at the time of his death.

Abstract

Wayne Dennis (1905-1976) was born September 1, 1905 in Washington County, Ohio. He received his B.A. from Marietta College (1926) and his Ph.D. from Clark University (1930). He was known as one of the most distinguished psychologists and child development specialists of his generation. A sizable portion of the collection consists of children's drawings collected by Dr. Dennis in his cross-cultural studies of behavior and intelligence.

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Provenance

Gift from Mrs. Margaret Dennis, 1976.

General

Processed by
HMD Staff
Encoded by
Dan Jenkins
Title
Finding Aid to the Wayne Dennis Papers1929-1976
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
HMD Staff
Date
2000
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
Version 1.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collections Collecting Area

Contact:
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