A mini-review of "A chronology of noteworthy events in American psychology" by Warren R. Street.

Abstract

Reference for Book Reviewed: Street, W.R. (1994). A chronology of noteworthy events in American psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychology Association. [Library of Congress card catalog number: BF108U5S77 1994. Copies: APA Order Department, PO Box 2710, Hyattsville, MD 20784. 425 pages. Hardbound.] Warren Street has compiled a thorough chronology of the history of American psychology in particular, and of psychology in general, covering key events from 427 BCE to the present. Street's book comprises an important resource that no psychologist should be without. Warren R. Street compiled a chronology of American psychology that covers the years from 427 BCE to 1993 CE. Between those dates inclusive are brief descriptions and exact dates of 2,827 noteworthy events in the history of psychology, with particular attention given to American psychology and the American Psychological Association (APA). (Street, 1994, p. vii) To say that Street's chronology is thorough would perhaps be an understatement. Street conducted the better part of his research effort at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, where he was able to access, find and peruse many original primary source documents. Street made every effort to include key dates and the events that happened on them. His sources included biographies, autobiographies, public archives, history texts, journal articles, biographical dictionaries, association archives, contemporary newspaper reports and correspondence with scholars. The key events listed include the dates of birth of psychologists (and of pertinent, earlier philosophers), the dates of publication of significant books, journal articles, and psychological tests, the passage of relevant Statutes by Congress and by the various State legislatures that have impacted psychology, relevant court decisions, key events in the histories of various psychology associations, including the APA, and many other events, and even dates when psychologists appeared on postage stamps (usually, the stamps of countries other than the United States). Street numbered each event, and, of course, placed them in chronological order. A few typical entries from early in the chronology read: Sept. 28, 1838. Darwin read Malthus' essay on population. May 10, 1848. American Association for the Advancement of Science founded Oct. 16, 1844. American Psychiatric Association founded. What unfolds from Street's chronology is a resource not unlike that of a good dictionary, thesaurus or other desk reference. If you wanted to know when a key piece of legislation was passed that impacted psychology, Street's book would be the first place to look. Likewise, if you wanted to know when a psychologist was born (or died), Street's book would likely have it listed. The dates that various States required licenses for practicing psychology are listed. As are the dates that various Divisions of APA came into being. The book also includes the dates that various associations merged with the APA. Beyond being an archive for dates and events, Street's book can also be used to gain a larger picture of the development of psychology. For instance, we may think of licensure as a national situation, without realizing that it occurred State by State, and not all at the same time. That is, while one State may have required a license to practice psychology, an adjacent State might not have had such a requirement. I found that this added perspective to the issue of licensing, especially insofar as it removed any preconception of it being something that always existed or which came into being nationally all at once. From Street's book I extracted the dates each state enacted certification or licensure for the practice of psychology. These are listed in Table I. As you can see, licensure did not happen all at once. The effort to bring either certification or licensure to all 50 states took over 30 years to accomplish. …