1915
Department of Psychology is created
Under Fox Nichols’ presidency in 1915, Charles L. Stone became Dartmouth’s first official Professor of Psychology.1 This marked the first significant engagement with the “study of the mind,” separating Psychology from Philosophy as its own department.
1917
Willard Lefoy Green
Willard Green, Class of 1920, died by suicide in 1917, providing an early account of potential mental health struggles. Green enlisted in the Infantry five months prior to his death, an experience that may have influenced his mental well-being.
1921
Hopkins introduces Mental Hygiene at Dartmouth
Hopkins writes a letter to Dr. Stewat Paton (who creates the first mental health center at Princeton University in 1910), broadly stating that he’s interested in mental hygiene on campus in order to “sharpen intellect” and make “minds healthful.”2
Click to read about Hopkins’ attitude towards mental hygiene
Because President Martin Hopkins was the first president to truly implement the concept of mental hygiene at Dartmouth, it’s important to look into his attitudes toward this new idea and how he went about introducing it.
At the time, it was common for administrators from different institutions to send recommendation letters. In one such letter5, Charles S. Little advocates for a Professor of Psychiatry. Notice the emphasis on the key terms “adjust” and “readjust” in the letter, reflecting the mindset of the era regarding mental health.
Similarly, the following letter, written in 1926 by President Hopkins to Franklin C. Lewis, a director at a school in Maine, provides insight into the purpose of psychiatrists and consultants at Dartmouth. By this time, these professionals had been implemented for about six years. In this letter, Hopkins emphasizes their role, drawing attention to the terms “abnormal” and “preventable.”6
Focusing on the terms we highlighted—adjust, abnormal, and preventable—we see how mental hygiene at the time framed student well-being through a lens of conformity and adjustment, prioritizing societal norms over a holistic approach to individual care.
- https://archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/article/1958/2/1/psychology-at-dartmouth ↩︎
- Letter from President Hopkins to Dr. Stewart Paton, April 1921 (DP-11 Dartmouth College. Office of the President (1916-1945: Ernest Martin Hopkins) records, Box 6760) Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩︎
- The Mental Health Problem in the College, Milton A. Harrington (DP-11 Dartmouth College. Office of the President (1916-1945: Ernest Martin Hopkins) records, Box 6844 )Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩︎
- Mental Hygiene in the College (DP-11 Dartmouth College. Office of the President (1916-1945: Ernest Martin Hopkins) records, Box 6814) Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩︎
- Letter from Charles S Little to Hopkins, July 1922 (DP-11 Dartmouth College. Office of the President (1916-1945: Ernest Martin Hopkins) records, Box 6786) Rauner Special Collections Library.
↩︎ - Letter from President Hopkins to Franklin C. Lewis, 1927 (DP-11 Dartmouth College. Office of the President (1916-1945: Ernest Martin Hopkins) records, Box 6844) Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩︎