Festschrift Summary

The Archives of the History of American Psychology at The University of Akron, hosted a conference on April 7-8, 2000 honoring its founders, Dr. John Popplestone and Dr. Marion White McPherson. The two-day conference held at the Quaker Square Hilton in Akron, Ohio, featured nine distinguished scholars in the history of psychology who presented original works (speakers and topics are reproduced below). Opening remarks were offered by the new director David Baker, Dean of University Libraries, Del Williams, and President of The University of Akron, Luis Proenza. Over 90 registrants attended the event, with people coming from the university community, other local Ohio universities, out of state visitors from Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee and even as far away as Japan.

A reception and dinner at the Quaker Square Hilton followed the first day of presentations with over 60 people in attendance. After dinner, Dr. Baker offered some brief comments and introduced the staff and student employees of the Psychology Archives. He took time to thank Dean Williams for his generous support of the archives and the conference itself. Along with Angelina Farber, Director of Development, Dr. Baker presented gifts to honorary guests. Dr. Lewis Lipsitt of Brown University received a thank you gift for his work on behalf of the Popplestone and McPherson Honorary Fund. Dr. William Verplanck was also presented with a gift in thanks for his continuous support of the archives. Dr. Yasuo Nishikawa, of Hokkaido University in Japan, received a gift for the ‘person who traveled the farthest’ to attend the conference.

Highlighting and concluding the after dinner speech, a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association was presented to Dr. Popplestone and Dr. McPherson. The citation was presented by Wayne Viney, president of Division 26 on behalf of APA president, Dr. Patrick DeLeon, who could not be in attendance. This citation "recognizes the exceptional contributions of Dr. John Popplestone and Dr. Marion White McPherson in founding the Archives of the History of American Psychology at The University of Akron and guiding its development over the past thirty-five years". It further states their recognition "for their foresight in founding what is recognized as the national archives in psychology, for their leadership in establishing and nurturing the history of psychology as a scholarly area, and for their encouragement and support of so many young scholars".

The second day of the conference was also a success. After the final speaker, Dr. Baker thanked all of the presenters and attendees and introduced Dr. Popplestone for the closing remarks of the conference. Dr. Popplestone offered Dr. McPherson’s regrets for not being able to attend the second day events. He then took some time to discuss how the archives came to fruition and outlined some of the roadblocks and obstacles that were overcome. He thanked many people that took the time and interest to help develop the AHAP. He recognized the good works of Sharon Ochsenhirt, who retired June 1998, after 22 years of service to the university and the Psychology Archives.

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