Overview
David C. McClelland was a Harvard psychologist, noted especially for his work on achievement motivation. These papers chifely document his professional life.
Dates
- Creation: 1900-1998
Creator
Conditions on Use and Access
General Restriction
- Consult with the reference staff of the Harvard University Archives for details on obtaining permission to see, to photocopy, or to publish from the Papers of David McClelland.
Specific Restrictions:
- ___Evaluations
- ___Those portions of the collection in which individuals are evaluated are closed. Those portions of the collection that must be reviewed before patrons may have access includes the entirety of the series relating to undergrateuate or graduate advising and those portions of the correspondence for which the folder title is an individuals' name.
- ___University Records
- ___Records of the Department of Psychology and Social Relations; for a period of 50 years, access to these files requires the permission of the Departments of Psychology and Sociology.
- ___Records of University committees of which Professor McClelland was a member; for a period of 50 years, access to these files require the permission of the University department to which the committee reported.
- ___Records of faculty search committees of which Professor McClelland was a member; restricted for a period of 80 years.
- ___Records of University projects headed by Professor McClelland; for a period of 50 years, access to these files require the permission of the University department that sponsored the project.
- ___ Consulting
- ___Additional restrictions may apply to papers having to do with McClelland's consulting work.
Extent
37 cubic feet (113 boxes)These papers document the professional life of David McClelland. While there are portions of these papers where McClelland's professional life and personal interests intersect, as in the papers relating to religion, McClelland the scholar is always more heavily documented than McClelland the private man.
Chronologically, the papers cover all of McClelland's life, including a small amount of material from his childhood. Professional papers date from his college and graduate school years. Like his career, this collection is dominated by the years at Harvard.
McClelland's activities in various arenas, teaching, consulting, pure research, are intermingled. A researcher may expect to find consulting materials from a McBer project among the reading materials for a course, while one may also find test results from a cohort of students in a folder on a reasearch topic.
Biography
David C. McClelland was a Harvard psychologist, noted especially for his work on achievement motivation.
Chronology of the life of David McClelland
- 1917
- Born May 20, 1917 in Mt. Vernon, New York
- 1933
- Graduates from Jacksonville, Illinois, High School
- 1933-1934
- Special student in languages at Macmurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois
- 1938
- Graduates from Wesleyan University , with an A.B. in Psychology
- 1938
- First marriage to Mary Sharpless, June 25, 1938
- 1939
- Obtains an A.M. from the University of Missouri in Psychology
- 1941
- Obtains a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Yale University
- Becomes Instructor of Psychology at Connecticut College
- 1942
- Leaves Connecticut College
- Instructor of Psychology at Wesleyan University
- 1943
- Served as Assistant and Acting personnel secretary of the American Friends Service Committee , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1944
- Part-time lecturer in Psychology at Bryn Mawr College
- 1945
- Becomes an Assistant Professor on Psychology at Wesleyan University
- Ends Part-time position teaching at Bryn Mawr College
- 1946
- Becomes Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Wesleyan University
- Summer 1947
- Assistant Director, Sky Island Hostel for European Refugees (American Friends Service Committee)
- 1948
- Becomes and Associate Professor of Psychology at Wesleyan University
- Fellow of the American Psychological Association
- 1949-1950
- Lectures in Social Psychology at Harvard University , then returns to Wesleyan University
- Fall 1950
- Becomes a staff consultant for the Social Science Research Council . This was in connection with the Ford Foundation Program for basic Social Science Development
- 1951
- Publishes Personality, with J.W. Atkinson, R.A. Clark, E.L. Lowell
- Lectures in Social Psychology at the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies , Salzburg, Austria
- Becomes member of the psychology panel, National Research Council
- 1952-1953
- Serves as Deputy Director of the Behavioral Sciences division of the Ford Foundation
- 1953
- Becomes a Professor of Psychology at Wesleyan University
- Member of the Fullbright Award Committee
- Summer 1953
- Lecturer in the behavioral sciences, Diplomats' Conferences, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, Clarens, Switzerland
- 1955
- Publishes Studies in Motivation
- 1956
- Leaves Wesleyan University to become a Professor of Psychology in the Harvard University Department of Social Relations
- Honorary M.A. from Harvard University
- Member of the training grants committee, National Institutes of Mental Health
- Chairman of Staff, Center for Research in Personality
- 1957
- Honorary Sc.D. from Wesleyan University
- Fellow, American Academy of Science
- 1958
- Receives Guggenheim Fellowship
- Honorary D.Phil. from the University of Maintz , Germany
- 1959
- Travels to Italy with Guggenheim fellowship
- 1961
- Publishes The Achieving Society, with D.G. Winter
- Lectures in Social Psychology at the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies, Salzburg, Austria
- 1962
- Chairman of the Department of Social Relations, Harvard University ,
- 1962-1963
- Master, South House, Radcliffe College
- 1963
- Co-founder of McBer Consulting Co. (now a part of the Hay Institute ). McBer assists managers in evaluating and training their employees.
- Honorary L.L.D. MacMurray College
- Submits proposal to the National Education Association to offer seventh graders in good standing college scholarships to encourage motivation.
- 1963-1964
- Sabbatical year from Harvard University. Travels to India and Tunisia organizing research on entrepreneurial motivation.
- 1964
- Publishes The Roots of Consciousness
- Chairman of the Staff, Center for Research in Personality
- President of the Eastern Psychological Association
- 1965
- Becomes a member of the American Psychological Association Committee on Psychology in National and International Affairs
- 1967
- Becomes President of the New England Psychological Association
- Ends service as Chairman of the Department of Social Relations, Harvard University
- Ends service as Chairman of the Staff, Center for Research in Personality
- Spring, 1968
- Peace Corps consultant, travels to Southeast Asia and East Africa
- 1969
- Member of the Faculty of Education at Harvard University Graduate School of Education
- 1970
- Honorary D.Litt. from Albion College
- 1972
- Travels to Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, France, and Mexico as a U.S. Information Agency Consultant
- 1972
- Takes a leave from Harvard. Travels to Indonesia to participate in a UNIDO conference, spends three months in Sri Lanka, writes Need for Power
- 1973
- Ends teaching as a Faculty of Education at Harvard University
- 1973
- Has article published in The American Psychologist stating that IQ and personality tests are poor indicators of a person's competence
- 1974
- Travels as part of the U.S. Information Service to Sri Lanka, India, and Ethiopia.
- 1975
- Publishes Power: The Inner Experience
- 1976
- Receives the McKinsey Award
- 1980
- First wife, Mary, dies in December
- October 10, 1981
- Second marriage to Marian Adams
- 1986
- Retires, becoming emeritus professor of Harvard University
- 1986
- Distinguished research professor of psychology at Boston University
- 1987
- Receives the award for Distinguished Scientific contribution from the American Psychological Association
- March 27, 1998
- Receives the Bruno Klopfer Award from the Society for Personality Assessment
- Dies.
- 1999
- Receives the Henry A. Murray Award from the American Psychological Association Division 8
Series and Sub-series in the Collection
- Biographical Materials
- ___Biography, bibliography, curriculum vitae, interviews and articles
- ___American Friends Service Committee and Cambridge Friends Meeting
- ___Early papers and scrapbooks
- ___Images of David McClelland and family
- Correspondence
- ___Alphabetical
- ___Chronological
- Research
- ___Grant proposals and research plans
- ___Instruments
- ___Early research
- ___Applied research overseas
- ___Applied research consulting
- ___Health research
- ______Schizophrenia
- ______Alcoholism and drinking studies
- ______Diabetes
- ______Psychobiological research
- ___Sears follow-up studies
- ___Leadership in religious organizations
- Harvard Teaching and Administration
- ___Course material
- ___Correspondence with graduate students
- ___Thesis advisees
- ______Graduate thesis advisees
- ______Undergraduate honors advisees
- ___Undergraduate issues
- ___Administration and committees
- Writings and Speeches
- ___Journal articles, book chapters, and texts of speeches
- ___Correspondence relating to books
Acquisition Information
Accessions
- 11163: 1987 July 23, David McClelland
- 13589: 1997 June 18, David McClelland
- 13881: 1998 November 6, Marian McClelland
- 13889: 1998 December 10, Beverly Douhan
- 13918: 1999 March 4, Marian McClelland
- 14018: 1999 August 25, David G. Winter
Inventory update
This document last updated 2016 November 9.
Processing Information
Processed under the direction of Kate Bowers by Jill Snyder and Chris M. Lubicz-Nawrocki, September 2000 through March 2001 .
Staff at the Harvard University Archives re-housed all papers in acid-free folders and document boxes, organized the material, maintaining the original organization where possible, and produced this finding aid.
Staff in the Harvard University Archives tried to identify and preserve the organization of the papers as far as possible. While correspondence and course material arrived at the Harvard University Archives in good order, subject and project files and reprints were in no discernable order. Additionally, McClelland would re-use folders, so that sometimes the contents and the folder title are at odds. Staff o the University Archives imposed a rough subject organization where no intrinsic organization could be ascertained.
A vast amont of material was weeded from the collection. Weeded material did not meet the collecting policy of the Harvard University Archives and consisted chiefly of duplicates, drafts, articles and papers written by other researchers, and raw data with no analysis or context. A small research study of "Rorschach results on renowned scientists," conducted by Anne Roe in 1957, was given to the Archives of the History of American Psychology in Akron, Ohio.
Creator
- Title
- McClelland, David C. (David Clarence) Papers of David McClelland, 1900-1998 : an inventory
- Author
- Harvard University Archives
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua04001
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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