Shinn, Milicent Washburn, 1858-1940

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Shinn was born in Niles, Calif. She was editor of the Overland Monthly (1883-1894), and was the first woman to receive a PhD at the University of California, in child development.

From the description of Milicent Washburn Shinn papers, 1880-1925. (California Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 122509063

A native Californian, Milicent W. Shinn was born in 1858 to parents who emigrated from the East and established a farming homestead in Niles, California, where she lived her entire life. In 1879, at the age of 25, she became editor of the Overland Monthly, a literary magazine that had fallen on hard times in post-Civil War California. Dividing her time between the family ranch and the journal, Shinn cared for her aging parents, ran the ranch with her brother and his wife, and helped care for their daughter, Ruth, who was born in 1890. Inspired by personal interest in her niece, Shinn applied her writer's skills to create a carefully recorded and minutely detailed two-year account of her niece's physical growth and emotional development. Delivered as a paper entitled "The First Two Years of the Child" at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Shinn's observational study was hailed as the first of its kind in America. Convinced by others that her work represented a significant contribution to child psychology, Shinn resigned from the Overland Monthly in 1894 and enrolled as a doctoral candidate at the University of California at Berkeley, completing the degree with the publication of her dissertation in 1898.

From the description of Milicent Washburn Shinn papers, circa 1882-1906. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 25729964

As the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from the University of California, Milicent Shinn is credited today for her outstanding early American study, "Notes on the Development of a Child." First published in 1898 as a doctoral dissertation, this work is still hailed as a masterpiece and a classic in its field. A native Californian, Shinn was born in 1858 to parents who emigrated from the East and established a farming homestead in Niles, California, where she lived her entire life. In 1879, at the age of 25, she became editor of the Overland Monthly, a literary magazine that had fallen on hard times in post-Civil War California. Dividing her time between the family ranch and the journal, Shinn cared for her aging parents, ran the ranch with her brother and his wife, and helped care for their daughter, Ruth, who was born in 1890. Inspired by personal interest in her niece, Shinn applied her writer's skills to create a carefully recorded and minutely detailed two-year account of her niece's physical growth and emotional development. Delivered as a paper entitled "The First Two Years of the Child" at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Shinn's observational study was hailed as the first of its kind in America. Convinced by others that her work represented a significant contribution to child psychology, Shinn resigned from the Overland Monthly in 1894 and enrolled as a doctoral candidate at the University of California at Berkeley, completing the degree with the publication of her dissertation in 1898. Compelling family needs and pressures led Shinn to abandon her scholarly pursuits and return to the family ranch to care for her invalid mother and aging father. By 1913, in her mid-fifties and in ill-health herself, Shinn undertook the education of her younger brother's four children, devoting the rest of her life to her family until her death in 1940. (Scarborough, Elizabeth, and Laurel Furumoto. Untold Lives: The First Generation of American Women Psychologists. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987.)

From the description of Milicent Washburn Shinn papers, 1889-1935. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 122640322

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Shinn, Milicent Washburn, 1858-1940. H.U.C. : typescript carbon, 1881 June. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Bancroft, George, 1800-1891,. Hittell family papers, 1855-1916. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Shinn, Milicent Washburn, 1858-1940. Milicent Washburn Shinn papers, 1880-1925. California historical society
referencedIn Autograph File, S, 1556-1996. Houghton Library
referencedIn Aull, Charles, 1849-1899. Letters discussing 'Cherokee Bob', 1890. California state library
creatorOf Sill, Edward Rowland, 1841-1887. Autograph letters of Edward Roland Sill, 1864-1890. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931. David Starr Jordan papers, 1900-1925. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Shinn, Charles Howard, 1852-1924. Charles Howard Shinn papers, 1890-1923. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company correspondence and records, 1832-1944. Houghton Library
referencedIn Douglas Tilden Papers, 1860-1970 Bancroft Library
referencedIn Century Company records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Sill, Edward Rowland, 1841-1887. Prose miscellany of Edward Roland Sill, 1873-1887. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Online Archive of California. Overland monthly records, 1869-1886. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Shinn, Milicent Washburn, 1858-1940. Milicent Washburn Shinn papers, circa 1882-1906. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Lange, Alexis Frederick, 1862-1924. Alexis Frederick Lange papers, [ca. 1910-1923]. California Digital Library
creatorOf Shinn, Milicent Washburn, 1858-1940. Milicent Washburn Shinn papers, 1889-1935. UC Berkeley Libraries
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Aull, Charles, 1849-1899. person
correspondedWith Century Company corporateBody
associatedWith Cheney, May, person
associatedWith Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 1835-1910, person
associatedWith Davis, Carroll Melvin, 1857-1932. person
correspondedWith Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935 person
associatedWith Gilder, Richard Watson, 1844-1909, person
associatedWith Gilman, Daniel Coit, 1831-1908, person
correspondedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931. person
associatedWith Lange, Alexis Frederick, 1862-1924. person
associatedWith Lick Observatory. corporateBody
associatedWith Overland Monthly. corporateBody
associatedWith Peixotto, Ernest C., 1869-1940, person
associatedWith Peixotto, Jessica B. (Jessica Blanche), 1864-1941, person
associatedWith Pomeroy, John Norton, 1828-1885, person
associatedWith Royce, Josiah, 1855-1916, person
associatedWith Sanford, Edmund Clark. person
associatedWith Shinn, Charles Howard, 1852-1924. person
associatedWith Shute, H. Josephine, person
associatedWith Sill, Edward Rowland, 1841-1887. person
associatedWith Sill, Elizabeth Newberry, person
associatedWith Stoddard, Charles Warren, 1843-1909, person
associatedWith Talbot, Marion, 1858-1948, person
correspondedWith Tilden, Douglas, 1860-1935 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
California
California
California
Subject
Education
Child development
Child psychology
Women journalists
Women periodical editors
Women periodical editors
Women psychologists
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1858

Death 1940-08-14

English,

German

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