Finding aid for the Herbert S. Langfeld papers

Biography of Herbert S. Langfeld

Herbert S. Langfeld was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 24, 1879. He graduated from Philadelphia Central High School and attended one year at Haverford College before becoming the Naval Attache at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany.

While in Berlin, Langfeld became interested in psychology and began working with Carl Stumpf. He earned his doctoral degree under Stumpf at the University of Berlin in 1909. He returned to the United States and accepted a position as an Instructor of Psychology at Harvard University. He remained at Harvard for 15 years advancing from Instructor (1910-1915) to Assistant Professor (1915-1922) and finally Associate Professor (1922-1924) before accepting a position at Princeton in 1924. He remained at Princeton until his retirement in 1947 advancing to Professor of Psychology and Director of the Psychological Laboratory. He also served as the Chairman of the Department of Psychology for ten years (1937-1947).

He was a charter member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists and served as the Secretary (1917-1919) and later the President (1930) of the American Psychological Association. He served as the Vice President for the Psychology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1931) and Secretary-General of the International Congress of Psychology from 1945-1951.

Langfeld edited "Psychological Monographs" from 1931-1934 and "The Psychological Review" from 1934-1947. He was the author of several books and articles, including his most well known book, "The Aesthetic Attitude" (1920).

Herbert S. Langfeld died in Princeton, New Jersey on February 25, 1958.

Scope and Content

Given the length and breadth of Herbert S. Langfeld's career this collection is small and rather incomplete. The collection contains correspondence related to Langfeld's editorial work for John Wiley and Sons Publishers in addition to a collection of letters from British psychologist Charles Myers and American psychologist Robert H. Gault. The collection also contains drafts of figures and tables from the 1939 textbook, Introduction to Psychology by E.G. Boring, H.S. Langfeld and H.P. Weld; two short papers written by Langfeld and a small collection of reprints by other authors.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Restrictions on Access

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Although Herbert S. Langfeld materials were included with the Julian Jaynes papers as a single accession, the Langfeld materials were removed and created as a separate collection based on the significance of Langfeld's work in psychology.

Subject Headings

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

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Preferred Citation

Cite as: [identification of item], [folder number, box number], Archives of the History of American Psychology, The Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology - The University of Akron

Acquisition Information

The papers of Herbert S. Langfeld were included in a donation of the Julian Jaynes papers to the AHAP in 2002.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by David Baker in 2002 and edited by Lizette Royer in September 2009.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected for this collection.

Detailed Description of The Collection