Milicent Shinn


Milicent Washburn Shinn was a child psychologist who was the first woman to receive a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. She finished her undergraduate degree in 1880, edited the Overland Monthly from 1882 to 1894, and received her Ph.D. in 1898.

Early life

Milicent Washburn Shinn was born in Vallejo's Mills, on April 15, 1858, the daughter of James Shinn and Lucy Ellen Clark. Her father worked as a modest farmer, and her mother was the owner of a orchard-tree nursery. Shinn was one of seven children, however, four of her siblings passed away at a young age. Shinn's parents sent Milicent and her older brother Charles Howard Shinn to the University of California, Berkeley, which had only started admitting women the year prior in 1873. Her brother was a horticulturalist and forest ranger, while her cousin Edmund Clark Sanford was a prominent psychologist. Shinn helped take care of her brother's daughter Ruth, who would coincidentally be the main focus of Shinn's studies.

Career

She was active as a writer, editor, scientist and research worker; she was the first woman to receive Ph. D. degree from University of California. Following her undergraduate graduation from the University of California, Berkeley, Shinn began work as an editor for the Overland Monthly. Her first published essay was "Thirty Miles" which depicted what she would see on her journey home. Shinn believed in the power of the press and thought that contributing to the literature of California would help aid in reducing the social woes that had arisen following the end of the American Civil War.
Shinn is well known in the Psychology community for her published Doctoral Dissertation "Notes on the Development of a Child." Additionally, Shinn's personal observational work prior to her doctorate program, "The First Two Years of the Child" was considered the first of its kind. Her research focused specifically on observing the emotional and psychical health of her niece and her progression over the first two years of her life. This was the first extensive documentation of a child's upbringing and was thought to be incredibly valuable to the field of child psychology. Shinn was convinced by her companions to pursue a doctoral degree in child psychology, which led to her resignation from the Overland Monthly in 1894 and her return to the University of California, Berkeley as a doctoral candidate.
She was a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the American Academy of Science, the Phi Beta Kappa, the American Eugenics Society, the Alumni Association of the University of California, the Save the Redwoods League, the League of Nations Association.

Personal life

She was a lifelong resident of California. Her life followed the path of academia, but family matters, described as the Family Claim, limited the amount of time she could invest in her personal aspirations. Given this limitation, Shinn capitalized on her surroundings making Ruth the center of her work. There is no record of Shinn having any intimate relationships, and there is no record of her having any children of her own.
Lilian Bridgman designed her home that was located on her family's property in Niles.
After retirement, she lived very quietly at home for over a quarter of a century at Niles, California where she passed away at the age of 82.

Family Claim

Women such as Millicent in the 1900s often experienced what scholars currently refer to as the family claim and sisterhood. These two concepts describe the household values held by the majority of families in North America during this time period. Females of all ages were understood to have an obligation to the family. This created a toxic environment that severely limited the social mobility of the individuals and limited the options for personal growth and expression.
"Scarborough and Furumoto used Shinn as an example of “the family claim”—the career limitations women faced in terms of their family obligations."
Despite the perceived notion that Shinn would be restrained by the family claim and her duty to her family, she was able to continue her work in the field of child psychology. Shinn did not let societal restrictions hold her back and pursued her efforts to collect data from her network of home-observers. Her network consisted of college educated mothers who helped serve as observers of their own children which provided Shinn with lots of meaningful data. This unique approach to in-home data collection led Shinn to produce her powerful piece titled The Development of the Senses in the First Three Years of Childhood.

The Overland Monthly

The Overland Monthly, the newspaper Shinn joined at age 25, was based in California and produced its first series of works in the year 1868. The newspaper, which maintained the same ownership throughout its existence, changed titles over the years 1868 to1935. In a paper in the Overland Monthly, during the year July, 1898, Shinn reflected on her years as editor, 1883–1894. She talks about how the world's attention at the time was fixated on the Gold Rush that took place in California.

Works