Leonard Carmichael was born November 9, 1898 in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. His parents were Thomas Harrison Carmichael, a physician, and Emily Henrietta Leonard Carmichael, a graduate of Wellesley College. His maternal grandfather, Charles Hall Leonard, was Dean of the Crane Theological School of Tufts University, a fact that presages Carmichael's long association with that university.

Trained as a psychologist in the early years of this field, he also pursued research in zoology and biology. Carmichael's greatest contributions were in the areas of child psychology and biopsychology, with a special emphasis on the importance of genetic determinants of behavior. He was educated at Tufts (B.S., 1920) and Harvard (Ph.D., 1924) and taught at Princeton (1924-1926), Brown (1926-1936), and Rochester (1936-1938). During his time at Brown, he collaborated with Herbert Jasper in the earliest EEG studies in this country. He was president of Tufts University from 1938-1952, where he was simultaneously Director of the Laboratory of Sensory Physiology and Psychology. In 1946, he published his Manual of Child Psychology, which is considered a milestone in the scientific treatment of human development. The fourteen years he spent at Tufts were a time of great expansion in facilities, finances, and enrollment. One of his most important jobs was guiding the University's activities through the WWII time period.

Carmichael left Tufts in 1952 to become the executive officer of the Smithsonian Institute, a position he held until 1964. During his tenure there, he was responsible for the modernization of what was called the "nation's attic." Under his leadership, the Institute greatly expanded, with the creation of the Museum of History and Technology, and the addition of two wings to the Museum of Natural History. He left that position to become Vice President for Research and Exploration for the National Geographic Society. During his time in this position, the Society sponsored a great deal of exciting and ground-breaking research, including the Leakeys' anthropological studies in East Africa, Jane Goddall's work on primate behavior, and the underwater explorations of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Carmichael was active in a number of professional organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Association of Museums. During World War II he headed the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel, which recruited scientists and engineers for the war, and later he was Chairman of the Army Scientific Advisory Panel (on Manpower). Carmichael served as chairman of the Division of Anthropology and Psychology of the National Research Council, and he was also a member and chairman of the advisory board of the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology. He served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1940. The honor of which he was said to be the most proud, however, was his election to the American Philosophical Society in 1942. He served as the President of the Society from 1970 until a few months before his death. Carmichael died September 16, 1973 in Washington, D.C.

The Carmichael Auditorium at the National Museum of History and Technology was dedicated in his name in 1974. But perhaps an even more fitting indication of the lasting impact he made is the Leonard Carmichael Society, still an active volunteer organization at Tufts University. Started in 1958 by Richard Dorsay, it originally consisted of a group of students who would make regular visits to a nearby mental hospital. In the year 2000, it has a volunteer corps of over 1000, a staff of 85, and serves as an umbrella organization for 40 different programs which focus on such issues as homelessness, health, literacy, and youth mentoring. The Leonard Carmichael Society states that "The legacy that this elegant, wise and kind man built throughout his 75 years grows and expands every time Tufts students, faculty members, and staff members join LCS in the belief that they too can change the world."

This voluminous collection reflects the varied and prolific career of Carmichael. It includes a variety of types of records, including correspondence, committee reports and records, long series of articles and speeches, drafts of papers and books, and pocket notebooks (ca. 500 pp.). Significant and more voluminous material consists of series relating to professional organizations of which he was a member or officer. These include: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association of Museums, American Council of Education, American Psychological Association, Brookings Institution, College Entrance Examination Board, Committee of New England, Educational Testing Service, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, National Science Foundation, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

There is significant material for the Tufts period, post 1938, including reports, committee meetings, and correspondence. There are similar types of material for his student years at Harvard; and his teaching time at Princeton and Brown, but less material for his time at the University of Rochester. There is also material on the Society for Research in Child Development. Outside the academic world he functioned in various capacities, all producing significant series within his papers. There is a great deal of materials for his period at the Smithsonian Institution, but less for his tenure at the National Geographic Society.

There is a sizable group of material for the Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory at Bar Harbor, Maine, and also for his work as an editorial adviser for psychology at Houghton Mifflin Company. Of further note are the over 150 folders concerning animals, from antelope to zebra, which present his research into their development and behavior. Also of significance is the material on the use of motion pictures in psychology. Lastly are the eleven bound volumes of papers written by Carmichael's psychology students at Brown and Rochester University from 1932-1938. These are grouped under the subject headings: Audition, Emotion, Endocrinology, Learning, The Lower Senses, Perception, Response, Thought and Language and Vision.

Provenance

Presented by the estate of Dr. Carmichael, 1974.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Leonard Carmichael Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recataloged by Alison M. Lewis, 2001.

Related material

Tufts University has 8.75 linear feet of documents primarily relating to Carmichael's tenure (1938-1952) as President of that institution.

Bibliography

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics Note

Scholars of physiology, biochemistry, or biophysics may find the following of interest:

• American Association of Museums
• American Council on Education
• American Psychological Association
• Brookings Institute
• Brown University
• Educational Testing Service.
• Harvard University. Museum of Comparative Zoology
• Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Laboratory of Sensory Physiology and Psychology
• National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
• National Geographic Society
• National Research Council (U.S.). Division of Anthropology and Psychology
• National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel
• National Science Foundation
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Princeton University
• Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory.
• Smithsonian Institution
• Society for Research in Child Development
• Tufts University
• U.S. Army. Scientific Advisory Panel
• University of Rochester
• Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology, Inc

• Abel, Theodora Mead, 1899-1998
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• Behavior science
• Biology
• Child development.
• Endocrinology
• Perception
• Psychology
• Scientists in World War I
• Zoology