APA History and Archives

APA was founded in July 1892 at Clark University by a group of 26 men. Its first president was G. Stanley Hall and it began with 31 members. After World War II, it began to expand and grow quickly. Today APA has 150,000 members and 54 divisions in subfields of psychology. Read more about APA's history

Congratulations to the Center for the History of Psychology. The center is the new home of the Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP), as well as a museum of psychology and a laboratory for the preservation and digitization of artifacts.

Mary Whiton Calkins was the 14th President of APA and the first woman to serve in that office. Although she earned her PhD at Harvard under William James, Calkins was refused the degree by the Harvard Corporation (who continues to refuse to grant the degree posthumously) on the grounds that Harvard did not accept women.