Great Lives & University Archives

This post was written by Caitlin Ervin ’28, Special Collections & University Archives Student worker

Dr. Minnie Rob Phaup 

This Tuesday, February 24^th, guest speaker and author Kate Moore will present on the legacy of Elizabeth Packard as part of the Great Lives lecture series. Packard was a 19^th-century advocate for women’s legal rights and asylum reform following her forced institutionalization at the request of her husband in 1860. 

In honor of this lecture, Special Collections and University Archives is proud to present a short piece on Dr. Minnie Rob Phaup, former assistant professor in the Department of Psychology whose Ph.D. dissertation studying female mental patients is available at the University Archives. 

Before MWC 

Dr. Minnie Rob Phaup was an assistant professor of psychology at Mary Washington College from the fall of 1959 (sometimes written as the fall of 1958) to the fall of 1960. Before her role at MWC, Dr. Phaup demonstrated a profound interest in education and psychology. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1927 with undergraduate degrees in both English and French. This was followed by the completion of her first master’s degree in philosophy and psychology at the University of Chicago in 1930. Phaup then returned to her hometown of Richmond, Virginia to teach English at Thomas Jefferson High School (1931-45), before moving on to teach psychology at Converse College (Spartanburg, North Carolina, 1945-48), Wells College (Aurora, New York, 1948-53), and Queens College (Charlotte, North Carolina, 1953-1955) – all historic women’s colleges. She left Queens College to pursue graduate studies in psychology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., receiving her second master’s degree in 1956 and her Ph.D. in 1960. 

Teaching at MWC 

While completing her Ph.D., the soon-to-be Dr. Phaup took up a teaching position in the Department of Psychology at Mary Washington College. Her hiring was announced in a September 11, 1959, article of The Bullet, alongside other new faculty for that year. The January 1960 issue of the MWC Bulletin states that as assistant professor, Dr. Phaup was responsible for teaching Psychology 345: Psychology of Learning and Psychology 371/372: Experimental Psychology. In the January 1961 issue of the Bulletin, her responsibilities had expanded to include a role on the faculty committee for “Programs for Superior Students,” under Mr. Edward Alvey, Jr., who at one time served as the dean of education. Dr. Phaup had also been scheduled to teach three courses: Psychology 342: Psychology of Personality, Psychology 345, and Psychology 441: Psychological Problems, the last taught opposite Dr. Eileen Kramer Dodd, professor of psychology. Despite earning her Ph.D. in June 1960, Dr. Phaup was listed as Miss Phaup in the MWC Bulletin from 1961. This is true for many of the female faculty of the time, including her colleague Dr. Eileen Kramer Dodd, listed simply as “Mrs. Dodd” in the course catalogue. 

Dissertation: “A Study on the Self Concepts of Women Patients” 

Dr. Phaup’s dissertation, titled “A Study of the Self Concepts of Women Patients Who, Though Clinically in Remission, Remain in a Mental Hospital,” was submitted to the George Washington University Graduate Council in February 1960. Her research was completed at Saint Elizabeths Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Thelma Hunt, of the George Washington University Department of Psychology, and Dr. Margaret Mercer, Director of Research for the Psychology Branch at Saint Elizabeths Hospital. 

• Phaup’s study was designed around two hypotheses: 1) Patients who are in remission and are eligible for release, but for whatever reason do not feel prepared to leave, share common identifiable behaviors; and 2) Patients are likely to rank their personality traits as less than the ideal, especially in comparison to non-institutionalized women of similar demographics. 
• Subjects: 25 subjects were selected based on conditions and demographics that suggested a greater likelihood of success if released. These conditions included recommendations from hospital staff, being less than 55 years old, having at least a high school education, having previous work experience, and being in good physical health. 25 additional women of similar demographics from outside of Saint Elizabeths Hospital were brought in as a control group. 
• Procedure: Each subject was asked to score 84 statements representing different types of personality traits (outgoing, oppositional, avoidant) from 1 to 10. First, they were each asked to score the statements based on what they believed to be true for themselves. Then, they were each asked to score the statements based on what they believed to be the “ideal” woman. 
• Results: Phaup’s study revealed that both groups of women had a similar idea of an “ideal” woman, but that the group from outside the hospital were more likely to score themselves higher on outgoing personality traits, while the patients were more likely to score themselves higher on avoidant personality traits. These results confirmed Phaup’s hypotheses that these patients did share similar behaviors and traits to one another beyond demographics, and that they, to some degree, viewed themselves as less emotionally attached than both women who had not been in the hospital and their view of the “ideal” woman.
• Dr. Phaup is credited as co-author of an article published posthumously in the Journal of Clinical Psychology by one of her dissertation advisors, Dr. Margaret Mercer. This article, which was based on research from Dr. Phaup’s dissertation, was published in October 1963 and provides a summary of her research.  

Memorial Scholarship 

On December 28, 1960, Dr. Phaup died unexpectedly from an illness at her home in Alexandria, Virginia. She was 54 years old. The following year, a memorial fund was started in her name with the ensuing scholarships to be awarded to a graduating senior pursuing graduate work in psychology. The scholarship requirements have changed overtime: first to include current seniors (1973), and then to include juniors and seniors (1974). The first scholarship was awarded in the 1974-75 academic year. In 1987, the Minnie Rob Phaup Memorial Scholarship became dedicated solely to juniors and seniors at MWC, no longer making it a post-graduate scholarship. This scholarship continues to be offered by the Department of Psychology. 

Those interested in women’s history, psychology, and advocacy should attend the Great Lives lecture by guest speaker Kate Moore on her book, The Woman They Could Not Silence, about social activist Elizabeth Packard. It is hosted this Tuesday, February 24^th, in Dodd Auditorium beginning at 7:30 pm. 

Additional information from History of U.S. Mental Institutions – Courtney Collier – UMW Blogs and Scholarships – Psychological Science.