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It is still astounding to be reminded that the only honorary degree Freud ever received came in 1909 from Clark University. The occasion was that institution's twentieth anniversary celebration orchestrated by its founder and president, G. Stanley Hall. Hall (1844-1924)
showed perspicacity in his early interest in Freud's psychoanalytic publications (which he read in German long before English translations were available) and considerable finesse in coaxing Freud, who was notoriously anti-American, stateside as his star attraction.
To be sure, several other academic superstars of the day were on hand, including two Nobel laureates. Altogether, twenty-eight honorary degrees were conferred; each recipient was also a visiting lecturer. This was no mere commencement exercise, but rather a true academic festival. Yet Freud was Hall's special catch.
Hall was himself a pioneer in the development of psychology as a distinct academic discipline. Whereas in most American universities psychology was housed within the philosophy department well into the present century (until 1936 at Harvard), Hall was Professor of Psychology and Pedagogy at Clark from its inception in the 1880s. Awarded the first American Ph.D. in psychology in 1878, he went on to become founding editor of the American Journal of Psychology (in 1887) and cofounder and first president of the American Psychological Association (in 1892). Introducing Freud and psychoanalysis to America, he rightly estimated, would be another of his many noteworthy accomplishments—ultimately, his most memorable.
But Freud was not easily wooed. Declining Hall's initial invitation, he later acquiesced only when the honorarium was nearly doubled (from $400 to $750), the date was changed to coincide with Freud's annual vacation, and the honorary degree was proffered. Jung, then thirty-four, was known to Hall for his word association studies, but had not yet achieved a level of distinction that would place him in the same league with th