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Central Washington University Faculty Papers, Eldon E. "Jake" Jacobsen, 1937-1994

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Jacobsen, Eldon E.
Title
Central Washington University Faculty Papers, Eldon E. "Jake" Jacobsen
Dates
1937-1994 (inclusive)
Quantity
6 cubic feet, (5 letter sized document boxes, 1 1/2 letter sized document box)  :  Correspondence, reports, research materials and photographs in good condition
Collection Number
FP-0014
Summary
This collection contains the papers, reports, correspondence, research and teaching materials of Jake Jacobsen, former psychology professor at Central Washington University.
Repository
Central Washington University, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Central Washington University
400 E University Way
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Telephone: 509-963-1023
Fax: 509-963-3684
archive@cwu.edu
Access Restrictions

Some restrictions may apply.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Eldon E. "Jake" Jacobsen (1920-2003), psychologist and university professor, was born in 1920. Jake Jacobsen was raised in a university family. His father, Ernest Jacobsen, was chair of the psychology department at the Utah State Agricultural College, now Utah State University, in Logan. Jacobsen earned his bachelor's (1941) and master's (1943) degrees in psychology at Utah State. After military service at Camp Beale, California, Jacobsen undertook doctoral study at the University of Washington. While completing his doctoral degree, he joined the faculty of Central Washington College of Education (now Central Washington University) in 1950 as an assistant professor. Gathering data in the public schools proved to be a bureaucratic nightmare and Jacobsen was not able to complete his doctoral degree until 1955. By that time he had already become an accomplished teacher and influential professional psychologist. Jacobsen promoted the state's first professional standards for psychologists, culminating in legislated licensure standards in 1955. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s, he was appointed by the governor to the state's board of professional examiners. In 1967, Jacobsen took a professional leave year to study and work at the Devereux Foundation, a treatment center for developmental disabilities. This work sharpened his focus on learning difficulties in children and the profession of school psychology. He was elected to membership by the American Board of Professional Psychologists in 1971. He served in many service committees and governing boards of mental health, school counseling and school psychology associations and agencies. With Professor T. J. Naumann, Jacobsen directed a summer Post-Graduate Institute in Psychology 1975 and 1976, drawing psychologists and professional students from around the country to CWU. He held leadership positions in the American Psychological Association, the Washington State Psychological Association, the Washington Education Association, the Washington State Association and the Washington Mental Health Association. While Jacobsen was primarily a teacher, he served in academic administration in the 1960s. He was chair of the department of psychology from 1962 to 1966 and Acting Dean of the Faculty in 1968. This post was renamed Acting Vice President during his tenure and is now the office of Provost. He led the Department of Psychology during the time that it became separate from the Department of Education, giving the discipline of scientific psychology an independent place in the curriculum. He retired from the faculty in 1985, though he taught occasional courses until 1989 and continued to be active in psychology association affairs. He died in 2003.

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Content Description

This collection comprises the personal papers of Eldon Jacobsen, including his employment history, plays, and miscellaneous writings from his undergraduate career. The second series in the collection contains professional papers written by Jacobsen. His correspondence, which is arranged by date, contains some outgoing correspondence along with incoming correspondence. The correspondence is a mix of material from his professional career. The collection also contains syllabi from Jacobsen's teaching career and one box of grade books. Jacobsen's research includes case files on his military service in Fort Beale, California. These files, from 1943 to 1946, are the psychological evaluations (with names deleted) of soldiers deemed unfit for the army. The other group of research files are surveys taken of CWU alumni. These files ask students to evaluate their education at CWU. Series V, on administration, covers Jacobsen's tenure in the University Administration. Series VII on committees covers a small amount of Jacobsen's work on community committees and psychological organizations. A great deal of this material has been duplicated; the remaining material counts Jacobsen as a primary contributor to policy. The series of photographs in this collection contains a few of Jacobsen's personal photographs and several from research institutes.

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Historical Background

Central Washington University began as the Washington State Normal School in 1891. In 1937, the school was rechristened the Central Washington College of Education. In 1961, the school became Central Washington State College and, finally, in 1977, Central Washington University.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number]. FP-0014, Central Washington University Faculty Papers, Eldon E. "Jake" Jacobsen Papers. Archives and Special Collections, Brooks Library, Central Washington University.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into eight series: I. Personal Papers; II. Papers published and presented; III. Correspondence; IV. Research; V. Administration; VI. Teaching; VII. Committees; VIII. Photographs. This collection came into the archives with no organization, so the order of the series had to be imposed. A large number of duplicate materials and photocopies of articles was culled from the collection. Series II arranged chronologically.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Riva Dean
2012

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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