June Downey

June Etta Downey (July 13, 1875 – October 11, 1932) was an American psychologist who studied personality and handwriting. Downey was born and raised in Laramie, Wyoming, where she received her degree in Greek and Latin from the University of Wyoming. Throughout her life Downey wrote seven books and over seventy articles. Included in this work, Downey developed the Individual Will-Temperament Test, which was one of the first tests to evaluate character traits separately from intellectual capacity and the first to use psychographic methods for interpretation.

In addition to her many published works, Downey held several prestigious positions. She chaired the Department of Psychology and Philosophy at the University of Wyoming and in doing so became the first woman to hold a head position at a state university. She was appointed to the American Psychological Association Council and became a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Biography

Early life June Etta Downey was born in Laramie, Wyoming, to Stephen Wheeler Downey and Evangeline (Owen) Downey as the second child in a family of nine. Her father was a colonel in the Union Army and one of the founders of the University of Wyoming, and her younger brother, Sheridan Downey, served as United States senator from California between 1938 and 1950. Following education in Laramie public schools and the University of Wyoming preparatory school she entered the university to major in Greek and Latin.

Career After graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1895, Downey taught in an elementary school for a year before obtaining her master's degree in philosophy and psychology from the University of Chicago in 1898. Downey's studies focused on themes of imagery and aesthetics and were concentrated in experimental studies rather than theory.

Later life

As Downey grew older, she concentrated on her teaching. She published her last book, Creative Imagination, in 1929 tying together her interests in psychology and the arts.

Downey died at her sister's home in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1932 after being taken ill with stomach cancer.

In 1919, Downey developed the Downey Individual Will-Temperament Test. This test was one of her biggest contributions to personality psychology and was one of the first personality inventories. Her next work was her dissertation titled Control Process in Modified Handwriting: An Experimental Study. In this article she studied the relationship between handwriting and temperament or personality. Imaginal Reaction to Poetry published in 1911 Graphology and the Psychology of Handwriting published in 1919 Plots and Personalities published in 1922 Publisher The Century Company described this book as "the queerest book they have ever published." The Will-temperament and its Testing published in 1923 The Kingdom of the Mind published in 1927 Creative Imagination: Studies in the psychology of literature published in 1929

Legacy A June Etta Downey Fund in Psychology was established by family members to support professorships, restore the June E. Downey Seminar Room, and support women in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wyoming.

She is also honored by the University of Wyoming, which is home to a bronze plaque with her name on it, the use of "Alma Mater" a song written by her, and has a dormitory building named after her.