Despite the anti-Semitism of his new country, Lewin embraced the USA whole-heartedly (and no doubt with great relief despite separating from his extended family) and passionately set out to strengthen democracy here and abroad in all of his activities. He also dove into our customs with glee, stating to Alfred Marrow at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, “Let’s have a couple of hot dogs. That’s what we Americans eat on Sunday evenings in the summer (Marrow, 1969, p171).”

Here are some key dates:

 

1929: Lecturer at Yale International Congress of Psychology where he presents his film of his 18-month-old niece Hannah attempting to sit on a rock. Despite a language barrier, the film allowed Lewin to convey his concepts to the stodgy audience, including that of forces in a field. As Marrow put it, “Little Hannah had passed the stone many times before without wanting to sit on it. When she finally did want to… it was because she was tired (Marrow, 1969, p50).” The object (the stone) held no meaning to her until her life space was altered by fatigue. It’s also an excellent example of how, unlike his predecessors and contemporaries, Lewin considered all variables, including physiological states, as relevant to the psychology and behavior of the individual.

 

 

1932: Lewin is a guest lecturer at Stanford (despite Boring’s racist remarks) and makes the contacts that lead to securing a faculty position in the United States, a pre-requisite to his ability to immigrate.

 

 

1933: Guest lecturer at the University of Cambridge (during his journey to the United States) where he met Eric Trist, also guest lecturer at Harvard for the entire spring semesters in 1938 & 1939, the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, the University of California at Berkeley for the summer session of 1939, amongst other constant speaking and lecturing invitations (Marrow, 1969, p138).

 

As a psychology student, Trist, who went on to found London’s Tavistock Institute, had stumbled upon one of Lewin’s articles in the Cambridge library. As he tells it, “It was a revelation. When I returned to the department, Professor Bartlett asked me, ‘What happened to you?’ My eyes were evidently sparkling. I told him about this extraordinary paper. My interest in and debt to Lewin began at that moment.” A year later, when Lewin visited Professor Bartlett on his way to America, Eric Trist was one of those whom Bartlett invited to tea (Marrow, 1969, p69).

 

 

1933–1936: Lewin becomes a refugee scholar with temporary (two year) appointment at Cornell University’s School of Home Economics in Ithaca, NY, by a grant from the Emergency Committee on Displaced Scholars (Marrow, 1969, p74). Meets Rensis Likert for the first time en route to Cornell.

 

 

1935: Publication of his first book, A Dynamic Theory of Personality.

 

 

1936: Publication of Some Social-Psychological Differences Between the United States and Germany. 1936: Publication of his second book (actually written in Germany but never published there), Principles of Topological Psychology.

fig3_1_B.jpg

The Cover of Lewin’s second book

 

 

1933 until the mid 1940s: Lewin attempts to found a Psychological Institute at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Alfred Marrow credits this effort as the foundation for Lewin’s conceptualization of “Action Research (Marrow, 1969, p82).”

 

 

1936–1944: Appointed for initial three-year position at the University of Iowa Child Welfare Research Station (Marrow, 1969, p84).

 

 

1939–1946: At CEO Alfred Marrow’s invitation, begins Action Research at Harwood Manufacturing’s rural Virginia plant.

 

Marrow’s father and grandfather had founded Harwood together in 1899 (Burns, 2019, p4). Marrow, who also had a doctorate degree, “…met Lewin in 1934 when he consulted Lewin about his PhD topic (Burns, 2019, p5).” He and Lewin became friends and formed a remarkable partnership. Marrow, in partnership with Lewinian experts such as John French and Ron Lippitt, continued using, refining, and documenting Lewin’s organization development methods for decades, and had a significant impact on the development of the profession (Burns, 2019, p7). He was the kind of executive sponsor that OD professionals dream of and, thankfully, occasionally find.

 

1937–1939 (Approximate dates): Boy’s groups studies with Lippitt and White at the University of Iowa, including publication of Experiments on Autocratic and Democratic Atmospheres.

 

 

1942–1944: Colleague Margaret Mead solicits Lewin’s participation in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Committee on Food Habits studies. Mead and Lewin were yet another amazing collaboration.

 

 

1939: The Nazis invade Poland. Lewin predicts that the spread of the Nazis in Europe will only get worse.

 

fig3_2_B.jpg

Lewin’s groundbreaking colleague, Margaret Mead

 

 

1939: Publication of Experiments in Social Space (Lewin, 1939, 1997, p59–67). Lewin’s first use of the term “group dynamics” (Marrow, 1969, p168).

 

 

1942: Publication of Time Perspective and Morale.

 

 

1943: Publication of Cultural Reconstruction and The Special Case of Germany.

 

 

1944: Lewin simultaneously founds the Research Center for Group Dynamics at M.I.T. and the Commission on Community Interrelations (C.C.I.) for the American Jewish Congress (Marrow, 1969, p173).

 

According to Lewin, “The Center would educate research workers in theoretical and applied fields of group life and assist in training practitioners. The main task of the Center would be the development of scientific methods of studying and changing group life and the development of concepts and theories of group dynamics (Marrow, 1969, p172).”

Marrow (1969, p184) documents that the Research Center for Group Dynamics identified six program areas:

1. Group productivity

2. Communication and the spread of influence

3. Social perception

4. Intergroup relations

5. Group membership and individual adjustment

6. The training of leaders and the improvement of group functioning

Along with an all-star staff including Ronald Lippitt (who mentored my father for decades), the location of the Center gave Lewin easy access to collaborate with the likes of Douglas McGregor at the Department of Economics and Social Science at M.I.T. and Gordon Allport at Harvard. The far-flung circles influencing and to a greater degree influenced by Lewin continued to grow (Marrow, 1969, p182).

Always working at an amazing pace (perhaps too fast for his health), Lewin published many articles towards the end of his life. I’m only listing the highlights from my perspective here:

fig3_3_B.jpg

My primary source

 

 

1944: Publication of The Solution of a Chronic Conflict in Industry.

 

1944: Publication of The Dynamics of Group Action.

 

1945: Publication of Conduct, Knowledge, and Acceptance of New Values.

 

1946: Publication of Action Research and Minority Problems.

 

1947: Publication of Frontiers in Group Dynamics.

 

1947: February 11th, Lewin dies of a heart attack.

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