Hugo Münsterberg (May 13, 1910) | Willa Cather Archive

#0176: Willa Cather to Hugo Münsterberg, May 13, 1910

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M^CCLURE'S MAGAZINE³,
44-60 EAST TWENTY-THIRD STREET,
NEW YORK² May thirteenth 1910. Dear Professor Munsterberg¹:

Of all the subjects which you mention⁴, the only one which I feel doubtful about is the one on the American Institute in Berlin⁵. It seems to me as if that would concern students and scholars too exclusively and were too little a concern of the general public; but, perhaps I am wrong. You, of course, can much better pass judgment upon the subject that we can.

About "When I Came Home"⁶ being too flippant for a title, that may be true. But, even though these are series articles, they need not be altogether grave and solemn I take it and need not be without the personal note which is really so attractive an element in much that you have written.

No, Professor Munsterberg, I do not blame you for "drawing the line" at the German student picture. It was my business to suggest it⁷, but it was certainly your business to refuse. As some one in the Business Department exclaimed dispairingly, "Why do people have their pictures taken when they are German students if not to publish them when they are famous.?" Having presented the prospectus point of view I have now done my duty and will gratefully receive whatever pictures and autobiographical material you can send me.

Faithfully, Willa Sibert Cather Professor Hugo Munsterberg, Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.⁸

Information about this letter:

Source File:: cat.let0176.xml
Letter identifier: 0176
Contents: Document is one leaf, typewritten on recto only.
Person to whom letter was written: Hugo Münsterberg ¹
Date letter was written: May 13, 1910
Place letter was written: New York, New York, United States²
Location of original letter: Hugo Münsterberg Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA

Individual Annotations

See #0170, #0172, #0174, and #0175 for earlier negotiations concerning a series of articles on Germany.

See #0174.

See #0175.

Person Annotations

1669

Münsterberg, Hugo (1863-1916). German-American psychologist. Born in Danzig, Prussia, into a cultured merchant family, Hugo Münsterberg earned his PhD from the University of Leipzig in 1885 and his medical degree from the University of Heidelberg in 1887. William James invited him to come teach at Harvard University in 1892. Münsterberg’s work in applied psychology, particularly forensic psychology, made him well known in the U.S.; he often published articles in McClure’s and other popular magazines. However, as World War I began, his defense of Germany led to a loss of reputation. Cather corresponded with him in 1910 and 1911 concerning articles articles on Germany McClure’s proposed he write but that were ultimately not published in the magazine.

Place Annotations

New York, New York, United States

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England

Work Annotations

McClure's Magazine