COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY RECORD  February 25, 1994  Vol. 19 No. 18

                    OBITUARIES: ARTHUR T. JERSILD, 91

      Arthur T. Jersild, professor emeritus of psychology and education, 
      who served on the Teachers College faculty from 1930 to 1967, died 
      Jan. 17., in a Beaufort, S.C., nursing home. He was 91 years old.

      A developmental psychologist, Jersild spent decades studying the 
      ways in which schools can foster self-awareness in children and 
      teachers. One study, involving interviews with 3,000 students 
      ranging from fourth grade to college, revealed that children have 
      more self-awareness than is commonly perceived.

      Jersild discovered that students had a great deal of common 
      understanding in matters pertaining to their own character traits, 
      emotional tendencies and feelings about other people.

      "The little child knows what it is like to have his feelings hurt, 
      to be sad or to be disappointed with as much the same basic 
      meanings as are experienced by the post-graduate student," he 
      said. This research was the basis for his book, "In Search of 
      Self," published by Teachers College Press in 1952.

      Jersild also urged that teacher-preparation programs should help 
      teachers face their own conflicts and anxieties. His analysis of 
      teacher self-understanding, "When Teachers Face Themselves," 
      published in 1955 by Teachers College Press, is still in print.

      His book, "Child Psychology," published by Prentice-Hall, was 
      considered the major text in the field for more than three 
      decades. First published in 1933, it went through several editions 
      (its sixth in 1968). It was also published in a British edition, 
      as well as translated into Japanese, Swedish, Hebrew, Italian, 
      Spanish, Tamil, Hindi, Indonesian, Arabic, Portuguese, Persian and 
      Urdu.

      His other major work was "Psychology of Adolescence," published by 
      Macmillan in 1957.

      Throughout the 1930s, Jersild was the editor of the "Child 
      Development Monographs" published by the Teachers College Bureau 
      of Publications (later Teachers College Press). He co-authored 
      several of the monographs himself, including "Children's Fears" 
      (with F.B. Holmes, 1935); "Conflicts Between Preschool Children" 
      (with F.V. Markey, 1935), "Development of Rhythm in Young 
      Children" (with S.F. Bienstock, 1935) and "The Influence of 
      Nursery School Experience on Children's Social Adjustments" (with 
      M.D. Fite, 1939). He was also co-author of two other texts 
      published by the Bureau of Publications, "Joys and Problems of 
      Child" "Rearing" (1949) and "Children's Interest" (1949).

      From 1935 to 1948, he served as the consulting psychologist for 
      the Columbia Broadcasting System in New York. From 1948 to 1949, 
      he was a visiting expert for the Department of the Army, Civil 
      Affairs Division.

      Born in Elk Horn, Iowa, on Nov. 12, 1902, he earned his bachelor's 
      degree at the University of Nebraska in 1924 and his Ph.D. in 
      Psychology at Columbia in 1927. He received an honorary doctorate 
      from the University of Nebraska in 1962.

      Jersild is survived by his son, John T. Jersild of Beaufort, S.C.; 
      his daughter Alice Jane Jersild of Staatsburg, N.Y., and two 
      grandchildren.

      Graveside services were held in the Poughkeepsie World Cemetery in 
      Montrose, N.Y. on Jan. 27.