Dashiell's Portrait

Do you ever feel like a rat in a maze, bumping into walls and sniffing around corners looking for a crumb of cheese? Stroll over to the lobby of Davie Hall and you'll see a lab rat in a bas-relief portrait of John Frederick Dashiell, the founder and first chair of the Department of Psychology.

A graduate of Columbia University, Dashiell was hired in 1920 and served as chair of the department for almost 30 years. With the encouragement of Harry Woodburn Chase, the University's 10th president, Dashiell created the department by bringing together courses from the philosophy department and the School of Education.

In 1961, the psychology department commissioned Dashiell's bronze portrait by John Derrickson McCurdy, a 21-year-old artist.

John McCurdy was born in Delaware but grew up in North Carolina, graduating summa cum laude from Duke University with a degree in religion. He earned a master of arts degree at Princeton, and from there he went to Pennsylvania State University to study and teach existential philosophy. All the while, he worked actively as an artist.

Primarily a painter, he described his bronze portrait of Dashiell as a "faintly bizarre memento." McCurdy wrote, taught and painted tirelessly; he obtained a doctorate in philosophy and began working toward a master of fine arts degree.

McCurdy became ill in 1973 and died in 1974. He was 34 years old and writing a book about his philosophical, religious and artistic principles.

ArtiFACTS, an occasional "Gazette" feature, looks at campus objects classified as historic property -- what they are, how they got here and why they're significant to the University. The piece is written by Anne Douglas, historic property officer, and aims to help employees feel connected to their environment and to the historical significance of the campus.