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Part IV    Dispositional Theories394
eventually graduated from college, earned amaster’s degree, andbecame apsychology 
andbiology teacher. Shemarried atage31buthadnochildren. 
Although awealth ofpersonal documents onMarion Taylor became available 
toAdaandGordon Allport, theAllports chose nottopublish anaccount ofherstory. 
Barenbaum (1997) offered some possible reasons forthis,butduetomajor gapsin
thecorrespondence between Marion Taylor andAdaAllport, itisnowimpossible to
know forcertain whytheAllports didnotpublish thiscasehistory. Their work with
Marion Taylor probably helped them organize andpublish asecond case—the story of
Jenny Gove Masterson, another pseudonym.
Letters From Jenny
Allport’s morphogenic approach tothestudy oflivesisbestillustrated inhisfamous 
Letters from Jenny. These letters reveal thestory ofanolder woman andherintense 
love/hate feelings toward herson,Ross. Between March 1926 (when shewas58)
andOctober 1937 (when shedied), Jenny wrote aseries of301letters toRoss’s 
former college roommate, Glenn, andhiswife,Isabel, whoalmost certainly wereGor-
donandAdaAllport (Winter, 1993). Allport originally published parts ofthese let-
tersanonymously (Anonymous, 1946) andthenlaterpublished them inmore detail 
under hisownname (Allport, 1965).
Born inIreland ofProtestant parents in1868, Jenny wastheoldest inafamily 
ofseven children thatincluded fivesisters andabrother. When shewas5years old,
thefamily moved toCanada, andwhen shewas18,herfather diedandJenny was
forced toquitschool andgotowork tohelpsupport herfamily. After 9years, her
brothers andsisters became self-supporting ,andJenny, whohadalways been consid -
eredrebellious, scandalized herfamily bymarrying adivorced man, adecision that
further alienated herfrom herconservatively religious family.
After only2years ofmarriage, Jenny’s husband died. Amonth orsolater, her
son,Ross, wasborn. Thiswas1897, thesame yearGordon Allport, Ross’s future 
college roommate, wasborn. Thenext17years weresomewhat contented onesfor
Jenny. Herworld revolved around herson,andsheworked hardtoensure thathehad
everything hewanted. ShetoldRoss that,aside from art,theworld wasamiserable 
place andthatitwasherdutytosacrifice forhimbecause shewasresponsible forhis
existence.
When Rossmoved away toattend college, Jenny continued toscrimp inorder 
topayallhisbills.AsRossbegan tobeinterested inwomen, theidyllic mother–son 
relationship came toanend.Thetwoquarreled often andbitterly overhisfemale 
friends. Jenny referred toeachofthem asprostitutes orwhores, including thewoman 
Rossmarried. With thatmarriage, Jenny andRossbecame temporarily estranged.
Atabout thatsame time, Jenny began an111/2-yearcorrespondence withGlenn 
andIsabel (Gordon andAda) inwhich sherevealed much about bothherlifeand
herpersonality. Theearly letters showed thatshewasdeeply concerned withmoney, 
death, andRoss. ShefeltthatRoss wasungrateful andthathehadabandoned her
foranother woman, andaprostitute atthat!Shecontinued herbitterness toward 
himuntilheandhiswifeweredivorced. Shethenmoved intotheapartment nextto
Ross’s andforashort timeJenny washappy. Butsoon Ross wasseeing other women, 
andJenny inevitably found something wrong witheachother .Herletters werefilled Final PDF to printer