Charles Augustus Strong - Early Life and Studies

Early Life and Studies

Charles Augustus Strong was born in America on 28 November 1862, at Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of Augustus Hopkins Strong. In 1865 his father moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio, where they became acquainted with the family of John D. Rockefeller. Strong received education at the Rochester Theological Seminary, where his father was President. He entered the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Strong was a student of Latin and Greek, and edited the school paper. In July 1881 he travelled to Germany, where he studied at the Gütersloh Gymnasium. In 1883 he returned to America and entered the University of Rochester, where he received an AB in 1884 and an LLD in 1919. Strong graduated from Harvard in 1885 with a second AB. At Harvard he was influenced by the philosopher and psychologist, William James, and became friends with George Santayana; and together they founded the Harvard Philosophical Club. From 1885 to 1886 he returned to the Rochester Theological Seminary, which was still headed by his father. In 1886 Strong headed to Berlin with George Santayana on a James Walker Fellowship from Harvard. Strong turned away from a career as a clergyman. In Berlin he studied psychology, philosophy, and physiology with professors Carl Stumpf and Friedrich Paulsen.