Doris Twitchell Allen
1901 – 2002
“I believe the ultimate source of peace, long-range, lay with the children.”
Born in Maine, Doris received degrees in chemistry and biology from the University of Maine and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan.
In 1935, she married Erastus S. Allen, a Glendale patent attorney and moved to the Village.
She founded and directed the psychological services department at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (1936-47) and was a consulting psychologist at the Child Convalescent Home for a time.
At both institutions, she established units that undertook developmental and personality assessments of children alongside standard physical care.
In 1948, Doris published the “Three-Dimensional Apperception Test,” which later became known as the Twitchell-Allen Three-Dimensional Personality Test.
She founded Children’s International Summer Villages in 1950. This first summer village, which brought together 55 sixth-grade children from a variety of countries for one month, took place in Cincinnati in 1951.
Today, with chapters in more than 60 countries, Children’s International Summer Villages continue to operate and inspire children to imagine a more just and peaceful world.
For her work to bring about world peace, Doris was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. In addition, she was nominated for the Presidential Freedom Medal in 1999, as well as the Hague Appeal for Peace Prize and the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.