A tale of two pediatricians.

Abstract

Pediatrics as a medical discipline has shared an ambivalent relationship with child psychiatry and behavior. However, a number of pediatricians over the years have had great interest in psychosocial matters. Abraham Jacobi was critical of infant nurseries or “infant asylums.”1 In 1911 Henry Chapin, president of the American Pediatric Society, and his wife created the Alice Chapin Adoption Nursery, which prepared abandoned children for adoption.2 Benjamin Rachford, first professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati, wrote a text in 1905, “Neurotic Disorders of Children.”3 Arnold Gesell, a psychologist at Yale and founder of the Child Development Clinic there in 1911, later took medical training and after graduation was given the title of professor of pediatrics.4 Isaac Abt, first president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, edited a textbook of pediatrics in 1925 that devoted at least 200 pages to psychiatric problems of children.5 Bronson Crothers, the father of pediatric neurology, involved a social worker in his clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital in 1926 and made failed attempts to involve a psychiatrist, “rather half-heartedly on both sides.” He also wrote A Pediatrician in Search of Mental Hygiene. 6 A pioneer in pediatrics, Harry Bakwin7, wrote a classic paper titled “Loneliness in Infants” in 1925, and later with his wife, Ruth, wrote a textbook on childhood behavior disorders. Two pediatricians deserve special recognition because of their contribution to general pediatric practice, to academic pediatrics, and to sensitizing and educating pediatricians to issues of growth and development and behavior. Both were of the same age, had similar interests, and at one time even worked in the same setting. But their careers and accomplishments became quite different. Milton J. E. Senn (1902–1990) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin … Reprint requests to (J.B.R.) 34 Hunters Lane, Hendersonville, NC 28791-1665