Esther Loring Richards | |
---|---|
Born | June 6, 1885 Holliston, Massachusetts |
Died | July 6, 1956 (aged 71) Baltimore, Maryland |
Occupation | Child psychiatrist |
Esther Loring Richards (June 6, 1885 – July 6, 1956) was an American physician and child psychiatrist, based in Baltimore. She was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and psychiatrist-in-charge of the outpatient department at the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic from 1920 until 1951.
Richards was born in Holliston, Massachusetts,[1] the daughter of David Jay Richards and Esther (Etta) Coffin Loring Richards.[2][3] Her father was a Harvard-educated teacher and farmer.[4][5] She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1910, and completed her medical degree at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1915.[6]
Richards was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and psychiatrist-in-charge of the outpatient department at the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic from 1920 until 1951. Much of her work focused on child psychiatry, and on studies of mental hygiene.[7] She was also consulting physician for the Baltimore City Hospitals.[8]
Richards presented at the First International Congress on Mental Hygiene in 1930, in Washington, D.C.[9] She opposed the Eighteenth Amendment, and joined the Woman's Organization for National Prohibition Reform in 1931,[10] saying "prohibition, whether of the use of alcohol or anything else we may want or wish to do, will never develop in us or any people self control, a sense of social responsibility, or the ability to make wise choices for ourselves."[11]
In 1946, Richards and ten other women, including Lise Meitner, Virginia Gildersleeve, and Agnes de Mille, were honored by the National Press Club as the outstanding women of 1945.[12]
Richards published several books, and her work appeared in academic journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine,[13] Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry,[14] The Journal of Pediatrics,[15] The American Journal of Nursing,[16] American Physical Education Review,[17] The Pacific Coast Journal of Nursing,[18] The Public Health Nurse,[19] and American Journal of Public Health.[20]
Richards died in 1956, at the age of 71, at her Baltimore home.[20] Her papers are in the Chesney Archives at Johns Hopkins.[6] Her personal letters to zoologist Abby Howe Turner are in the collection of Mount Holyoke College.[32] The Esther Loring Richards Children's Center in Owings Mills, Maryland, was opened in 1958, and named in her memory.[33]