Esther Loring Richards Explained

Esther Loring Richards
Birth Date:June 6, 1885
Birth Place:Holliston, Massachusetts
Death Date:July 6, 1956 (aged 71)
Death Place: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.

Early life and education

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]

Career

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]

Publications

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, The American Journal of Nursing,[15] American Physical Education Review,[16] The Pacific Coast Journal of Nursing,[17] The Public Health Nurse,[18] and American Journal of Public Health.

Personal life

Richards died in 1956, at the age of 71, at her Baltimore home.[31] Her papers are in the Chesney Archives at Johns Hopkins. 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]

Notes and References

  1. News: 1935-08-26 . Nurses to Hear Dr. Richards at Fall Graduation . 11 . Harrisburg Telegraph . 2022-09-27 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: 1956-07-07 . Esther Loring Richards MD . 11 . The Evening Sun . 2022-09-26 . Newspapers.com.
  3. Book: Pope, Charles Henry . Loring Genealogy . 1917 . Murray and Emery Company . 978-0-598-99969-6 . 294 . en.
  4. https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0344 David Richards Family Papers
  5. Book: Harvard College Class of 1876 . Ninth Report of the Secretary . 1916 . The University Press . 121–122 . en.
  6. Web site: Esther L. Richards Collection . 2022-09-26 . Chesney Archives . en.
  7. News: 1924-09-21 . Helping the Backward Child to Go Forward . 85 . The Baltimore Sun . 2022-09-27 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: 1951-06-10 . Dr. Esther L. Richards to Get Honorary Degree . 4 . The Baltimore Sun . 2022-09-27 . Newspapers.com.
  9. Book: Williams, Frankwood Earl . Proceedings of the First International Congress on Mental Hygiene: Held at Washington, D.C., U.S.A., May 5th to 10th, 1930 . 1932 . International Committee for Mental Hygiene . en.
  10. Book: Walsh, Michael T. . Baltimore Prohibition: Wet and Dry in the Free State . 2017-12-11 . Arcadia Publishing . 978-1-4396-6357-8 . en.
  11. News: 1931-04-12 . Woman Scientist Decries Dry Law; Dr. Esther Richards, Psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, Joins Reform Organization . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-09-26 . 0362-4331.
  12. News: 1946-02-10 . Atom Scientist Honored as Foremost Woman of 1945 . 23 . The Philadelphia Inquirer . 2022-09-27 . Newspapers.com.
  13. Richards . Esther Loring . 1934-03-22 . Practical Features in the Study and Treatment of Anxiety States . New England Journal of Medicine . en . 210 . 12 . 633–637 . 10.1056/NEJM193403222101204 . 0028-4793.
  14. Richards . Esther Loring . 1937-04-01 . Relationship of Declining Intelligence Quotients to Maladjustments in School Children . Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry . en . 37 . 4 . 817 . 10.1001/archneurpsyc.1937.02260160117012 . 0096-6754.
  15. Richards . Esther Loring . 1935 . Nursing: A Profession or a Technic? . The American Journal of Nursing . 35 . 12 . 1165–1173 . 10.2307/3412018 . 3412018 . 0002-936X.
  16. Richards . Esther Loring . 1929-02-01 . Mental Aspects of Play . American Physical Education Review . 34 . 2 . 98–100 . 10.1080/23267224.1929.10652371.
  17. Richards . Esther Loring . April 1926 . The Interdependence of Body and Mind in Health and Sickness . The Pacific Coast Journal of Nursing . 22 . 4 . 202–204.
  18. Richards . Esther Loring . January 1924 . The Trail of Mental Hygiene in Public Health Nursing . The Public Health Nurse . 16 . 1 . 11–19.
  19. Richards . Esther Loring . July 1919 . A study of the invalid reaction . Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry . 2 . 1 . 393–413. 10.1001/archneurpsyc.1919.02180100026004 .
  20. Richards . Esther Loring . January 1919 . Psychopathological Observations in a Group of Feeble-Minded . American Journal of Insanity . 75 . 3 . 379–391.
  21. Web site: Richards . Esther Loring . 1920 . Some adaptive difficulties found in school children . 2022-09-26 . Wellcome Collection . en.
  22. Book: National Conference of Social Work (U S.) Annual Session . Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work at the ... Annual Session Held in ... . 1921 . The Conference . 351–355 . en.
  23. Book: Richards, Esther Loring . The role of situation in psychopathological conditions. . 1923 . New York.
  24. Book: Richards, Esther Loring . The elementary school and the individual child . 1923 . National Committee for Mental Hygiene . New York City.
  25. May 1924 . Conservation of Social Energy . Hospital Social Service . 9 . 5 . 278–288.
  26. Richards . Esther Loring . 1928 . Mental Hygiene and the Student Nurse . The American Journal of Nursing . 28 . 2 . 159–170 . 10.2307/3408768 . 3408768 . 0002-936X.
  27. Book: Richards . Esther Loring . Behaviour aspects of child conduct. . Child Study Association of America . 1936 . The Macmillan company . New York.
  28. Richards . Esther Loring . 1941-04-01 . Following the hypochondriacal child for a decade . The Journal of Pediatrics . English . 18 . 4 . 528–537 . 10.1016/S0022-3476(41)80244-3 . 0022-3476.
  29. Book: Richards, Esther Loring . Introduction to psychobiology and psychiatry, a textbook for nurses . 1941 . The C.V. Mosby company . St. Louis.
  30. Richards . Esther Loring . June 1942 . A History of Medical Psychology . American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health . en . 32 . 6 . 659 . 10.2105/AJPH.32.6.659-a . 0002-9572.
  31. Fairbank . Ruth E. . Muncie . Wendell . 1956-12-01 . Esther Loring Richards, M.D. . American Journal of Psychiatry . 113 . 6 . 576–576–1 . 10.1176/ajp.113.6.576 . 0002-953X.
  32. Web site: The Esther Richards Letters, 1921-1932 . 2022-09-27 . Mount Holyoke College.
  33. News: 1958-09-12 . Psychiatric Unit Dedication Held . 42 . The Baltimore Sun . 2022-09-27 . Newspapers.com.

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