Isabelle Kendig
Isabelle Kendig was a prominent clinical psychologist in the mid-20th century United States. She was best known as Head Psychologist at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C.[1] In that role she was part of a cohort of senior clinicians that helped guide the expansion of clinical psychology in the post-WWII era.[2] She also qualified as a member of the second generation of women psychologists in the U.S.[3]
Less well known than Kendig's clinical career are the two other careers that preceded her doctoral studies and PhD. She began as a eugenic field worker in 1912, investigating alleged hereditary defects in the Pratt family of
In all these careers and her personal life, Kendig was an outspoken feminist who exemplified the struggle for a career and personal life free of patriarchal constraints.[7][8][9]
Education
Isabelle Kendig was educated at St. Xavier’s Academy in Chicago, a Catholic school. After high school, she attended Cook County Normal School, a teachers college known for its progressive philosophy and connections to Chicago’s poor and immigrant populations. Next, she became an elementary school teacher in the Chicago public schools. She then attended Oberlin College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.[1] Later, she obtained a M.A. and PhD at Radcliffe College. She studied and conducted research at the Harvard Psychological Clinic under its director Henry Murray, who became a lifelong friend. As Murray's biographer described, she was a prominent member of a group of researchers that included future leaders of the field of clinical and personality psychology, including Saul Rosenzweig, Robert W. White, and Erik Erikson.[10]
Career
Kendig began as a eugenic field worker, trained at the
She then worked for socialist, feminist, and anti-militarist organizations in Washington, D.C.[6][1][19] In the National Women’s Party, Kendig was a field organizer and its Legislative and Organizational Secretary, for which she received a salary.[20] She lobbied and helped organize local groups in the South and created equal rights publicity material for a national audience.[21] She also created the NWP’s Councils for various professions and its Homemakers’ Council—a forum in which policies on marriage and family could be created.[22][20] Alice Paul later described Kendig as an "extraordinary good organizer" and praised her efforts at expanding the NWP membership.[20]
After leaving the Women's Party, Kendig gained national recognition as a founder and Executive Secretary of the Women’s Committee for Political Action. This national organization of socialists, feminists, and anti-militarists was founded to make sure women’s interests were represented in preparations for the election of 1924. A goal of the WCPA was to create a strong female presence within a larger group: the Conference on Progressive Political Action (CPPA), which launched the Presidential campaign for Robert M. La Follette.[23][13]
Kendig also worked for the anti-militarist National Council for the Prevention of War as a researcher and author. Among her projects was a survey and critique of the portrayal of war in history textbooks, which activists could use to argue for less militaristic schools.[24] Kendig also served as the ACLU's Washington Representative,[25] and organized a campaign to oppose a bill for the registration and deportation of aliens, testifying before the relevant Congressional committee, among other tasks.[26][27][28]
Her final career was as a
Kendig died in 1974 in Siasconset, Nantucket,[13][33] and was survived by her husband, who died in 1989,[34][33] and children.[35]
Personal life
In 1915, Kendig married Howard Belding Gill, who became a prominent criminologist.[36] A year before they married, Kendig and Gill began planning how they could each have a career, a home life, and children.[5] Later, Kendig offered advice on how women could maintain some financial independence in their marriage.[22] They had four children.[1][33][37] This included three boys, including Benjamin Franklin Gill in November 1917,[38] Jonathan Belding Gill in October 1919,[39] Peter Lawrence Gill in February 1921,[40][41] and Joan Kendig Gill in November 1925.[42][35]
In a 1975 interview, Alice Paul noted that, at first, Kendig was called "Sally Gill", but changed her mind, insisting that fellow NWP members use the name "Isabel Kendig" instead. Paul also stated that while Kendig was a "well-wisher" for the organization, Kendig was drawn "into her own family life" after leaving NWP.[20] Kendig was also known by the names of "Isabelle Kendig-Gill",[43] "Isabelle V. Kendig Gill",[44] and "Sally".[45]
References
- ^ a b c d e Dr. Isabelle Kendig, 84, Dies, Active in ACLU. Washington Post. September 25, 1974, p. C10.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59147-164-6.
- PMID 19048957. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- Metrocorp. Archivedfrom the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^
- ^ a b Kendig, Isabelle (November 29, 1924). "Women in the progressive movement". The Nation. Vol. 119, no. 3098. New York City: The Nation Company, L.P. p. 544. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ Josefek, K. A. (1970, August 26). Suffragette says women have long way to go. New Bedford Standard-Times.
- ^ Goodman, Ellen. (1970, July 19). Women with a goal: end name-dropping. Boston Globe, p. A-8.
- ^ Harris, Ben. "Profile: Isabelle Kendig". Feminist Voices. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ISBN 9780674539280.
- ^ Rafter, N. (1988). White trash: The eugenic family studies, 1877–1919. Northeastern University Press.
- S2CID 13553642. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Ashline, Shelby (November 19, 2021). "NH prof pens historical article on eugenicist who studied Shutesbury family". Greenfield Recorder. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Briggs, Lloyd Vernon (1930). Two Years' Service on the Reorganized State Board of Insanity in Massachusetts: August, 1914, to August, 1916. Boston: Wright & Potter Print. Co. p. 326.
- ^ "Bacchus at a State Charities Conference". The Survey. Vol. 31, no. 7. New York: Survey Associates, Inc. November 15, 1913. p. 175. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ a b "Jottings". The Survey. Vol. 37, no. 8. New York: Survey Associates, Inc. November 25, 1916. p. 212. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Report of the Children's Commission to the Governor and Legislature, January, 1915. Concord, New Hampshire: New Hampshire. 1914. pp. 75–76.
- ^ Kohn, Nina A. (2005). "Cambridge Law School for Women: The Evolution and Legacy of the Nation's First Graduate Law School Exclusively for Women". Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. 12 (1): 119–161. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ISBN 9780870207785.
- ^ a b c d Paul, Alice (1975). "Alice Paul: Conversations with Alice Paul: Woman Suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment". Suffragists Oral History Project (Interview). Interviewed by Amelia R. Fry. Berkeley, California: University of California. pp. 433–435. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Swain, M. H. (1984). Organized women in Mississippi: The clash over legal disabilities in the 1920s. Southern Studies: Interdisciplinary Journal of the South, 23(1), 91–102.
- ^ a b Haskin, F. J. (1922, December 26). Adjusting family finances. Grand Forks Herald.
- ISBN 0300042280.
- ^ A Handbook for the improvement of textbooks and teaching materials as aids to international understanding. Paris: UNESCO. 1949. pp. 12, 141–142.
- ACLU. April 1927. p. 23. Kendig is also listed on back cover of book as Washington Representative.
- ^ Garrison, Dee (2018) [1989]. Mary Heaton Vorse: Life Of An American Insurgent (PDF). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. pp. 202, 355. Alternate version here
- Congressional Information Service. 1981. p. 38.
- ISBN 9780809388035.
- PMID 7920371. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- Social Networks and Archival Context. Archivedfrom the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- . Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ISBN 1557982155. Alternate version here
- ^ a b c "Howard Belding Gill papers". Burns Archives. Boston College Libraries. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Bisio, Alexandra (September 17, 2012). "Archives Diary: Introducing Howard Belding Gill". John J. Burns Library's Blog. Boston College Libraries. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ New York Times. April 12, 1989. Archivedfrom the original on December 20, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
Howard B. Gill...is survived by four sons, Dr. Benjamin Gill...Jonathan...Peter...and Jeffrey...two daughters, Joan Speck...and Deborah
- ^ Johnsen, Thomas C. (September–October 1999). "Howard Belding Gill: Brief life of a prison reformer: 1890-1989". Harvard Magazine. Cambridge: Harvard University. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ISBN 9780870207778.
- ^ "Alumni Notes". Harvard Alumni Bulletin. Vol. 20, no. 29. Cambridge, Massachusetts. April 25, 1918. p. 572. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ Harvard College Class of 1913 Decennial Report. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1923. p. 121.
- Long Island, New York: Eugenics Research Association. April 1922. p. 52. Retrieved March 6, 2023. Incorrectly calls him "Roger"
- Boston Globe. September 23, 2013. Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Harvard College: Class of 1913: Fifteenth Anniversary Report. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1928. p. 82.
- Iowa University. Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics. Archived from the originalon March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
A remarkable compilation of Isabelle Kendig-Gill, called "The Public and Peace"
- ^ "Bahnson, Claus B. Writings on psychosomatics , circa 1960". Burns Archives. Boston College Libraries. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ "Victor L. Berger Papers, 1862-1980". Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids. Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.