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 Shutesbury Massachusetts.^[4][5] This was followed by living in Washington, D.C., working as a campaigner for women's rights, anti-militarism, and socialism.^[6][1]

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 Eugenics Record Office in Long Island. Field work in eugenics was a popular job for young people, particularly women, who wanted to improve society by investigating the connection between heredity and social problems.^[11][12][13] Skeptical of the assumptions of hard-line eugenicists, Kendig produced data that contradicted their basic beliefs. When she presented her research to Charles Davenport and other social scientists concerned with social defect, Kendig was shunned by Davenport, who, in turn, falsified her findings to fit his beliefs.^[5][13] She gave up her role as researcher and became an executive secretary for a state-wide social service agency in Massachusetts, League for Preventive Work, advocating for a new institution for people with intellectually disabilities (then known as the feebleminded),^[14][15][16] and worked for the Children's Commission in New Hampshire for similar aims.^[17] She later resigned from the League of Preventive Work in 1916, so she could get a degree in law from the Cambridge Law School for Women,^[16] said to be the first graduate school "exclusively for women" in the U.S.^[18]

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 clinical psychologist. In 1933, she earned a degree in the field from Radcliffe College.^[13] Later, she rose to the rank of Head of Psychology at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. She made history there by giving projective tests to the hospital's most famous patient, the poet Ezra Pound.^[29] She also taught at George Washington University Medical School and Catholic University.^[30] In the 1940s, Kendig published widely on assessment and psychopathology and completed a book on intellectual deterioration in schizophrenia that had been begun by William Alanson White, former superintendent at St. Elizabeths. The book was entitled Psychological studies in dementia praecox.^[31] After World War II, she helped lead the field of clinical psychology, locally and nationally, as it expanded its scientific and social influence.^[32][2]

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

1. Dr. Isabelle Kendig, 84, Dies, Active in ACLU. Washington Post. September 25, 1974, p. C10.
2. Baker, D.B. & Benjamin, Jr., L.T. (2005). "Creating a Profession: The National Institute of Mental Health and the Training of Psychologists, 1946-1954". In Pickren, Jr, W. E. & Schneider, S.F. (eds.). Psychology and the National Institute of Mental Health: A historical analysis of science, practice, and policy. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. pp. 181–207. doi:10.1037/10931-006. ISBN 978-1-59147-164-6.
3. Johnston, Elizabeth; Johnson, Ann (2008). "Searching for the second generation of American women psychologists". History of Psychology. 11 (1): 40–72. doi:10.1037/1093-4510.11.1.40. PMID 19048957. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
4. Salvo, Welling (May 15, 2006). "The master race". Boston Magazine. Boston: Metrocorp. from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
5. Harris, Ben (2021). "Eugenics, social reform, and psychology: The careers of Isabelle Kendig". History of Psychology. 24 (4): 350–376. doi:10.1037/hop0000200. PMID 34618491. S2CID 238474594. Retrieved March 3, 2023. Alternate version here
6. 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. from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
7. Josefek, K. A. (1970, August 26). Suffragette says women have long way to go. New Bedford Standard-Times.
8. Goodman, Ellen. (1970, July 19). Women with a goal: end name-dropping. Boston Globe, p. A-8.
9. Harris, Ben. "Profile: Isabelle Kendig". Feminist Voices. from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
10. Robinson, Forest Glen (1992). Love's story told: A life of Henry Murray. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 151, 174. ISBN 9780674539280.
11. Rafter, N. (1988). White trash: The eugenic family studies, 1877–1919. Northeastern University Press.
12. Bix, Amy Sue (1997). "Experiences and Voices of Eugenics Field-Workers: 'Women's Work' in Biology". Social Studies of Science. 27 (4): 625–668. doi:10.1177/030631297027004003. PMID 11619412. S2CID 13553642. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
13. Ashline, Shelby (November 19, 2021). "NH prof pens historical article on eugenicist who studied Shutesbury family". Greenfield Recorder. from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
14. 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.
15. "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.
16. "Jottings". The Survey. Vol. 37, no. 8. New York: Survey Associates, Inc. November 25, 1916. p. 212. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
17. Report of the Children's Commission to the Governor and Legislature, January, 1915. Concord, New Hampshire: New Hampshire. 1914. pp. 75–76.
18. 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.
19. Berger, Meta (2016). Swanson, Kimberley (ed.). A Milwaukee woman's life on the left: The autobiography of Meta Berger. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Society. pp. 150, 153, 156. ISBN 9780870207785.
20. 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. from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
21. 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.
22. Haskin, F. J. (1922, December 26). Adjusting family finances. Grand Forks Herald.
23. Cott, Nancy F. (1988). The grounding of modern feminism. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. pp. 251–252. ISBN 0300042280.
24. A Handbook for the improvement of textbooks and teaching materials as aids to international understanding. Paris: UNESCO. 1949. pp. 12, 141–142.
25. Free Speech 1926: Work of the American Civil Liberties Union (PDF). New York City: ACLU. April 1927. p. 23. Kendig is also listed on back cover of book as Washington Representative.
26. Garrison, Dee (2018) [1989]. Mary Heaton Vorse: Life Of An American Insurgent (PDF). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. pp. 202, 355. Alternate version here
27. CIS US Congressional Committee Hearings Index Part III: 69th Congress-73rd Congress, Dec. 1925-1934. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service. 1981. p. 38.
28. Benjamin, Louise M. (2001). Freedom of the Air and the Public Interest. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780809388035.
29. Gillman, Robert D. (1994). "Ezra Pound's Rorschach diagnosis". Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. 58 (3): 307–322. PMID 7920371. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
30. "Kendig, Isabelle V." Social Networks and Archival Context. from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
31. "News and Comment". Archives of Neurology & Psychiatry. 43 (3): 40–72. April 1940. doi:10.1001/archneurpsyc.1940.02280040202014. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
32. Taylor, Jane A. & Stirling, Elizabeth Cole (1993). "The District of Columbia Psychological Association". In Pate, J.L. & Wertheimer, M. (eds.). No small part: A history of regional organizations in American psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. pp. 171–188. doi:10.1037/10144-009. ISBN 1557982155. Alternate version here
33. "Howard Belding Gill papers". Burns Archives. Boston College Libraries. from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
34. Bisio, Alexandra (September 17, 2012). "Archives Diary: Introducing Howard Belding Gill". John J. Burns Library's Blog. Boston College Libraries. from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
35. "Howard B. Gill, 99, Dies; Prison Authority". New York Times. April 12, 1989. from 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
36. Johnsen, Thomas C. (September–October 1999). "Howard Belding Gill: Brief life of a prison reformer: 1890-1989". Harvard Magazine. Cambridge: Harvard University. from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
37. Stevens, Michael E., ed. (2016). The Family Letters of Victor and Meta Berger, 1894-1929. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Society. p. 337. ISBN 9780870207778.
38. "Alumni Notes". Harvard Alumni Bulletin. Vol. 20, no. 29. Cambridge, Massachusetts. April 25, 1918. p. 572. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
39. Harvard College Class of 1913 Decennial Report. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1923. p. 121.
40. "Notes and News". Eugenical News. Vol. 7. Long Island, New York: Eugenics Research Association. April 1922. p. 52. Retrieved March 6, 2023. Incorrectly calls him "Roger"
41. "Peter Lawrence Gill". Legacy.com. Boston Globe. September 23, 2013. from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
42. Harvard College: Class of 1913: Fifteenth Anniversary Report. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1928. p. 82.
43. Catt, Carrie Chapman (January 1, 1924). (Speech). Iowa University. Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2013. A remarkable compilation of Isabelle Kendig-Gill, called "The Public and Peace"
44. "Bahnson, Claus B. Writings on psychosomatics , circa 1960". Burns Archives. Boston College Libraries. from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
45. "Victor L. Berger Papers, 1862-1980". Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids. Wisconsin Historical Society. from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.