Emmett Holt
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Luther Emmett Holt (L. Emmett Holt, March 4, 1855 – January 14, 1924) was an
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pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...
and
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, noted for writing ''The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children's Nurses'' in 1894. Born near
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, Holt graduated from the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
in 1875. He went to medical school in the
University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...
and then the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...
, earning his
M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...
in 1880. He pioneered the science of
pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...
, and became the head physician at New York's Babies Hospital in 1888. Under his leadership it became the leading pediatric hospital of its time.L. EMMETT HOLT, 1855-1924. Biographical note.
, Personal Papers and Manuscripts, Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library, Columbia University.
One of Holt's most notable accomplishments is the introduction of milk certification in New York City. Using a grant he acquired through his connection with the Rockefeller Institute Holt surveyed the quality of milk in the tenement districts and subsequently proved that a large proportion of infant fatalities were due to excessively high bacterial counts. He was instrumental in the creation of milk commissions and advisory boards for the city's Department of Health.Edwards A. Parks & Howard H. Mason, "Luther Emmett Holt", Pediatric Profiles, Borden Smith Veeder, 1957;35-41 In 1887, a hospital designated solely for children became a reality when five determined women purchased a brownstone house at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 55th Street, near the site of Bloomingdale's today. Holt became its first medical director of the Babies Hospital in 1889 - now
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian (MSCH or CHONY) is a women's and children's hospital at 3959 Broadway, near West 165th Street, in the Washington Heights, Manhattan, Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York C ...
. At his first rounds examining the patients, he noted with interest, the practice of the nurses there in maintaining a clipboard at the bedside (cribside) upon which important clinical information was being kept. He began adding physician observations to it, and thus was born the "medical record" or "chart". The head of nursing at that time had a set of lecture notes, which she used in the education of parents. He adapted it into a book that became the standard child rearing text ''The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children's Nurses'' (1894). This remained the pre-eminent guide until ''Psychological Care of Infant and Child'' ( Watson 1928) and then '' Baby and Child Care'' (
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1946). Holt promoted the idea of regimented and disciplined parenting. His book included a schedule of activities (such as toilet training) to be learned at specific ages, and meals to at regular hours to "prevent disease". He advised that: "Babies under six months should never be played with: and the less of it at anytime the better for the infant. They are made nervous and irritable, sleep badly and suffer from indigestion." In 1900, the Rockefeller family funded the construction of a new Babies' Hospital at the same site, a 10-story state-of-the-art building that still stands to this day. However, by the 1920s even this building was too small, so Babies' Hospital joined Presbyterian Hospital, the Neurological Institute and the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, to build
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is the academic medical center of Columbia University and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The center's academic wing consists of Columbia's colleges and schools of Physician ...
, located between West 165th and 168th Streets and Broadway. It continues today as the largest Hospital in the
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospit ...
system. Many important early figures in pediatrics did their internship under his supervision, such as Dorothy Reed (Mendenhall), MD,
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, MD (1st Chairman of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins and Director of the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children) and Edward Parks, MD (3d chair at Johns Hopkins). At the turn of the century, Dr. Holt was a major figure in pediatrics. He was a charter member of the
American Pediatric Society The American Pediatric Society (APS) is the first pediatric society established in North America. Created in 1887, the APS pursues a vision of an engaged, inclusive, and impactful community of pediatric thought leaders. The APS mission is to shape t ...
and would be elected its president twice, an honor bestowed upon only one other doctor. In 1901 he was appointed to the board of the Rockefeller Institute, under whose auspices he would eventually travel to China. Following his development of a child welfare program adopted at the
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Cannes Conference (1919), he was elected president of the Child Health Organization. As president of the American Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality (AASPIM), Holt promoted reproduction control by society as a means of eugenics. In his 1913 presidential address he said:
We must eliminate the unfit by birth not by death. The race is to be most effectively improved by preventing marriage and reproduction by the unfit, among whom we would class the diseased, the degenerate, the defective, and the criminal.
He wrote ''The Care and Feeding of Children'' to great acclaim, and the text quickly became a bestseller. He also wrote ''Diseases of Infancy and Childhood'' in 1896; the book would go through 11 editions and remain the definitive text on pediatrics until 1940. Editions published after Holt's death were revised and edited by his son, Luther Emmett Holt, Jr., and
Rustin McIntosh Rustin McIntosh (September 29, 1894February 15, 1986) was an American pediatrician. From 1930 until 1960, he was the chief of pediatrics at the Babies Hospital of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital and the Reuben S. Carpentier Professor of Pediatrics ...
. In 1967, Holt, Jr., renewed the copyright. In 1980, Appleton/Classics of Medicine Library published a facsimile of the 1897 first edition. Holt was a professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1901 to 1922. In 1923, despite his old age, the Rockefeller Institute called on him to lecture at
Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College, also as Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is a national public medical sciences research institution in Dongcheng, Beijing, Dongcheng, Beijing, China. Originally founded in 1906, it is affiliated with the Nationa ...
for their winter term. Holt accepted, viewing the offer as both an opportunity to observe Chinese children for his own studies, and introduce pediatrics to the Chinese doctors.R. L. Duffus & L. Emmett Holt Jr.
L. Emmett Holt; Pioneer of a Children's Century
(New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1940) 268.
Days before his return home, Holt suffered a heart attack and died in
Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...
on January 14, 1924.


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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Luther Emmett 1855 births 1924 deaths American instructional writers American medical writers American male non-fiction writers American pediatricians American eugenicists Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Columbia University faculty Academic staff of Peking Union Medical College University at Buffalo alumni University of Rochester alumni People from Webster, New York