[1] Belskie was born in London to Russian Jewish immigrants,[1]: 19  and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland.

[1]: 18  They immediately collaborated to create medical models which were exhibited at the New York World's Fair of 1939.

[1]: 11–18 [3] For the next decade, this collaboration would produce over a hundred other detailed medical models, ended only by the death of Dickinson.

[1]: 19 In 1942, Belskie created two life-sized sculptures, Norma and Normman, based on data collected by Dickinson, and intended to represent the statistical ideal female and male figure.

It was founded by the Closter Lions Club to preserve, house and exhibit the works of Abram Belskie.