Isabelle Kendig

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.

She began as a eugenic field worker in 1912, investigating alleged hereditary defects in the Pratt family of Shutesbury Massachusetts.

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.

[20] She lobbied and helped organize local groups in the South and created equal rights publicity material for a national audience.

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.

[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.

[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.

[31] After World War II, she helped lead the field of clinical psychology, locally and nationally, as it expanded its scientific and social influence.