Thomas Story Kirkbride (July 31, 1809December 16, 1883) was a physician, alienist, hospital superintendent for the
Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital
The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, also known as Kirkbride's Hospital or the Pennsylvania Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases, was a psychiatric hospital located at 48th and Haverford Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It oper ...
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involv ...
. Along with Dr.
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educa ...
he is considered to be the father of the modern American practice of psychiatry as a specific medical discipline. His directive and organization of institutions for the insane were the gold-standard of clinical care in psychiatry throughout the 19th century.
Early career
Kirkbride was born on July 31, 1809, on a farm in Morrisville, Pennsylvania into a wealthy Orthodox Quaker family. He was the son of John Kirkbride and Elizabeth Story, and resided on the family farm outside of Newtown, Pennsylvania along with his younger sister Rachel Story Kirkbride. He received his primary education at the Quaker school at Fallsington and later at Trenton Academy. His great-great-grandfather, Joseph Kirkbride (1662-1736) was one of the original settlers of Pennsylvania with a land grant from William Penn in 1682. When he was 18 years old, he started his formal education under Dr. Nicholas Belleville of
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.College of New Jersey. He was enrolled at the medical school at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
in August 1831, receiving a medical degree in March 1832. Following his academic coursework he was assigned as a medical resident at the Quaker Asylum at Frankford (now Friends Hospital). Kirkbride operated his own medical-surgical practice in the city of Philadelphia from 1835 to 1841 that focused mainly on neurological and psycho-surgical interventions. He was honored with a membership to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1851, and national award rarely granted to physicians. Kirkbride was also the Vice President of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind (now known as
Overbrook School for the Blind
The Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was established in 1832. Its present site, in the city's Overbrook neighborhood, was acquired in 1890. Along with the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, the Western Pennsylvania Sch ...
from 1844 until his death in 1883.
Professional practice
In October 1840, Kirkbride was named the first superintendent of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane by the Board of Managers of Pennsylvania Hospital. In January 1841, the first patients were admitted to the ward to offer relief to the site of Pennsylvania Hospital's South Philadelphia campus.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during October 1844, Kirkbride helped found the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (AMSAII). He held the position of secretary for seven years, treasurer, vice president for two years, and president for eight years between 1862 and 1870. Kirkbride pioneered what would be known as the
Kirkbride Plan
The Kirkbride Plan was a system of mental asylum design advocated by American psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883) in the mid-19th century. The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings (or si ...
, which aimed to improve medical care for the insane, through standardization of buildings that housed patients.
Kirkbride's magnum opus, ''On the Construction, Organization, and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane with Some Remarks on Insanity and Its Treatment'', was published in 1854, and again in 1880, and was the source book for 19th century psychiatric directives.
Towards the end of his life,
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
awarded him an LL.D "in recognition of his eminent ability and the remarkable services rendered to suffering humanity". In 1874, he addressed the legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, advocating for the expansion of state-sponsored clinical care for the insane. His efforts, and that of his medical peers, saw the allocation of funds for
Norristown State Hospital
Norristown State Hospital, originally known as the ''State Lunatic Hospital at Norristown'', is an active state-funded psychiatric hospital located outside the city of Philadelphia in suburban Norristown, Pennsylvania. It was originally designed b ...
in 1878. Subsequent to this appeal, he was offered the position of superintendent of the male department of the new state hospital, which he declined, preferring to maintain his inpatient practice in Philadelphia.
Personal life
Kirkbride was devoutly religious and a lifelong member of the
Religious Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
, attending services at the
Twelfth Street Meeting House
Twelfth Street Meeting House was a Quaker meeting house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built on the west side of 12th Street, south of Market Street, 1812–1813, incorporating architectural elements from Philadelphia's Greater Meeting Hous ...
from 1833 until his death. Kirkbride also had his funeral services conducted at this Orthodox Friends meetinghouse. He married Ann West Jenks (1812-1862) in 1839. Together, they had two children: Ann Jenks Kirkbride, who was born in 1840, and Joseph John Kirkbride, who was born in 1842. After Ann died, he married Eliza Ogden Butler (1835-1919), one of his former patients. Together, they had four children: Franklin Butler Kirkbride in 1867, Thomas Story Kirkbride, Jr in 1869, Mary Butler Kirkbride in 1874, and Elizabeth Butler Kirkbride in 1875.
Kirkbride experienced a prolonged respiratory illness starting in June 1883, which continued until his death from
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
on December 16, 1883, at his home on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. His eldest son, Joseph, followed in his father's footsteps, attending both the University of Pennsylvania and
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...
, becoming a physician as well at in the outpatient department of
Pennsylvania Hospital
Pennsylvania Hospital is a private, non-profit, 515-bed teaching hospital located in Center City Philadelphia and is part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Founded on May 11, 1751, by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond, Pennsylv ...
. His younger son, Thomas S. Kirkbride, Jr. (d. 1900) also became a physician and
Urologist
Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive organ ...
. His grave in Laurel Hill is plain in the Quaker-style, saving only the inclusion of "Doctor of Medicine" after his name.
Select professional publications
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1843). Reports of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane for the year 1843. ''University of Pennsylvania Press'', Philadelphia, PA
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1845). Proceedings of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane. ''American Journal of the Medical Sciences, XI(1)'', p. 249-250
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1846). Reports of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane: with a sketch of its history, buildings, and organization. ''University of Pennsylvania Press'', Philadelphia, PA
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1848). Editorial and American Medical Retrospect. ''The New York Journal of Medicine, I(3)'', p. 247-250
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1850). Notice of some Experiments in Heating and Ventilating Hospitals and other Buildings, by Steam and Hot Water. With Remarks. ''The American Journal of the Medical Sciences'', p. 298-319
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1850). Reports of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane for 1842, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1850. ''University of Pennsylvania Press'', Philadelphia, PA
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1854). On the Construction, Organization, and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane with Some Remarks on Insanity and Its Treatment. ''Lindsay & Blakiston'', Philadelphia, PA
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1854). Letter to the Regents of the South Carolina Hospital for the Insane. ''TK and PG Collins Printers'', Columbia, SC
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1855). Reports of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane for the year 1854. ''University of Pennsylvania Press'', Philadelphia, PA
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1866). Biographical memoir of the late William Pepper, M.D. ''Collins Printer, Philadelphia'', PA
* Kirkbride, T.S.; Ray, I.; Reed, J.A.; Worthington, J.H. (1874). To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania : the undersigned, citizens of Pennsylvania, who are, or have been, actively engaged in the care of the insane. ''Published on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for legislative audience on Feb. 19, 1874''
* Kirkbride, T.S. (1881). Memoir of Isaac Ray, M.D., LL. D. : read before the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, July 6, 1881. Collins Printer, Philadelphia, PA
* Curwen, J.; Kirkbride, T.S. (1885). Memoir of Thomas S. Kirkbride MC LLD. ''E. Cowan & Co. Printers'', Warren, PA