As part of our blog series about women medical pioneers, meet Dr Margaret Morgan Lawrence, the renowned African American Child Psychiatrist.
Someone like me
Margaret was born in Harlem, New York in 1914. She was the second child of Mary Morgan (a schoolteacher) and Sandy Morgan (an Episcopal Minister).
Their first child, a baby boy, had died 2 years before Margaret’s birth. The long-lasting sadness his loss bestowed upon the family was central to Margaret’s decision to become a doctor.
“Someone like me could have saved him.”
Overcoming Discrimination
At the age of 14 years, Margaret went to live with one of her aunts so that she could attend a prestigious Girls’ School. She excelled academically and graduated with prizes in Latin and Greek. The Episcopal Church awarded her with a full academic scholarship for a pre-med course.
When Margaret enrolled at Cornell University in 1932, she was the only Black undergraduate on campus. She was not permitted to live in dormitories due to segregation and instead found lodgings with the white families of faculty members.
They offered Margaret basic accommodation, once in an unheated attic room, in exchange for domestic chores such as washing and meal preparation. Margaret’s aunt sent her a racoon fur coat to keep her warm.
Staff and students at the university often mistook Margaret for a cleaner and presumed she was illiterate. However, she graduated from Cornell in 1936 with a near-perfect academic record.
Medical Training
This should have been more than adequate to grant her entrance to Cornell Medical School, but the Dean refused because of the colour of her skin.
“Twenty-five years ago, there was a Negro man admitted … and it didn’t work out … he died of tuberculosis.”
The pain of rejection cut right to Margaret’s soul and she experienced despair and depression. But she did not give up. Her application to Columbia University Medical School was accepted on the condition that white patients could refuse treatment from her.
Margaret was the only Black student and one of only 10 female Medical Students in her class of 1936.
In 1938, in the middle of her medical training, Margaret met and married Charles R Lawrence II, a sociologist and civil rights activist. Both shared a deep commitment to religion and pacifism.
Margaret received her MD in 1940 and, committed to becoming a Paediatrician, applied for residency at New York Babies Hospital. Once again, she was rejected because of her race and gender.
“The doctors’ residence was for men only and the nurses’ residence would not take a Black woman.”
Dr Margaret Morgan Lawrence applied to Westchester’s Grasslands Hospital but was refused because she was married.
But by this stage, Margaret recognised that
“She was the kind of person who didn’t take “no” for an answer.”
Dr Margaret Morgan Lawrence was accepted to Harlem Hospital where she gained insights into how oppressive conditions such as poverty and racism influenced the health of the community she served.
In 1943, she undertook an MSc in Public Health at Columbia University where she worked with the famous Dr Benjamin Spock. His influence inspired Margaret to further examine the interconnecting forces of environmental, social, and psychological influences on disease.
Resilience & Determination
Margaret gave birth to the first of 3 children at the age of 29 years, and she and Charles moved to Nashville, Tennessee. She taught Paediatrics and Public Health at Meharry Medical College, the first medical school in the South for African Americans. Dr Margaret Morgan Lawrence was the only woman in the medical faculty.
The couple returned to New York with their son and two daughters in 1948. Margaret was now fascinated by psychological health and decided to pursue formal training in Psychiatry.
She became the first African American resident ever admitted to New York Psychiatric Institute. She was also offered a fellowship in Paediatrics at Babies Hospital which had previously rejected her.
In addition, she was welcomed as the first Black trainee to Columbia University’s Psychoanalytic Clinic where she received her Certification in Psychoanalysis.
In 1953, Margaret became the first practising Child Psychiatrist in New York. Her therapy focused on play and artwork. She sought to achieve victory over trauma and co-founded the “Rockland County Center for Mental Health.”
Now the “Yeager Center,” its child development department was renamed the “Margaret Morgan Lawrence Children’s Center” in 1998. This facility provides early diagnosis and treatment for children under six who are experiencing emotional trauma.
In 1963, Margaret returned to Harlem Hospital and became Head of the Developmental Psychiatry Service. She served this community for over 20 years and continued to see patients until she was 90 years old.
She conducted extensive research into the impact of poverty on children’s mental health and campaigned for school psychologists.
Dr Margaret Morgan Lawrence died on December 4th, 2019, at the age of 105. She is remembered for her remarkable resilience in overcoming racial and gender discrimination, her understanding of the importance of children’s emotional well-being, and her determination to give children happier lives.
