Margaret Morgan Lawrence facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Margaret Morgan Lawrence
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Margaret Cornelia Morgan
August 19, 1914 New York City, U.S.
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| Died | December 4, 2019 (aged 105) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Fields | Child and adolescent psychiatry |
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Margaret Cornelia Morgan Lawrence (born August 19, 1914 – died December 4, 2019) was an American doctor who specialized in mental health. She became a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in 1948.
Dr. Lawrence helped people, taught others, and did research. She especially studied how strong young Black families in cities grew and thrived. She studied children in Georgia and Mississippi who their teachers said were "strong." She also studied families in Africa in 1973. She wrote two books about children's mental health and families in cities.
For 21 years, she led the team at Harlem Hospital that helped babies, children, and their families with mental health. She was also a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. She retired in 1984.
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Early Life and Challenges
Margaret Lawrence was born in New York City in 1914. She was the only living child of Mary Elizabeth Morgan, a teacher, and Reverend Sandy Alonzo Morgan, a minister. Her parents traveled to New York for her birth. This was because their first child had died in a segregated hospital in Virginia.
Lawrence later said she wanted to be a doctor because her older brother had died as a baby. After she was born, her family moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi. This area also had strict segregation rules.
Education Journey
Because she wanted to be a doctor, Lawrence moved to Harlem, New York City, in the 1920s. She attended Wadleigh High School for Girls and lived with family. She earned a scholarship and went to Cornell University from 1932 to 1936. She was the only African American undergraduate student there. She was not allowed to live in the regular dorms because of segregation.
To support herself, Lawrence worked as a maid and later as a lab assistant. Even though she was an excellent student, Cornell Medical School would not accept her because she was Black.
In 1936, Lawrence became one of the first African American students at Columbia University's medical school. She graduated in 1940. She faced more challenges when applying for jobs. She was turned down for a residency at New York Babies Hospital because of her race. She was also rejected from another hospital because she was married.
Finally, Lawrence completed a two-year residency in pediatrics at Harlem Hospital from 1940 to 1942.
Becoming a Psychiatrist
With a special scholarship, Lawrence earned a master's degree in public health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. There, she learned about how physical, social, and mental health are connected. During World War II, she taught about children's health. It was then that she decided to become a psychiatrist.
In 1948, she made history. She became the first African American to join the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She was also the first African American to train as a psychoanalyst at Columbia University. She became a certified pediatric psychiatrist in 1951.
Career Highlights
Dr. Lawrence believed in combining mental health knowledge with spiritual wisdom in her work. She helped children and families in New York City. When she received an honorary degree in 2003, she was praised for showing how strong the human spirit can be.
She led the Developmental Psychiatry Service for Infants and Children at Harlem Hospital for 21 years. She also taught psychiatry at Columbia University until she retired in 1984. She studied children who faced difficulties and those who were seen as "strong" by their teachers. Her studies took her to Georgia, Mississippi, and even Africa in 1973.
After retiring in 1984, she continued to help people in her private practice.
Major Achievements and Awards
Dr. Lawrence helped start the Rockland County Center for Mental Health in New York. She also helped found the Harlem Family Institute (HFI). The HFI now gives out the Margaret Morgan Lawrence Award to people who do great work for children and families in Harlem.
She wrote two important books:
- The Mental Health Team in Schools (1971)
- Young Inner City Families: Development of Ego Strength Under Stress (1975)
She received many honors for her work. These include:
- The Outstanding Women Practitioners in Medicine Award.
- An honorary Doctor of Science degree from Swarthmore College in 2003. She also gave the graduation speech there.
- The Episcopal Peace Fellowship's Sayre Prize in 2003 for promoting peace.
- The Virginia Kneeland Frantz Distinguished Women in Medicine Award in 2004.
Personal Life
In 1938, while in medical school, Margaret married Charles Radford Lawrence II. He was a sociologist and social activist. They both deeply believed in religion and peace. Charles passed away in 1986.
The Lawrences had three children:
- Their daughter, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, became a sociologist.
- Their other daughter, Paula Lawrence Wehmiller, became an educator and priest.
- Their son, Charles R. Lawrence III, became a law professor.
Dr. Lawrence was one of the founders of a cooperative community called Skyview Acres in New York. She lived there starting in 1951. She was also active in peace groups. In 1998, at an older age, she joined a long march for peace from London to Canterbury. She also served as a lay reader in her church.
Her daughter, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, wrote a book about her mother's life called Balm in Gilead: Journey of Healer (1988). The book tells the story of Dr. Lawrence's "seven decades of struggle, change and achievement."
In 2007, her daughter gave a lecture about her mother's life. She said that Dr. Lawrence's life was "one of courageous boundary crossing." She faced and overcame the challenges of racism and sexism. Margaret Morgan Lawrence passed away on December 4, 2019, at the age of 105.
