Dr Spock in Sydney

Portrait of the American, Doctor Benjamin Spock, with accompanying text advertising marches and rallies where he and others spoke as part of the May 1971 Moratorium. Dr. Benjamin Spock (1903-1998) is best known as a pediatrician and author. In 1946 his highly influential text, 'The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care' was published and became a widely accepted 'bible' on child rearing, breaking convention . He encouraged new parents to use 'common sense and to treat children with respect'. This led to him being criticised as the 'Father of Permissiveness'. He was one of the first pediatricians to study psychoanalysis to try and understand children's needs and family dynamics. Born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1903 , Spock attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and then Yale University, where he studied literature and history and excelled in athletics. He attended Yale School of Medicine for two years and then transferred to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, graduating in 1929. He later studied psychoanalysis for 6 years. In his publication, Spock's progressive views urged parents to be 'flexible and see their children as individuals'. As his celebrity grew during the 1950s and 60s, Spock worked on behalf of parents and children, teaching child development at Western Reserve University (Case Western) in Ohio for 12 years and writing many other books on childcare. As the Cold War escalated and American troops were sent to Vietnam, Spock became a vocal political activist, speaking out for disarmament and against the war in Southeast Asia. In 1968 he was arrested and tried for conspiring to aid draft resistance. He participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations and ran for President of the United States on a third-party ticket with the People's Party in 1972, speaking out on issues concerning working families, children and minorities. Dr. Benjamin Spock died at the age of 94 in 1998.