Arnold Gesell

Dr. Arnold Lucius Gesell (21 June 1880 - 29 May 1961) was a psychologist and pediatrician who helped develop the field of child development. Gesell was born in Alma, Wisconsin, whose dysgenic qualities Gesell later analysed in The Village of a Thousand Souls. He was the eldest of five children and the son of a photographer and a teacher, individuals who were both interested in education. Watching his younger siblings learn and grow helped to establish in him an interest in children. With plans to become a teacher, Gesell attended Stevens Point Normal School after he graduated from high school in 1896. Here, he took a course with the Clark University-educated Edgar James Swift, who piqued Gesell’s interest in psychology. He worked as a...