The American Iowa Child Welfare Research Station attached to the University of Iowa conducted pioneering research into child development and child psychology during the 20th century. German-American psychologist Kurt Zadek Lewin worked there and Robert Richardson Sears directed the Station for much of the 1940s. Many other eminent psychologists, physiologists, and researchers were associated with the Station and its work.
In 1963 the Station was renamed The Institute of Child Behavior and Development due to negative association amongst the public with the phrase "Child Welfare" and in 1974 the Institute was closed as a research establishment.
The Station was originally founded in 1917. A leader of the Iowa Congress of Mothers named Cora Bussey Hillis arranged for the Station to be sited at the University of Iowa and procured funding from the state legislature and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. With the exception of a stint of military service during World War I Dr. Bird T. Baldwin served as the first director of the Station until his untimely death on May 13, 1928.
In 1922 the station listed these employees:
- Director Baldwin
- Paid, full time—4 nurses, 1 social worker, 3 clerical or other helpers.
- Paid, part time—1 physician, 1 nurse, 1 social worker, 3 clerical or other helpers.
- Volunteer, part time—4 physicians.
Read more about Iowa Child Welfare Research Station: Iowa Statute Establishing The Station
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