JOSEPH BOLIVAR DE LEE: Crusading Obstetrician

Dr. De Lee, who died in 1942, left extensive diaries and correspondence, a record of a life devoted almost exclusively to his profession, as he elevated obstetric teaching and practice, improved maternity care for the poor as well as the rich, invented new instruments and the incubator, innovated new techniques. A solitary man by temperament, De Lee's personal life was spare, and the interest here is primarily in his meticulous, conscientious, and occasionally contentious pursuit of obstetrical advancement. His medical schooling and early years of practice; his drive for a maternity clinic; his book which became the definitive work in the field; his many deliveries, for which he made a handsome charge when circumstances warranted -- only to devote the returns to his hospital; the expansion of Lying-In; his increasing international celebrity; and throughout, the fighting character of his public life as contrasted with the loneliness of his private life. A sincere tribute to the man, which will appeal to that feminine market interested in doctor's books, through the illustrative casework, as well as the cause.