Dewey, Richard, 1845-1933

Richard Smith Dewey (1845-1933) was an American psychiatrist and pioneer in the treatment of mental illnesses. Dewey was born in Forestville, New York and died in La Canada, California. He attended the University of Michigan from 1864-1869, graduating with his M.D. He was a practicing physician in Brooklyn, N.Y. and abroad as a volunteer assistant surgeon in the German Army during the Franco-Prussian War. From 1894 to 1897, he was the editor of The American Journal of Insanity, which later became The American Journal of Psychiatry. From 1879 to 1893, he served as superintendent of the Eastern Hospital for the Insane at Kankakee, in Illinois and established a private practice in Chicago. In 1895, Dewey became the Medical Director of the Milwaukee Sanitarium in Wauwatosa, WI, a position he held until 1914. Richard Smith Dewey was a well-known and respected scholar on the subject of mental illness and a pioneer in the modern institutional care of people suffering from mental illness. In addition to his medical career, Dewey was an accomplished musician, and composed a number of patriotic anthems.