Peters, Ann DeHuff

Born in 1915 in Augusta, Ga., died in 1993. A physician, who was especially concerned with the health and welfare of children and the underprivileged.

From the description of Papers, 1938-1993. (University of New Mexico-Main Campus). WorldCat record id: 34534112

Ann DeHuff Peters was born on March 22, 1915, in Augusta, Georgia, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the age of three with her family. The DeHuff family made the move to the "Land of Enchantment" because Ann's father suffered from tuberculosis, and, like many other health seekers, the DeHuff family fled to the sunny and dry Southwest. In New Mexico, her mother worked as a professional writer and her father taught school.

After graduating from Santa Fe High School, Ann started college at the University of New Mexico in 1932. At the university, she participated in various clubs and social groups. Mid-way through her education, her academic interests turned to medicine and away from library science. (Her mother had actually suggested that Ann train to be a librarian). Although putting herself through school proved trying during the heart of the Depression, Ann DeHuff graduated cum laude in 1936.

Faced with financial difficulties and some resistance to women entering medical school, Ann took an offer to attend the School of Social Work at Simmons College in Boston. In 1938, she graduated with a Masters of Social Work (M.S.W.). After receiving her M.S.W., she worked for the Children's Bureau of the Indianapolis Orphan Asylum as a caseworker in foster care and adoption. From 1942 to 1943, she worked for the same agency as a case supervisor.

In 1943, Ann went to Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated cum laude in 1946. She met her husband, Richard Peters, at Washington University while he did a medical internship. They married on October 12, 1946, in Dwight Chapel at Yale University. From 1946 to 1947, she did post-doctorate training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. From 1949 to 1951, Ann continued her post-doctorate work at Washington University, where she served as a fellow in Preventive Medicine and Neuropsychiatry.

After working on the medical school faculty at Washington University, Ann Peters joined the medical school faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1953. She and her family lived in North Carolina until 1969, when the Peters' moved to California where they both worked for the University of California at San Diego. Ann Peters participated in a plethora of organizations and special interest groups, including the California Children's Lobby, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among many others. Moreover, she consulted for various local, state, and national agencies, and volunteered her time. Throughout her long career, she also wrote or co-wrote numerous articles, reports, and books. A quick glance at her most recent curriculum vitae reveals the depth and breadth of her activities.

According to Peters, her special interests included human development, especially of young infants and young children, day care for children, particularly infants and children with special needs, the training and use of nurses and other non-physician personnel in extended roles in health, and teaching and students.

Ann Peters' many interests were not limited to professional concerns, however. She and Richard Peters had four children: Joan in 1948, Deborah in 1952, Barbara in 1954, and Rick in 1955. Another child, Janet, born in 1950, died as a young baby. The challenge of being a career woman with a husband and children was one happily, if not always easily, undertaken by Ann Peters.

Ann Peters remained intellectually active until her death in 1993. She leaves behind her the rich legacy of a devoted wife, mother, and physician, who was especially concerned with the health and welfare of children and the underprivileged.

From the guide to the Ann DeHuff Peters Papers, 1938-1993, (University of New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research.)