ORGANIZED PEDIATRICS IN FLORIDA
A BRIEF HISTORY

Part I.  The Florida Pediatric Society

April 27, 1936, aboard the Steamship Florida, the inaugural session of the Florida Pediatric Society was held.  This meeting was concurrent with the sixty-third annual meeting of the Florida Medical Association.  Luther W. Holloway, as president, presided.  William E. Ross was vice-president and Warren W. Quillian, secretary.  William W. Anderson, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University, was guest speaker, and members who appeared on the program were Thomas E. Buckman, Gilbert S. Osincup, and William W. McKibben.  Dr. McKibben writes concerning the meeting, “Many of us were seasick out in the Gulf Stream near Bimini until we anchored in a reef or coral atoll for our medical meetings.  Gilbert Osincup told me afterwards that I looked bilious while reading my paper.  The steamer was tossing so badly I had to hang onto a post while on my feet.�  All was not rough sailing, however, for he further says, “We spent the night in Havana, and didn’t miss a trick.�

At the business meeting held aboard the Florida, officers elected for 1937, were: William W. McKibben, president; Gilbert Osincup, vice-president; Warren Quillian, secretary-treasurer.

At the Vinoy Park Hotel, in St. Petersburg, on April 5, 1937, the Pediatric Society program consisted of a round table led by Councill C. Rudolph on “Asthma in Children.�  The guest speaker on this occasion was Dr. Earl R. Carlson, Chief of the Neurological Staff, Medical Center, New York City, who presented a resume of work done under his supervision for the spastic children at the Medical Center.  Under the auspices of The Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, a survey of the inmates of the Florida Crippled Childrens Home at Gainesville was planned.  Officers elected for the following year were: Douglas D. Martin, president; James Boulware, Jr., vice-president; Warren Quillian, secretary-treasurer.

This was the third year for Quillian as secretary-treasurer.  Founding father, McKibben writes: “He was really the organizer of our group.�

The next meeting of the Florida Pediatric Society was held in Miami on May 9, 1938, concurrently with the Florida Medical Association.  Douglas Martin presented a paper, “Pyelitis,� which was discussed by William McKibben.

With Warren Quillian as president, Ludo von Meysenburg, vice-president, and George N. Leonard, secretary-treasurer, the Society met on April 27, 1939, at the Princess Issena Hotel in Dayton Beach.  Twenty members and guests heard Dr. Joseph Yampolski deliver a paper, “Evaluation of Sulfanilamide and Sulfa pyridine in Treatment of Various Diseases of Childhood.�  A banquet followed, after which Dr. Yampolski discussed, “Nephritis and Nephrosis.�
In an effort to increase the effectiveness of the organization, it was decided that an application should be made for formal charter.  An Executive Committee was formed consisting of those who had been familiar with the history and growth of the organization and who had taken active part in the previous work of the group.  It was apparent that much of the child care within Florida was being supervised by physicians other than pediatricians.  Therefore, attendance at the scientific meetings by general practitioners, and utilization of the experience of those already in the organization, should be eventually reflected in an improvement of child health.  It was felt that this could be accomplished without a sacrifice of any fundamental policies of the original Florida Pediatric Society.