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George Edward Barton. George Edward Barton (1871–1923) planned and organized the founding meeting of the National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy (later AOTA) with Dr. William Rush Dunton, Jr., and served as its first President.
- Carolyn Baum, Phd, Otr/L, Faota
Carolyn Baum, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is an influential leader in...
- I'm George Edward Barton
George Edward Barton (1871–1923) planned and organized the...
- Carolyn Baum, Phd, Otr/L, Faota
May 9, 2017 · George Edward Barton was the first person to coin the term “occupational therapy.” He was an architect who became an advocate of OT after a personal experience with treatment of illness. He later opened an arts and crafts workshop in Clifton Springs, NY called Consolation House.
George Edward Barton (1871–1923) planned and organized the founding meeting of the National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy (later AOTA) with Dr. William Rush Dunton, Jr., and served as its first President. Learn more about Barton here.
Learn about 100 influential people from the 100 years of occupational therapy's history.
- The Founders Included Three Men and Three Women, An Equal Gender Division.
- The Name “Occupational Therapy” Is chosen.
- The Phoenix Is Envisioned as The Symbol of Occupational Therapy.
- OT’s Unique Role in Pediatrics Is Established early.
- Occupational Therapy Responds to Needs During WWI.
- Eleanor Roosevelt Speaks at Eleanor Clarke Slagle’s Retirement Reception.
- A Beautiful Graduation Speech Is Composed.
- The World Federations of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) Is established.
- Sigourney Weaver Plays An OT!
- The OT Services You Are Providing!
In 1917, three men and three women voted into existence a national OT association. This was three years before women were allowed to vote in federal elections! Our profession still has much work to do in ensuring that our workforce reflects the clientele that we serve, but I am thankful for this inspiration from our origin. Founders included: 1. El...
I’ve come to believe that occupational therapy’s name is pure genius. When the name was settled on, it held together several different movements. The inclusion of “occupation” in our name encompassed the following: 1. a rejection of rest-cure for tuberculosis, 2. a rejection of having patients passively languish in institutions, 3. and an affirmati...
The phoenix is a mythical bird that is reborn from its own ashes (think: Harry Potter). George Edward Barton foresaw this as the symbol of our work and made it the symbol of Consolation House, where he practiced occupational therapy. Under the image of the bird was the tagline “Beauty from Ashes.” Today the phoenix can be seen on the emblem of OT o...
Pediatric occupational therapy has its own unique history, that seems to be under-explored and under-celebrated. I hope to learn more about this history, but for now, I want to give the spotlight to the Curative Workshopthat was established in 1919 and is one of the earliest examples of occupational therapy methods being used to serve children with...
The young profession was quickly drawn into assisting with the war effort. The army began its first use of OT in 1918 at Walter Reed Hospital. Bedridden patients knitted and patients who were ambulatory participated in chair caning, woodworking, printing, and rug making. (Ron Swanson would have been proud.) Both world wars helped establish occupati...
Eleanor Clarke Slagle is considered the “mother of occupational therapy.” She served in elected offices of the Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy from 1917-1937. Slagle was among a new generation of professional women. For me, nothing situates her place in history better than picturing Eleanor Roosevelt speaking at her retirement cel...
I love reading the soaring rhetoric from the founders of occupational therapy. Their passion for establishing our profession is so evident in their writing. This expert from a graduation speech delivered in 1929 by Thomas Kidner is my favorite example. In your chosen field, a part of the noblest work of man—the care and relief of weak and suffering...
WFOT was established in 1952 by OT associations from 10 countries. Today, WFOT has 92 Member Organizations and represents approximately 480,000 occupational therapists around the world. Here’s our long list of OT associationsfrom around world!
Okay. This might just be a personal favorite since I love Sigourney. Unfortunately, Sigourney’s character in the 1988 movie “Gorillas In The Mist” isn’t actively working as an OT, but the historical figure was trained as an occupational therapist so I’m going to count it. Ms. Weaver plays Dian Fossey, who trained and worked as an occupational thera...
While it may not have made the history books yet, the care that you provide individual clients is truly what makes our profession great. May we continue to learn from our past and look ahead with our focus on one thing: providing the best care possible.
On March 15, 1917, George Edward Barton (1871-1923), his future wife, Isabel Newton (1891-1975), and a handful of others gathered in Clifton Springs to establish the National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy, now The American Occupational Therapy Association Inc. (AOTA).
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Mar 16, 2017 · The correspondence between Barton, Dunton, and other key figures working with therapeutic occupations continued, and in 1916, Barton decided to organize a meeting for these advocates of “the work cure”, which he now referred to as “occupation therapy”.
