Charter of the Philadelphia Pediatric Society

The Philadelphia Pediatric Society was founded by J. P. Crozer Griffith, Frederick A. Packard and Edwin E. Graham in 1896. The object of the society was "the promotion of the study of disease in children in all its branches, by the exhibition of cases, by the reading of papers and the holding of discussions and by the exhibition of pathological specimens and of apparatus bearing upon pediatrics". At an official meeting on 22 Dec. 1896, the constitution and by-laws of the Society were accepted and officers selected, and Griffith was elected to the presidency. The Society’s first scientific meeting was held on 12 Jan. 1897. In 1912, at its incorporation, the Philadelphia Pediatric Society had more than two hundred members; by 1920, membership had climbed to over three hundred. In 1914, the Annual Frederick A. Packard Lecture was established in honor of the Society’s second president. The Society also established a Biennial Prize Competition to stimulate interest in pediatrics among younger physicians. The Philadelphia Pediatric Society’s Milk Commission, established in 1899 to maintain high standards for milk production and distribution, tried to educate the community and the medical profession about the benefits derived from the consumption of "Certified Milk". The Philadelphia Pediatric Society also actively opposed anti-vivisection legislation and helped to create a Division of Child Hygiene in the State of Pennsylvania. It is currently [1992] an active organization.