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Frederick Van Doren Martin 1880 - 1950

by Lynne Hewitt and Judy Duchan

Frederick Van Doren Martin was an elocutionist and speech correctionist whose interest in the field of speech improvement and speech correction grew out of his difficulties with stuttering as a child. After graduating from high school Martin travelled to France in search of a cure for his speech problem. He found it by being treated by Arthur Chervin of Paris.

During WWI Martin served in the US Army with the rank of major.

When he returned to New York in 1911, Martin took a job as superintendent of speech correction in the New York City public schools. He continued in that capacity until 1928. During that time (1913 and 1915) he opened a private practice of his own in New York City, where he worked to both prevent and treat speech problems in children and adults.

Martin was a graduate of Columbia University and New York University Medical College. In 1913, when at Columbia, he studied with Edward Wheeler Scripture and Henry Curtis Holbrook (an otolaryngologist), both eminent scientists and clinicians of their day. Martin also studied at Harvard, Ithaca College, and the Sorbonne.

In 1921 Martin left New York City for Ithaca, New York where he established the Martin Institute for Speech Correction. The institute was part of a group of organizations associated with the Williams School of Expression and Dramatic Art. There Martin offered therapies related to conditions of stammering, clerical sore throat, lisping, muttering, mouthing, hoarseness, nasal tone, and palatal tone. In 1926, Martin and his wife Louise Martin published a manual for correcting speech disorders called The Manual of Speech Training.

The Martin Institute eventually became affiliated with the speech department of Ithaca College. Until 1935 he continued operating his institute and teaching courses in speech correction.

Martin’s institute offered a five-credit course in voice and a single credit course in stuttering. The program offered a certificate after the student had completed the coursework and a year of study under Martin’s direction. By the time Martin left Ithaca, his institute was merged into the Department of Speech and Drama at Ithaca. Three faculty members specializing in speech correction were in the department. The faculty offered a 20 credit degree in speech correction.

In 1936, Martin moved to Bristol, Rhode Island where he established another institute—The National Institute for Voice Disorders. His Bristol Institute was affiliated with the Rhode Island College of Education in Provincetown, RI.

Martin was married twice. His first wife, Louise, was from a prominent African American family, died in 1933. He had two daughters and a son with her. The daughters were Hope H. Martin and Sarah L. Martin, and the son was Frederick Van Doren Martin, Jr.

In 1950 Martin retired and he died shortly thereafter, in that same year.

Martin’s therapy methods influenced many, some negatively, as is indicated by from the history provided by the daughter of Malcolm Fraser. Fraser, an important figure in the field of stuttering was Martin’s client. When Fraser was 13, according to his daughter, had therapy with Frederick Martin:

Dr. Martin succeeded in helping him become fluent in the clinic and decided to include young Malcolm in a presentation he was giving to a group of eminent physicians. When instructed to speak on stage, my father froze with fear and couldn't utter a single syllable. For years -- even at age 90 -- when many other memories had faded, he still remembered that horrible day.

Mildred McGinnis was also Martin’s student. She attended Martin’s institute in Ithaca to learn how to become a speech clinician. She eventually developed a well-known remedial program for young children with language problems at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Missouri.

Martin advocated against psychoanalytic and pitch-based approaches to stuttering forwarded by others at the time. He promoted vocal exercises and encouraged natural communication approaches rather than, for example, using silent pauses, as did his therapist in Paris, Arthur Chervin.

Martin Institute for Speech Correction, Ithaca, New York

Pictured above is the Martin Institute for Speech Correction, formerly at 311 N. Tioga Street, in Ithaca New York, housed boarding rooms and classrooms for a school of elocution, one of the Conservatory's first affiliates (1921-1936). The building was later a dormitory (1930-1953) for the College. It was demolished in 1976.

Frederick Martin’s Publications arranged Chronologically

 

Copyright © 2001-2023 by Judith Felson Duchan

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