William Alanson White (1870-1937) was an American psychiatrist and hospital administrator. Physician, writer, teacher, and humanitarian, he represented an integral part of the development of modern psychiatry.

William Alanson White was born on Jan. 24, 1870, in Brooklyn, N.Y. His home was only half a block from a hospital and medical school, and his friendship with the sons of a surgeon instilled an early desire to become a physician. He won a scholarship to Cornell at the age of 15 and eventually obtained his degree in medicine in 1891 from Long Island Medical School. A year later he was appointed to the staff at Binghamton State Hospital.

White considered crucial to the development of his interest in psychiatry his association with Boris Sidis, then working with hypnosis on problems of dissociation. This laid the groundwork for his acceptance of Freud's doctrine of the unconscious, which later gained acceptance in the United...