Skip to content

James T. Searcy, M.D.

Back to Presidents
  • 1912 - 1913

Have we a field in medicine? … We are assuming our position. In the range of scientific psychology and psychopathy the whole field of sociology is open to us.

Dr. Searcy was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and was the son of a physician. He was educated locally, graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (1859), and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He studied medicine at New York University Medical College, graduating in 1867, and returned to Tuscaloosa to start a general medical practice.  He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. 

Dr. Searcy‘s father had been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Insane Asylum. After his father’s death, Dr. Searcy became a member of the board. When the current superintendent of the asylum died in 1892, Dr. Searcy was named superintendent and served from 1892–1919.  He died in Tuscaloosa. 

Dr. Searcy was President of the American Medico-Psychological Association (1912–13).