Dr. Kirkbride was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and educated at the local Friend’s School. Following a medical apprenticeship under a Trenton, N.J., physician, he received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1832. Dr. Kirkbride served a year as a physician at the Friend’s Asylum in Philadelphia, the following two years at the Pennsylvania Hospital, and then practiced medicine in Philadelphia for five years. In 1840, he accepted the post of Physician-in-Chief of the Department of the Insane at a private Pennsylvania Hospital, where he remained until his death.
Dr. Kirkbride achieved prominence as the foremost designer of mental hospitals during the last half of the 19th century. In 1854, he published his book “On the Construction, Organization, and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane.” He set the pattern for the many state asylums that were built according to the Kirkbride plan.
Dr. Kirkbride was very active in medical organizations. He served as a Fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, a member of the American Medical Association, and an honorary member of the British Medico-Psychological Association. Dr. Kirkbride was one of the original 13 founders of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane and served as President (1862–70).