Manfred Bowditch (1890 - 1960)

Born 18 Sep 1890 in Dresden, Germany

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Pearmain) Welch — married 21 Sep 1911 (to Jul 1926) in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of Elfriede Sophie Christine (Kohring) Bowditch — married 8 Aug 1928 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Died 29 Jun 1960 at age 69 in New York City, New York, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Christopher Childs [send private message]

Biography

Manfred Bowditch -- "Friedl" within his family -- was born abroad, in Germany, in mid-September of 1890, a son of Harvard Medical School dean Henry Pickering Bowditch and Selma (Knauth) Bowditch; the birth was reported in Boston. He attended Harvard, and shortly before his 1912 graduation, married Margaret Pearmain in September of 1911. The marriage ended in divorce, finalized in July of 1926. He was remarried in early August of 1928, at Boston, to Belgian-born Elfriede Sophie Kohring.

Manfred served as Massachusetts' director of the Division of Occupational Hygiene^[1]; as director of health and safety for the Lead Industries Association in the mid-1950s, he was embroiled in the controversy around lead poisoning of the poor in Baltimore, especially children; decades after his death, letters he wrote became part of a debate over the continuing issue, in the Maryland General Assembly.^[2]

He died in New York City on the penultimate day of June, 1960.

Sources

1. ↑ Towne/Bowditch Family History, citing Harold Bowditch, The Bowditch Family of Salem, Massachusetts, p. 22; https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cetowne/Towne_Bowditch/p690.htm
2. ↑ "Advocates say lead paint industry should be held liable in poisoning of Baltimore children", by Luke Broadwater, The Baltimore Sun, 27 February 2016; https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/investigations/bs-md-ci-lead-poisoning-20160227-story.html

• Birth: "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZNJ-CBL : 13 March 2018), Manfred Bowditch, 1917-1918; citing Framingham City no 32, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,684,688. See also "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHM9-HGZ : 9 February 2018), Bowditch, 18 Sep 1890; citing Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, 11336

• Marriage (1) (to Margaret Pearmain 21 Sept. 1911 at Framingham): "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4DW-NB3 : 25 May 2018), Manfred Bowditch and Margare Pearmain, 21 Sep 1911; citing Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston

• Marriage (2) (to Elfriede Sophie Kohring, 8 August 1928 at Boston): "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKTC-99B3 : accessed 12 June 2018), Manfred Bowditch in entry for Mrs Elfriede Kohring Bowditch, Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States, 22 Feb 2001; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Cape Cod Times, born-digital text. Exact date & location: Towne/Bowditch Family History, citing Harold Bowditch, The Bowditch Family of Salem, Massachusetts, p. 22; https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cetowne/Towne_Bowditch/p690.htm

• Marriage (2) date (year only) and divorce proceedings: Margaret Pearmain Welch (1893-1984): Proper Bostonian, Activist, Pacifist, Reformer, Preservationist, by Elizabeth F. Fideler, Wipf and Stock Publishers, Dec 14, 2017; preview only: https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-tFDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false ; snippets available via Search window; divorce, https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-tFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=%22Manfred+Bowditch%22+divorce+1924&source=bl&ots=IMJ1q1wElt&sig=ACfU3U32BamQbNJc9EYjLqnKaSrGh5OytQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirg_P0pInzAhWRQs0KHQKMBCwQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Manfred%20Bowditch%22%20divorce%201924&f=false

• Death (date and location): wall plaque, portraits of Henry Pickering Bowditch and Selma (Knauth) Bowditch bequeathed to the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology by Elfrieda K. Bowditch, Harvard University; https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/50447, persistent link https://hvrd.art/o/50447

• Nickname; general biographical: personal knowledge of grandnephew and profile creator Christopher Childs (Childs-1516)