INTRODUCTION.

This article focuses on the book "History and Research in Child Development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development," written by Alice Boardman Smuts and John W. Hagen. This monograph is a pioneer venture, the first publication in which both professional historians and child developmentalists focus on the history of child development and in which historians gear their work to an audience of developmentalists. The monograph is one result of the decision of the U.S. Society for Research in Child Development to make the history of the society, of child development research, of the family, and of childhood the theme of its fiftieth anniversary meeting, held in Detroit, Michigan on April 2 1-24, 1983.