Robert Latou Dickinson

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Robert Latou Dickinson (1861-1950) was an American gynecologist and sex researcher.

He has gained a modest reputation for having officially documented the largest penis to date (13.5 inches long, 6.25 inches around). An even larger (but unofficial) measurement was obtained in 1969 by Dr. David Reuben (14 inches long).

Robert Latou Dickinson (1861-1950) was the most significant figure in American sex research before Alfred Kinsey. Dickenson was born on February 21, 1861 in Jersey City, New Jersey, son of Horace and Jeannette Latou Dickinson. He attended Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and schools in Germany and Switzerland before receiving an M.D. from Long Island College Hospital (later Long Island College of Medicine) in 1882. After a brief internship, he practiced in Brooklyn as a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology until his death.

Almost from the first, Dickinson began collecting sexual histories from his patients. Usually each patient was required to fill out a four-page questionnaire about family and general history as well as particular illnesses and special symptoms. Though the questionnaire contained no questions specifically sexual in orientation, in reviewing it with the patient, Dickinson marked down certain sexual observations. He was strongly convinced many difficulties his patients reported—including insomnia, menstrual irregularities, and certain types of pain—had their roots in sexual problems.

Sketching rapidly and accurately with a crayon, Dickinson also made rough drawings of the anatomy of his patients in order to have on file indicators of problems they might face. The first set of sketches were drawn while the patient was on the examining table and included drawings of their uterus, cervix, and vulva. The patient's first visit was scheduled to last an hour so that he could review the patient's history, do the physical examination, make his sketches (a minimum of five), and talk with his patient about what to expect. Sixty-two sketches were the most he made on a single patient, but this was because of the unusualness of the case. He averaged about 20 sketches per patient drawn over the years he treated them. He took his first sex history as such in 1890. Over the course of his practice, Dickinson gathered case histories on 5,200 women (4000 married and 1200 unmarried), of which only 46 date before 1900.

Dickinson, an early observer of lesbian homoerotic feelings, wrote some 200 research papers—mostly on obstetrics, diseases of women, midwifery, and sex problems—during his years of practice. His books were written late in life. A strong supporter of organized medicine, he also continually urged his fellow physicians to deal with the sexual problems of their patients. He was active in numerous social reform groups and was a founder of the National Committee on Maternal Health in 1923, serving as secretary from that year to 1937, when he became chairman. On becoming secretary of the Committee, Dickinson turned over for its use a large collection of scientific material, including his own library, drawings, card indexes, abstracts, and notes. In 1927, the Committee appointed Lura Beam to review the records for possible publication; two books resulted from this collaboration between Beam and Dickinson on the topics of single women, married women, and sex variants. Dickinson also published a book of his drawings on sexual anatomy which, in addition to his sketches on female anatomy, included chapters on male genital anatomy, the anatomy of coitus, and the anatomy of the control of conception. He also published two books on the techniques of conception control.

Dickinson died on November 29, 1950 in Amherst, Massachusetts. He was married to Sarah Truslow, and was the father of three daughters, one of whom died in infancy.