- Date Of Birth: November 15, 1922
- Date Of Death: February 19, 2020
- State: Pennsylvania
Evelyn Jean (Manbeck) Mackin, 97, a Philadelphia-based pioneer in hand therapy who helped train thousands of physical and occupational therapists around the world in the new discipline of hand rehabilitation, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020 at Kirkland Village retirement community in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Specialized hand therapy was virtually nonexistent when Ms. Mackin, practicing as a general physical therapist, began working in the late 1960s with surgeons James M. Hunter and Lawrence H. Schneider at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia in the post-operative treatment of their patients with hand injuries. From that point on she devoted her life’s work to promoting education and research in the specialty of hand rehabilitation. In 1972, Ms. Mackin and Drs. Hunter and Schneider founded the Hand Rehabilitation Center, now named the Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center. It was one of the first facilities in the country to integrate the specialties of hand surgery and hand therapy, and became a center for learning and a model for other centers established around the United States and the world. In 1974, the center developed the widely successful annual symposium, Surgery and Rehabilitation of the Hand, drawing an international faculty and audience of hand surgeons and physical and occupational therapists. Now in its 46th year, it is known worldwide as The Philadelphia Hand Meeting and continues to set the standard for inter-disciplinary excellence in hand to shoulder rehabilitation. The symposium led to the publication of a textbook, “Rehabilitation of the Hand and Upper Extremity,” now in its 7th edition. Ms. Mackin was co-editor of the first five editions of this text, considered the bible of hand therapy. She was the founding director of the local Hand Rehabilitation Foundation, serving in that capacity for two decades and then as a member of the board until her death. Nationally, she was a founding member and past president of The American Society of Hand Therapists and the first editor of the Journal of Hand Therapy, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that launched in 1987 and earned inclusion in the prestigious Index Medicus during her tenure. Internationally, Ms. Mackin served as the first president of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy from 1986-1992. She was invited to lecture on hand therapy topics throughout the world in countries including Malaysia, France, England, The Netherlands and Brazil. Over her many decades of service, teaching, and mentorship, she came to be honored and loved by hand therapists around the world. She was often introduced at conferences as the “Mother of Hand Therapy.” Grants, fellowships, and awards are named in her honor. Even as she rose to prominence in the field, Ms. Mackin remained committed to her patients in Philadelphia, rehabilitating people whose hands had been mangled in accidents and industrial mishaps so that they could return to fully productive lives.
Ms. Mackin was born in Jersey City, NJ, raised in Norristown, PA, and graduated from Norristown High School in 1940. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Physical Therapy in 1944. Ms. Mackin was devoted to her son, Glenn Mackin, who often worked at the hand center during his training at Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Mackin, a neurologist, died in December 2018. Ms. Mackin was a passionate Bridge player, loved swimming and took up golf in her early 80s. She enjoyed time with family on summer days at Beach Haven West, and equally enjoyed the many cities she visited in Europe. Evelyn cooked many dishes in her life, including a famous crab dip, and still prepared an Easter ham dinner into her early 90s. She liked a nice glass of wine, saw the value of red lipstick, and often had a dog by her side.
SURVIVORS: She will be lovingly remembered by her two granddaughters, Sarah and Emily Mackin, and her daughter-in-law Lynn Posbergh, of Center Valley, PA; nephew William Shideleff (Lyn) of Stroudsburg, PA; great nephew Robert Shideleff of Ottsville, PA; and great niece Melissa Shideleff (Alexa) of Penllyn, PA.
