This study is an examination of the contributions of Theodate Smith and Amy Tanner to the Children's Institute of Clark University. The institute, established in 1909 by Clark's president, G. Stanley Hall, failed to thrive as a liaison between child study and child welfare concerns for a number of reasons, including Hall's eventual disenchantment with the child welfare movement, financial difficulties, and the loss by the institute of Smith and Tanner. Both Smith and Tanner, unlike Hall, were sympathetic to child welfare concerns. Thus, Smith's death in 1914 and Tanner's departure from Clark in 1918 severed the links between the institute and child welfare interests.