Brief Chronology

  • 1913 --Born in New York City, New York, December 7th
  • 1934 --BA from New York University (American History); elected to Phi Beta Kappa
  • 1936 --MA from New York University (American History)
  • 1942-45 --U.S. Army, Air Technical Services Command
  • 1945 --Joined staff of Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
  • 1946 --Investigated conditions at Oklahoma state mental institutions, published series of articles, began lobbying state legislature to reform state institutions
  • 1947 --Oklahoma state legislature passed new mental health care laws, including greatly increased funding for psychiatric hospitals
  • 1947-48 --Investigated mental institutions in other states, continued to publish his findings
  • 1948 --Received Lasker Award for Public Service; Oklahoma Attacks Its Snake Pits published in condensed form in Reader's Digest
  • 1949 --Chosen as one of Ten Outstanding Young Men for 1948, by U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce
  • 1949-51 --Free-lance journalist
  • 1951-53 --Served as Executive Director of President's Commission on Health Needs of the Nation
  • 1953 --Became Executive Director of the National Committee Against Mental Illness
  • 1955-61 --Served on the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health
  • 1956 --Published Every Other Bed
  • 1961 --Appointed to the National Advisory Mental Health Council
  • 1963 --Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act
  • 1964 --Elected honorary fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
  • 1967 --Traveled to U.S.S.R. as part of U.S. Mission on Mental Health
  • 1969-77 --Director of Public Policy Office of National Council on Alcoholism
  • 1972 --Received Outstanding Achievement Award in Medical Journalism from National Press Club
  • 1973 --Helped establish Citizens for the Treatment of High Blood Pressure; served as Executive Director until 1988
  • 1983 --Helped establish National Initiative Against Glaucoma; served as Executive Director until 1988
  • 1989 --Died in Washington, DC on April 1st