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    Clifford Beers: Mental Health America, 1908-1935
    Clifford Beers: Mental Health America, 1908-1935
    Clifford Beers: Mental Health America, 1908-1935
    Ebook101 pages58 minutes

    Clifford Beers: Mental Health America, 1908-1935

    By Michael Gray and Ted Deutsch

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    About this ebook

    Clifford Beers would not be a man of business and commerce that, as a turn of the century Yale graduate, he once imagined himself. Instead he would become a crusader for the muted patients shut away in public and private institutions with names like Hospital for the Insane, Asylum for Feeble-Minded, Village for Epileptics, The School for Idiots and Fee-ble-Minded Youth, the State Lunatic Asylum, The Insane Pavilion; names that make us cringe today.
    Through the publication of his book, A Mind that Found Itself, An Autobiography, Beers found support for what would become his life’s work. He would speak for the patients that no one would listen to, the invisible ones, shut away from polite society, because he used to be one of them. Even after his release from the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, in his heart, he would always be one of them.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateMay 27, 2013
    ISBN9780985871130
    Clifford Beers: Mental Health America, 1908-1935
    Author

    Michael Gray

    Always favoured science fiction. Passionate about aviation, science and technolgy. Also interested in watercolour painting, photography, Earth sciences, property renovation, building/flying radio controlled model helicopters and now Archery. In fact anything else that's interesting, even politics!

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      Book preview

      Clifford Beers - Michael Gray

      © 2012 The National Human Services Assembly, 2012, All rights reserved. This ebook or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

      Printed in the United States of America

      ISBN 978-0-9858711-3-0

      Published by:

      National Human Services Assembly

      1101 14th Street, NW Suite 600

      Washington, DC 20005

      Foreword

      We need to re-mythologize our heroes. Of course, they were only human beings like the rest of us But they had great gifts and, due to fate or chance or perhaps providence, great currents of human and social energy passed through them

      Jacob Needleman, The American Soul

      Change began with them; change begins with each of us!

      Throughout history, noble individuals have looked out on their world and seen that more could be done to help those in need. Over the last century in America, these like-minded individuals found each other, put pen to paper and became the voice of a nation, manifesting that deeply human impulse to care enough to act. Their zeal, discipline and hard work forever changed this nation's collective capacity to care.

      In telling the stories of their lives and work, the legacy and impact of their actions, we begin to see the extent to which voluntary association – the building of healthy, diverse, inclusive community – lies at the heart of our national character.

      The Human Spirit Initiative is a nonprofit organization committed to building greater understanding of the impact of health and human services on American society. Presented in this monograph and others in this series are stories that inspire one to action – to recognize we are all part of a community and accept responsibility for the health of that community. These stories celebrate the contributions of ordinary people who dedicated their lives to found or shape significant human services organizations and, in the process, transformed the fabric of 20th century American society. Blending biography with history, we will trace the legacy of their actions: the growth, impact and promise of civil society in America.

      The public (government), private (corporate), and social (non-profit) sectors in America all impact our quality of life and our relationships with the rest of the world. The non-profit sector consists of more than 1.4 million organizations, employing 12 million individuals. Operating within this fast-growing sector are health and human services organizations – ranging from community groups to national associations – focused on alleviating need, and preventing suffering such as Volunteers of America, The Salvation Army, National Urban League, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

      The individuals whose lives we celebrate have been memorialized in our nation's newest monument in Washington, D.C., The Extra Mile - Points of Light Volunteer Pathway. Dedicated in 2005 to the spirit of service in America, the Extra Mile comprises a series of bronze medallions forming a one-mile walking path just blocks from the White House. In 2007, Jane Addams, a founder of the U.S. Settlement House movement and the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was honored with a marker on the pathway. Other honorees include founders of major service organizations and civil rights leaders, individuals who selflessly championed causes to help others realize a better America. Their legacies are enduring social movements that continue to engage and inspire us today.

      Clifford Beers has been honored for his pioneering work in mental illness with a medallion on the Extra Mile-Points of Light Volunteer Pathway in Washington, DC. The project is part of the Points of Light Foundation.

      These ordinary people combined a sense of history and responsibility with altruism and independence of spirit. They used their skills as writers, organizers, speakers, agitators and advisors to spotlight social needs, change public opinion, rally forces for positive change and advance legislation. None of them knew at the beginning of their work the ultimate legacy and impact of their actions. They did not act for self-serving reasons, but many did gain prominence and influence and lived to see their dreams flourish.

      The initial six monographs in this series will collectively capture the growth of health and human services in the United States over the past century, with a focus on social welfare, health services and youth development.

      The monographs will spotlight the life and work of:

      • Jane Addams, Hull House, 1889-1920

      • Clifford Beers, Mental Health America, 1908-1935

      • Maud and Ballington Booth, Volunteers of America, 1890-1935

      • William Edwin Hall, Boys and Girls Clubs, 1935-1950

      • Eunice Shriver, Special Olympics, 1965-1985

      • Ruth Standish Baldwin and George Edmund Haynes,

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