Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Records, 1946-2017

Summary

Creator:
Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry
Abstract:
This collection contains records from the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. The collection has 9 series: Constitution, By-Laws, and Related Documents; Directors and Officers; Administrative Committees; Committees; Meetings; Membership Information; Publications; Other Organizations; Audio-Visual Materials.
Extent:
86 boxes 35.86 linear feet
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains records from the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. There are 9 series in this collection.

Constitution, By-Laws, and Related Documents: consists of printed copies of the constitution, by-laws, and amendments, as well as related correspondence, and a statement of purposes and activities.

Directors and Officers: consists of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, the immediate Past President and four members without office. None of the members without office may be Chairman of a committee. The President is Chairman of the Board of Directors. Past Presidents are members of the Board ex-officio. The Board originally was called the Executive Committee. describe the semiannual meetings, one held in April and the other in November. Minutes detail the activities of the Board of Directors, officers, Sol W. Ginsburg Fellowship Program, Finance Committee, Nominating Committee and Publications Board. Restricted funds contain descriptions of programs and pertinent correspondence related to specific funds. Office of the President General Correspondence follows a pattern of three separate files for each President. This was established in earlier years and has been maintained here, for the most part. The pattern is divided into "Intra-GAP" correspondence, correspondence with the Board of Directors, and other "Non-GAP" correspondence. Office of the President Miscellaneous Correspondence includes such topics as referees' comments on committee reports and symposia and manuscripts for the Chairman's Handbook. Prior to the creation of the Publications Board in 1966, the President alone had final determination as to whether material should be published. Referees' comments solicited from various GAP members aided the President in his decision. This subseries also contains manuscripts from the Chairman's Handbook. The Office of the Secretary and Secretary-Treasurer was separated into two offices of the Secretary Treasurer in the early 1970's. The Secretary-Treasurer is responsible for the arrangements for meetings; keeps the minutes for meetings of the Board of Directors and the Steering Committee. The Secretary-Treasurer maintains contact with members regarding dues, changes of address, new members and resignations, and has the care and custody of the funds of the corporation and supervises the account books. Some correspondence with donors is included; and some files contain pre- and post-meeting circular letters. Dr. Malcolm Farrell was the Secretary-Treasurer for the early 1950's until 1969. Most of the records in this series were generated while he held this office. The Office of the Treasurer has care and custody of the funds and securities and general supervision of the account books. The Nominating Committee is appointed by the President and consists of five members, one of whom is designated by the President as chair. The Nominating Committee is charged with presenting to the membership, not less than one month prior to the semi-annual spring meeting, nominations for Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, and for openings on the Board of Directors.

Administrative Committees: The Steering Committee may propose that a new committee be formed or an existing one be given a new or different area of assignment or be abolished. Committee reports in progress are submitted to the Steering Committee. New members are presented to the Steering Committee after being accepted by a committee. Includes minutes, reports and "summaries of actions," and related correspondence. Minutes include reports by the Treasurer, committee activities, actions on appointments, membership and other topics. The Finance Committee records contain minutes and associated correspondence and reports. Following these files are audit reports for the years 1950-1980. The Finance Committee is comprised of solicitations, acknowledgements, and related correspondence with funding agencies, primarily foundations, and with some individual donors. The Publication Board, which was created as the result of a 1966 amendment to the by-laws, consists of seven members appointed by the President. It is charged with the responsibility of determining, along with the President, whether Committee reports, symposia, and other written materials "shall be given general publication." Prior to the 1966 amendment, this decision rested solely with the President. During this time the Publications Committee assisted in arranging for the publication and distribution of approved reports. The decision to approve was made in consultation with other GAP members. The Marketing Board was established in 1975 to develop promotional plans for marketing GAP publications. The discussion of reports and symposia provides comments on whether reports and symposia should be published or not. The files are grouped and labelled with appropriate Circular Letter number, date, and in those instances when published, the final Report number.

Committees: The Standing Committees files contain minutes, correspondence, critiques of Circular Letters, GAP Reports and symposia. The Committee on Psychiatric Social Work and the Sol W. Ginsburg Fellowship Program are committees with extensive files. The Sol W. Ginsburg Fellowship Program records include information on the founding of the program, selection and placement of Fellows, lists of past Fellows, reports, critique of program by Fellows, and funding sources. Following the Fellowship records, there are several folders of material dealing with the memorial service held for Dr. Ginsburg in 1960. The Ad Hoc Committees includes correspondence, minutes and reports.

Meetings: A wide variety of material is contained in this series. In the 1980's until the early 1970's, most of the meetings were organized around a central theme. For the most part, the first folder for each meeting in this series contains the transcript of the symposium devoted to this topic. Other material includes minutes of meetings, agendas, pre- and post-meeting Circular Letters, and correspondence with the hotel which hosted the meeting. Those members who attended the meeting are enumerated on reservation charts. Names of consultants and special guests who attended or were invited can be determined by listings on charts and through their correspondence. Special guests were generally representatives of foundations and pharmaceutical companies, as well as some individuals, who were invited as potential supporters of GAP. See minutes of first informal meeting held to discuss the organization of GAP in 1946.

Membership Information: There are a set of membership directories that list names, addresses, and where appropriate, committee membership for active, contributing and life members, Sol W. Ginsburg Fellows, and life consultants. Membership studies consists of Circular Letters 311, 354 and 354A as well as the final reports, statistical material, and correspondence used by Dr. Brosin in his detailed studies of GAP membership from 1946 to 1966. Dr. Brosin's studies were continued until 1984. There are curriculum vita cards for each GAP member listing the name, home and business addresses, place and date of birth, colleges attended and degrees, training, membership in professional societies, type and year of board certification, license to practice in which states, type of psychiatric practice, and professional experience.

Publications: Circular letters are multi-page letters sent from GAP Presidents to the entire membership. Newsletter style, there are pre- and post-meeting Circular Letters that contain reports about these meetings, committee activities, budget up-dates, membership trends,. etc. as well as obituaries. Other Circular Letters are tentative copies of GAP Reports prepared for membership approval. Many, but not all, or these Circular Letters prepared by committees are published as Reports. Circular Letters are numbered but appear at infrequent intervals. Publication office materials deals with the publications of popular GAP Reports which are geared to a wide audience. This consists of correspondence with GAP officers, publishers and distributors concerning financial and other matters; and press clippings and other public relations material, in addition to reviews and comments about the publications. Publishers include Atheneum, International Science Press, Science House, Scribner's, and Springer. GAP publications are distributed by the Mental Health Materials Center. Some GAP Reports are relatively technical, others are of more general interest. Three Reports were translated into Japanese, and one was translated into several European languages. One unique project of GAP was the production of a film A Nice Kid Like You, prepared by the Committee on the College Student, 1970. This film addresses itself to the college scene and deals with drugs, sex, parents, and the problems of modern America as seen through the eyes of college students. The Mental Health Materials Center served primarily to facilitate the effective dissemination and use of mental health education print material and audiovisual aids. Alex Sareyan was its Executive Director and GAP employed the services of this organization to distribute its Reports to a wide audience. Other publishers refer to communications between GAP and publishers besides the Mental Health Materials Center GAP considered as potential publishers of its Reports. Reports are published copies of those Circular Letters with which GAP reached a wider audience. Symposia refer to the presentations prepared by one or more committees during the time meetings were theme oriented. The symposia cut across sub-speciality boundaries and often were interdisciplinary in nature. Twelve of these symposia were judged of significant importance to the published. Other publications relate to publications of GAP which are neither Reports or symposia. They are the discussion guide for the film A Nice Kid Like You, the Story of GAP, and the Memorial for William C. Menninger.

Other Organizations: This refers to organizations with which GAP had a relationship. They include both the United States government and private mental health and psychiatric organizations.

Audio-Visual Materials: This series has photographs of fellows and conferences along with video of Henry Brosin's GAP Reminiscences.

Biographical / historical:

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, or "GAP," was founded in May 1946 on the eve of the 102nd annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association by a relatively small group of psychiatrists. Most of these individuals had been actively engaged in wartime service and observed the serious problems that resulted from the general failure to apply available psychiatric knowledge and skills in the screening of military recruits and in the prevention and treatment of mental breakdowns among military personnel. On the civilian front, too, organized psychiatry had played an ineffectual role in efforts to sustain and strengthen community defenses against mental illness. The APA was unable to assume professional leadership during the time of national defense and wartime emergencies. In addition, there was a noticeable lack of leadership and meager representation of psychiatry in government, industry, labor, commerce and medicine. Dr. William C. Menninger was Brigadier General and chief of neuropsychiatry in the U.S. Army medical corps at the time. He was elected chairman of GAP and Dr. Henry W. Brosin was elected secretary.

GAP was incorporated in 1960 and its certificate of incorporation states its objects and purposes. They are: "the charitable, edu­cational, and scientific objects and purposes to encouraging medical development, including the alleviation and cure of mental illness; employing consultants, collecting, studying and appraising significant data in the fields of psychiatry, mental health and human relations; reevaluating old concepts in said fields and developing and testing new ones, and publishing or distributing, on a non-profit basis, the results of such efforts; applying the knowledge obtained from such efforts for the promotion of mental health and good human relations; and creating or granting scholarships, fellowships, professorships, residencies, prizes and other encouragement to students and others interested in the promotion of mental health and good human relations."

The core of GAP is its working committees. Each GAP member belongs to a committee actively working in their special interest and competence; for example, Child Psychiatry, Social Issues, Aging, Preventive Psychiatry, Psychiatry in Industry, and Psychiatry and Law. Each committee selects a subject for exploration and calls in expert consultants from other disciplines when indicated. The members of GAP have worked closely with other specialists, such as anthropologists, biologists, economists, statisticians, educators, lawyers, nurses, psychologists, sociologists, social workers, and experts in mass communication, philosophy, and semantics. Over a two-to-four-year period, the committee collects and evaluates data and prepares a Report. This Report is distributed to the total membership of GAP for critical review and comment, revised as indicated, and scrutinized in detail by the Publications Board prior to publication. Membership in GAP is strictly by invitation, not by direct application. Membership is offered to those who have demonstrated superior capacity to generate ideas, work effectively in groups, and produce at a high level. Many noted leaders in psychiatric education, research, administration, and practice are GAP members, and they have made contributions to specific areas to which GAP is devoted. Many older members, when no longer pursuing GAP activities, become "contributing members." As of July 27, 1987, there were a total of 293 members.

Meetings attended by members, consultants, and special guests are held semi-annually in April and November. These meetings represent only a small portion of the time devoted by members to the work of their committees. Each member spends a great amount of time between meetings in research of pertinent material and preparing preliminary Reports, which are circulated at the semi-annual meetings. This work is performed on an individual's own time and expense. In the 1950's through early 1970's, many of the meetings focused on a particular central theme. The various meetings shifted between concerning themselves with a special aspect of the general subject and with choosing their own topic of inquiry, independent of all others.

The Sol W. Ginsburg Fellowship Program grants Fellowships to outstanding second and third year residents in major psychiatric training centers for two years of participation in GAP activities. Named in honor of its first chairman and former GAP president, the program has been in existence since 1957 and is designed for residents who are especially interested in the social and community aspects of psychiatry and who give promise of continuing their interest in these directions. A Fellowship term consists of four consecutive meetings, and Fellows are assigned to a committee. GAP is a tax exempt non-profit organization. Funds are generated by membership dues, foundations, from private donors, and the sale of its Reports. These publications were distributed free of charge for many years in order to more widely disseminate the information gathered. During 1946-1950, GAP received a large grant from the Commonwealth Fund to be used toward defraying the cost of meetings, circular letters, and publications. The funding enabled consultants to attend the meetings.

GAP Reports are circulated among key agencies and individuals in many parts of the world. The Reports are action documents, put to effective use not only by psychiatrists but by medical schools, psychology and social work departments and agencies, governmental bodies, courts, industrial plants, public schools, and community health and welfare agencies, among others. Purchase prices are kept low so that individuals are able to use them. These groups encompass students including those studying medicine, resident physicians, school teachers, social welfare workers, and volunteers. From the outset, Dr. Menninger adopted the policy of keeping the membership informed of developments through the medium of circular letters, issued as occasion demanded. These letters continue to be a vital form of communication.

Acquisition information:
The records of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry were donated primarily through the officers of GAP. Most of the material was shipped from 1981 to 1983 through Dr. Henry Work, Miss Irene Dahut, and the estate of Dr. Jack Weinberg.
Arrangement:

Many of the series and subseries have been arranged chronologically or alphabetically. For the most part, within each folder a chronological arrangement has been followed.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no restrictions regarding use of the collection with the exception of some material in the Standing Committees series, Sol W. Ginsburg Fellowship Program. Correspondence concerning selection of nominees may not be used for biographical studies; names may not be mentioned. Material may be used to determine criteria applied to select Fellows.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from the Oskar Diethelm Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Location of this collection:
DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry: History, Policy and the Arts
Weill Cornell Medical College
525 East 68th Street, Box 140
New York, NY 10065, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
212-746-3728