What's Wrong with the Poor?: Psychiatry, Race, and the War on Poverty

Acknowledgments

xi Acknowledgments It is a great pleasure to acknowledge the many people who have supported me throughout this project. I began this research while a Polonsky Postdoctoral Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in 2009. I am grateful to Gabriel Motzkin and the administrative staff who supported my work and my archival research. As a historian of American psychiatry working in Israel, I had the good fortune to benefit from a small but strong community. Otniel Dror suggested the topic of sensory deprivation; conversations with Eduardo Duniec, Noah Efron, and Michael Zakim helped shape my early ideas. My longtime mentor, José Brunner, has always encouraged me to pay attention to the politics of mental health. Rona Cohen offered wise insights and unwavering support. At Yale University, I was incredibly lucky to join the vibrant history of medicinecommunity.Myprimarydebtistomypostdoctoralmentor,Naomi Rogers,whogavegenerouslyofhertimeandwisdomandguidedmethrough the different stages of writing and editing this book. While encouraging me to find a more narrative tone, Naomi helped me ground my ideas in American history. Equally important, Naomi provided a role model for being a politically engaged historian, a feminist, and a dedicated educator. I am also gratefultoJohnWarner,whowelcomedmetothedepartmentandsupported my work and professional development. Participants at the Holmes Workshop offered valuable feedback on my work. I am particularly grateful to Ziv Eisenberg, Kate Irving, Rodion Kosovsky, Marco Ramos, Sally Romano, and Courtney Thompson from the Yale History of Psychiatry Working Group and the Program in the History of Science and Medicine. Debbie Doroshow, who read and commented on early versions of this book, has been a longtime supporter and wise colleague. Matthew Gambino served as an invaluable sounding board in discussing the intersections of race, psychiatry, and xii Acknowledgments poverty. Ewa Lech and Ramona Moore provided me with endless technical and administrative support, useful advice, and kindness. Historians of American medicine provided a valuable community within which to develop my ideas and arguments. I am particularly grateful to Andrea Tone for her continued support and friendship. Conversations with Jonathan Metzl provided inspiration in analyzing the race riots. Gerald Oppenheimer , David Rosner, and the other participants in the Rosner Lecture Series at the Columbia University Department of Sociomedical Sciences, where I presented an early version of chapter 3, provided thoughtful comments , drawing my attention not only to what I was saying but to what was being heard. In the course of my research, I was fortunate to have the assistance of knowledgeable and accommodating archivists. I am particularly grateful to Lizette Royer Barton and Dorothy Gruich at the University of Akron Center for the History of Psychology; Diane Richardson at the Oskar Diethelm Library, Cornell University; Shelley Sweeney at the University of Manitoba; Gary McMillan at the American Psychiatry Association; Bryan Whitledge at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Stephen Greenberg at the National Institutes of Health. The Hamilton Grant from the University of Manitoba and the J. R. Kantor Award from the Center for the History of PsychologyattheUniversityofAkronhelpedfundresearchtravelfromIsrael. At the University of North Carolina Press, I had the good fortune to work with Joe Parsons, who enthusiastically pushed this project forward. Having such a skilled, accessible, and kind editor made the publishing process seem simple.BarbaraBeattyandGeraldGrob,whoreviewedthebookmanuscript, offered astute insights. Friendsandfamilyhave providedlove,support, anddog-sittingassistance over the years and across continents. Noga and Neri Minsky welcomed me to their home during my numerous research trips to the East Coast. Mentors andcolleaguesattheInternalMedicineJDepartmentattheTelAvivMedical Center have been patient, kind, and often awe-inspiring. My biggest debt is to my parents. While my father, Tzvi, died two years before I began this project, there is much of him evident throughout the book. He loved history, was strongly committed to justice, and cherished the rather romantic notion that education could combat poverty. I am grateful for his insistence that I study medicine, which he thought would at the very least keep me out of trouble. All of my childhood memories of my mother, xiii Acknowledgments Orna, involve books and letters, yet she always prioritized community action and social solidarity over formal education. She and her partner, Johnny, have provided love and encouragement throughout this project. Finally, I am grateful to Sophie, whose infinite furry wisdom helped me never lose sight of the truly important things in life. This page intentionally left blank What’s Wrong with the Poor? This page intentionally left blank ...