Marty Mann: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|American writer (1904–1980)}} |
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'''Marty Mann''' (October 15, 1904 – July 22, 1980) was an early female member of [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] (AA) and author of the chapter "Women Suffer Too" in the second through fourth editions of the ''[[AA Big Book|Big Book]] of AA''. In part because of her life's work, [[alcoholism]] became seen as less a moral issue and more a health issue. |
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'''Margaret Marty Mann''' (October 15, 1904 – July 22, 1980) was an American writer who is considered by some to be the first woman to achieve longterm sobriety in [[Alcoholics Anonymous]].<ref name=":0" /> |
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There were several remarkable women in the early days of AA including but not limited to: Florence R. of New York, Sylvia K. of Chicago, Ethel M. of Akron, Ohio. AA co-founder Bill Wilson was Marty's sponsor. Marty wrote her story (personal experience) "Women Suffer Too" in the Story Section of second through fourth editions of the ''[[AA Big Book|Big Book]] of AA''. |
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It is a common error that Marty Mann was the first woman in AA. The first woman to seek help from Alcoholics Anonymous was "Lil", who relapsed and later got sober outside A.A.,<ref>''Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers''. New York, NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980, pp. 97-8.</ref> and the first woman who attained any length of sobriety (although she later relapsed) was Florence R., author of the chapter "A Feminine Victory", in the first edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Ms. Mann was, however, the first lesbian member of Alcoholics Anonymous at a time when gay and lesbians were not accepted by society.<ref>Brown, David. ''A Biography of Mrs. Marty Mann: The First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous''. Center City, Hazelden, 2001, pp. 72, 217.</ref> |
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Mann organized the [[National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence|National Committee for Education on Alcoholism]] (NCEA) in 1944. She traveled across the U.S. educating medical professionals, legislators, businessmen, and the public on the importance of treatment and education of the fatal disease of alcoholism.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Sally.|first=Brown|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1089978025|title=A Biography of Mrs. Marty Mann : the First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous.|date=2011|publisher=Hazelden|isbn=978-1-61649-141-3|oclc=1089978025}}</ref> |
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In 1976, the NCA organized Operation Understanding where 50 celebrities and professionals gathered to address the social stigma surrounding alcoholism. Actors, politicians, sports legends, physicians, lawyers, clergy and more stood up in the hotel ballroom and said "I am an alcoholic." The NCA hoped to reduce the social stigma surrounding alcoholism and encourage individuals and their families to get treatment. Mann hoped to raise social awareness that alcoholism is not a moral weakness but a deadly disease. |
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Marty Mann came from an [[upper middle class]] family in [[Chicago]]. She attended [[private school]]s, traveled extensively, and was a [[debutante]]. The social circle in which she moved was a fast-living one and Mann was known for her capacity to drink without apparent effect (often a sign of alcoholism). She married into a wealthy [[New Orleans]] family; when in her late twenties, due to financial reverses, she had to go to work, her social and family connections made it easy for her to launch a career in [[public relations]]. |
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Mann's drinking, however, grew to the point where it endangered not only her business but her life, including at least one [[suicide attempt]]. In 1939 her [[psychiatrist]], Dr. [[Harry Tiebout]], gave her a [[manuscript]] of the book ''Alcoholics Anonymous'', and persuaded her to attend her first AA meeting (at the time there were only two AA groups in the entire United States). Despite several [[relapse]]s during her first year and a half, Mann succeeded in becoming [[sobriety|sober]] by 1940 and, apart from a brief relapse nearly 20 years later, remained so for the rest of her life. |
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Marty Mann was born in Chicago into an upper-middle-class family, the daughter of William Henry Mann and Lillian Christy Mann.<ref>''Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Birth Certificates Index, 1871–1922''</ref> She attended private schools, traveled extensively, and was a debutante. Mann's father, once a top executive at the most prestigious department store in downtown Chicago, died of alcoholism. |
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Marty was a lesbian but was married briefly in her 20s. Mann was her maiden name, and she used the Mrs. title to protect her privacy. Society's prejudice against homosexuality was as strong as it was toward alcoholism during the 1940s and 1950s when she and the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism were struggling to survive.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Flynn|first=William R.|date=November 1, 2002|title=A Biography of Mrs. Marty Mann: The First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous|url=https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.11.1950-a|journal=American Journal of Psychiatry|volume=159|issue=11|pages=1950–a|doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.159.11.1950-a|issn=0002-953X}}</ref> |
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Marty' own father, once a top executive at the most prestigious department store in downtown Chicago, died of the disease of alcoholism, destitute. |
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Mann moved to England in 1930 and fell in love with photographer [[Barbara Ker-Seymer]]. The Tate Museum in London has photographs detailing their social circle.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tate|title='Photograph album, Toulon', Barbara Ker-Seymer, [August] 1931 – Tate Archive|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/archive/items/tga-974-5-2/ker-seymer-photograph-album-toulon|access-date=March 18, 2021|website=Tate|language=en-GB}}</ref> British photographer and society figure, considered one of the group designated by the tabloid press as "[[Bright Young People]]". They visited the Paris salon of [[Gertrude Stein]] and [[Alice B. Toklas]]. She also socialized with [[Janet Flanner]], [[Virginia Woolf]] and [[Vita Sackville-West]].<ref name=":0" /> |
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⚫ | In 1945 Mann became inspired with the desire to eliminate the |
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Marty worked as a magazine editor, art critic, and photojournalist for renowned magazines such as ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]]'', and ''[[Tatler]]''. However, she had alcoholism – and it progressed to the point where she was no longer able to hold a job, drifting in and out of homelessness while living abroad in London.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=March 21, 2016|title=Women's History Month: Marty Mann and Removing Barriers to Treatment|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/03/21/womens-history-month-marty-mann-and-removing-barriers-treatment|access-date=March 18, 2021|website=whitehouse.gov|language=en}}</ref> |
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Her alcoholism escalated and she spent 6 months in a London Hospital after a second suicide attempt.<ref name=":0" /> She was encouraged to return home to America by her friends. In 1936, she returned to her family in the United States and sought help from doctors.<ref name=":1" /> She quickly became a charity patient at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She eventually transferred to Blythewood Sanitarium in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1939, her psychiatrist Dr. [[Harry Tiebout]] gave her a pre-publication manuscript of the book [[The Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous)|''Alcoholics Anonymous'']], and persuaded her to attend her first AA meeting. This meeting took place at the home of Lois and [[Bill W.|Bill W]] (co-founder of AA) at 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn, New York.<ref name=":0" /> |
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Marty was romantically involved with Priscilla Peck for 40 years. Priscilla was an Art Editor at ''Vogue'' for 25 years. They owned a home together in [[Greenwich Village]] in New York City, a vacation home at [[Cherry Grove, New York|Cherry Grove]] on [[Fire Island]] (a well-known gay community) and later in life they had a home in Connecticut.<ref name=":0" /> |
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⚫ | In 1945, Mann became inspired with the desire to eliminate the stigma and ignorance regarding alcoholism and to encourage the "disease model" which viewed it as a medical/psychological problem, not a moral failing. She helped start the [[Yale School of Alcohol Studies]] (now at Rutgers), and organized the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA), now the [[National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence]] or NCADD. |
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Three ideas formed the basis of her message: |
Three ideas formed the basis of her message: |
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#Alcoholism is a |
#Alcoholism is a disease and the alcoholic a sick person. |
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#The alcoholic can be helped and is worth helping. |
#The alcoholic can be helped and is worth helping. |
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#Alcoholism is a public health problem and therefore a public responsibility.<ref>[http://www.roizen.com/ron/mann.htm Roizen, Ron. "In |
#Alcoholism is a public health problem and therefore a public responsibility.<ref>[http://www.roizen.com/ron/mann.htm Roizen, Ron. "In Search of the Mysterious Mrs. Marty Mann."]</ref> |
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Search of the Mysterious Mrs. Marty Mann."]</ref> |
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Marty Mann wrote the following books: |
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'''Primer on Alcoholism<ref>{{Cite book|author=Mann, Marty|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/16485340|title=Primer on alcoholism|date=1979|publisher=Gollancz|isbn=0-575-02661-8|oclc=16485340}}</ref>''' |
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'''Marty Mann's New Primer on Alcoholism<ref>{{Cite book|author=Mann, Marty|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/19414966|title=Marty Mann's New primer on alcoholism : how people drink, how to recognize alcoholics, and what to do about them.|date=1981|publisher=Henry Holt|isbn=0-8050-0551-X|oclc=19414966}}</ref>''' |
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'''Marty Mann Answers Your Questions about Alcoholism.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Mann, Marty|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/7518862|title=Marty Mann answers your questions about drinking and alcoholism.|date=1981|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|isbn=0-03-081857-5|oclc=7518862}}</ref>''' |
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Mann was instrumental in the founding of [[High Watch Recovery Center|High Watch Farm]], the world's first recovery center founded on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous.<ref name="Hopkins">{{cite book|last1=Harley|first1=Gail|title=Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought|date=2002|publisher=Syracuse University Press|location=Syracuse University|isbn=0-8156-2933-8|page=130}}</ref> |
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⚫ | In 1980, Mann suffered a stroke at home and died soon after, aged 75.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cook|first=Joan|date=July 24, 1980|title=Marty Mann Dead; Helped Alcoholics; Founder of Alcoholism Council, 75, Wrote Books and Lectured Extensively on Drinking 'I Am an Alcoholic' (Published 1980)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/07/24/archives/marty-mann-dead-helped-alcoholics-founder-of-alcoholism-council-75.html|access-date=March 18, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>[http://www.addictionrecov.org/paradigm/P_PR_F98/Marty_Mann.html Brown, Sally. "Marty Mann and the Evolution of Alcoholics Anonymous"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206031029/http://www.addictionrecov.org/paradigm/P_PR_F98/Marty_Mann.html |date=December 6, 2006 }}</ref> Many histories of Alcoholics Anonymous make only passing mention of Mann, perhaps because NCEA had no formal relationship to AA. However, Mann's public admission of her own alcoholism, her successful experience with AA, and her encouragement of others — especially women — to get help contributed substantially to AA's growth.{{cn|date=December 2023}} |
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⚫ | In 1980 |
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==References== |
== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
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<references /> |
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==External links== |
== External links == |
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*Marty Mann's ''New Primer on Alcoholism'', reviewed by John Philip, [ |
*Marty Mann's ''New Primer on Alcoholism'', reviewed by John Philip, [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1372822/] |
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*Marty Mann Papers at Syracuse University [http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/m/mann_m.htm] |
*Marty Mann Papers at Syracuse University [http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/m/mann_m.htm] |
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*Marty Mann's Story ''Women Suffer Too'', Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.) Online, |
*Marty Mann's Story ''Women Suffer Too'', Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.) Online, |
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[[Category:Writers from Chicago]] |
[[Category:Writers from Chicago]] |
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[[Category:Alcoholics Anonymous]] |
[[Category:Alcoholics Anonymous]] |
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[[Category:American |
[[Category:American lesbian writers]] |
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[[Category:LGBTQ people from Illinois]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]] |
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[[Category:20th-century |
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]] |
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[[Category:20th-century writers]] |
Latest revision as of 02:59, 24 September 2024
Margaret Marty Mann (October 15, 1904 – July 22, 1980) was an American writer who is considered by some to be the first woman to achieve longterm sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous.[1]
There were several remarkable women in the early days of AA including but not limited to: Florence R. of New York, Sylvia K. of Chicago, Ethel M. of Akron, Ohio. AA co-founder Bill Wilson was Marty's sponsor. Marty wrote her story (personal experience) "Women Suffer Too" in the Story Section of second through fourth editions of the Big Book of AA.
Mann organized the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA) in 1944. She traveled across the U.S. educating medical professionals, legislators, businessmen, and the public on the importance of treatment and education of the fatal disease of alcoholism.[1]
In 1976, the NCA organized Operation Understanding where 50 celebrities and professionals gathered to address the social stigma surrounding alcoholism. Actors, politicians, sports legends, physicians, lawyers, clergy and more stood up in the hotel ballroom and said "I am an alcoholic." The NCA hoped to reduce the social stigma surrounding alcoholism and encourage individuals and their families to get treatment. Mann hoped to raise social awareness that alcoholism is not a moral weakness but a deadly disease.
Background
[edit]Marty Mann was born in Chicago into an upper-middle-class family, the daughter of William Henry Mann and Lillian Christy Mann.[2] She attended private schools, traveled extensively, and was a debutante. Mann's father, once a top executive at the most prestigious department store in downtown Chicago, died of alcoholism.
Marty was a lesbian but was married briefly in her 20s. Mann was her maiden name, and she used the Mrs. title to protect her privacy. Society's prejudice against homosexuality was as strong as it was toward alcoholism during the 1940s and 1950s when she and the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism were struggling to survive.[3]
Mann moved to England in 1930 and fell in love with photographer Barbara Ker-Seymer. The Tate Museum in London has photographs detailing their social circle.[4] British photographer and society figure, considered one of the group designated by the tabloid press as "Bright Young People". They visited the Paris salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. She also socialized with Janet Flanner, Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West.[1]
Marty worked as a magazine editor, art critic, and photojournalist for renowned magazines such as Vogue, Harper's, and Tatler. However, she had alcoholism – and it progressed to the point where she was no longer able to hold a job, drifting in and out of homelessness while living abroad in London.[5]
Her alcoholism escalated and she spent 6 months in a London Hospital after a second suicide attempt.[1] She was encouraged to return home to America by her friends. In 1936, she returned to her family in the United States and sought help from doctors.[5] She quickly became a charity patient at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She eventually transferred to Blythewood Sanitarium in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1939, her psychiatrist Dr. Harry Tiebout gave her a pre-publication manuscript of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, and persuaded her to attend her first AA meeting. This meeting took place at the home of Lois and Bill W (co-founder of AA) at 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn, New York.[1]
Marty was romantically involved with Priscilla Peck for 40 years. Priscilla was an Art Editor at Vogue for 25 years. They owned a home together in Greenwich Village in New York City, a vacation home at Cherry Grove on Fire Island (a well-known gay community) and later in life they had a home in Connecticut.[1]
Encouraging a change in viewpoint
[edit]In 1945, Mann became inspired with the desire to eliminate the stigma and ignorance regarding alcoholism and to encourage the "disease model" which viewed it as a medical/psychological problem, not a moral failing. She helped start the Yale School of Alcohol Studies (now at Rutgers), and organized the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA), now the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence or NCADD.
She believed alcoholism runs in the family, and education of the disease was essential.
Three ideas formed the basis of her message:
- Alcoholism is a disease and the alcoholic a sick person.
- The alcoholic can be helped and is worth helping.
- Alcoholism is a public health problem and therefore a public responsibility.[6]
Marty Mann and R. Brinkley Smithers funded Dr. E. Morton (Bunky) Jellinek's initial 1946 study on Alcoholism. Dr. Jellinek's study was based on a narrow, selective study of a hand-picked group of members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) who had returned a self-reporting questionnaire.
In the 1950s, Edward R. Murrow included her in his list of the "10 Greatest Living Americans". Her book New Primer on Alcoholism was published in 1958.
Legacy
[edit]Marty Mann wrote the following books:
Primer on Alcoholism[7]
Marty Mann's New Primer on Alcoholism[8]
Marty Mann Answers Your Questions about Alcoholism.[9]
Mann was instrumental in the founding of High Watch Farm, the world's first recovery center founded on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous.[10]
In 1980, Mann suffered a stroke at home and died soon after, aged 75.[11][12] Many histories of Alcoholics Anonymous make only passing mention of Mann, perhaps because NCEA had no formal relationship to AA. However, Mann's public admission of her own alcoholism, her successful experience with AA, and her encouragement of others — especially women — to get help contributed substantially to AA's growth.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Sally., Brown (2011). A Biography of Mrs. Marty Mann : the First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous. Hazelden. ISBN 978-1-61649-141-3. OCLC 1089978025.
- ^ Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Birth Certificates Index, 1871–1922
- ^ Flynn, William R. (November 1, 2002). "A Biography of Mrs. Marty Mann: The First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous". American Journal of Psychiatry. 159 (11): 1950–a. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.159.11.1950-a. ISSN 0002-953X.
- ^ Tate. "'Photograph album, Toulon', Barbara Ker-Seymer, [August] 1931 – Tate Archive". Tate. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^ a b "Women's History Month: Marty Mann and Removing Barriers to Treatment". whitehouse.gov. March 21, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^ Roizen, Ron. "In Search of the Mysterious Mrs. Marty Mann."
- ^ Mann, Marty (1979). Primer on alcoholism. Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-02661-8. OCLC 16485340.
- ^ Mann, Marty (1981). Marty Mann's New primer on alcoholism : how people drink, how to recognize alcoholics, and what to do about them. Henry Holt. ISBN 0-8050-0551-X. OCLC 19414966.
- ^ Mann, Marty (1981). Marty Mann answers your questions about drinking and alcoholism. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-03-081857-5. OCLC 7518862.
- ^ Harley, Gail (2002). Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought. Syracuse University: Syracuse University Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-8156-2933-8.
- ^ Cook, Joan (July 24, 1980). "Marty Mann Dead; Helped Alcoholics; Founder of Alcoholism Council, 75, Wrote Books and Lectured Extensively on Drinking 'I Am an Alcoholic' (Published 1980)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^ Brown, Sally. "Marty Mann and the Evolution of Alcoholics Anonymous" Archived December 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine