Partner Priscilla Peck
Queer Places:
Rosehill Cemetery, 5800 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60660
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 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. Marty was romantically involved with
Priscilla Peck for 40 years. Priscilla was an Art Editor at Vogue (magazine) 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]
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.,sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference">[1]
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.[2]
MMarty Mann came from an upper middle class family in Chicago. She attended
private schools, 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.
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 relapses during her first year and a
half, Mann succeeded in becoming sober by 1940 and, apart from a brief relapse
nearly 20 years later, remained so for the rest of her life.
Mann's own father, once a top executive at the most prestigious department
store in downtown Chicago, died of alcoholism.
IIn 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:
- AAlcoholism 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.[3]
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.
IIn 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.
IIn 1980 Marty Mann suffered a stroke at home and died soon after.[4]
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.
My published books:
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Mann