It is fitting that the 75th anniversary celebration of the founding of the American Psychoanalytic Association will be held in Washington, D.C. during the spring meetings in May because of the close affiliation of Washington, geographically and professionally, with Baltimore where the Association was founded at the Stafford Hotel on May 9, 1911.
On Friday, May 9, 1986 there will be a brief meeting of members followed by a day devoted to special activities in celebration of the anniversary. There will be an opening address by Edward Joseph who will then turn the meeting over to Richard Simons, the incoming president. A number of distinguished guests have been invited to speak briefly, including Robert Wallerstein, President of the International Psychoanalytical Association, Anne-Marie Sandler, President of the European Federation of Analysts, Victor Aiza, President of the South American Federation, Carol Nadelson, President of the American Psychiatric Association, and Masahisa Nishizono, President of the Japanese Psychoanalytic Society (and an invited guest at the meetings of the American Psychiatric Association).
A number of Washington notables have also been asked to say a few words, including Shervert Frazier, Director of the National Institutes of Mental Health, Donald McDonald, Director of The Alcohol Drug Rehabilitation and Mental Health Administration, Otis Bowen, Director of Health and Human Services and Melvin Sabshin, Medical Director of the American Psychiatric Association. The Honorable Marion Berry, Mayor of Washington, D.C., and several senators and representatives who have been influential in mental health issues have also been invited.
The morning plenary address will be given by Charles Brenner, who will be introduced by Jacob Arlow. He will speak on “A Personal Chronicle—Notes on Psychoanalysis by a Participant-Observer.”
On Friday afternoon there will be two panels. One will focus on recent advances in the general field of psychoanalysis and its potential for continued growth and development in the future. Leo Stone will speak about “Recent Advances in Psychoanalytic Theories and Techniques.” Robert Michels will speak on “Psychoanalytic Education Within Institutes, in Psychiatric Residency Training Programs and in the Teaching of Psychiatry to Medical Students.” Robert Wallerstein will discuss “Recent Research and Possibilities for Further Studies on Psychoanalysis.”
The second panel will be moderated by Dr. Joseph and it will focus on the contributions of psychoanalysis to the intellectual life of America. There will be four historians on this panel. John Burnham, Professor of History at Ohio State, has written extensively in this field. He will speak on the founding of
the American in 1911 and “The American Psychoanalytic Association as an Ideal.” He will be followed by Judith Hughes, Professor of History at the University of California at San Diego, who has studied the generation of emigre analysts as part of the general migration of European intellectuals to America. She will speak on the contributions of European analysts to American psychoanalysis. The third speaker will be I. Bernard Cohen, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, who has written extensively in this area, most recently on “Revolutions in Science.” He will speak on “Psychoanalysis—Is it a Scientific Revolution?” The final speaker will be Peter Gay, Sterling Professor of History at Yale and an honorary member of our association, who will speak on the present situation of psychoanalysis in the intellectual climate of America in his presentation, “Psychoanalysis on the Defensive.” This panel was organized by Sanford Gifford, Chairman of the Association's History and Archives Committee.
The celebratory day will climax with an Anniversary Ball at the Federal Reserve Building on Friday night. Because the room allows for a limited attendance of two hundred eighty, reservations should be made soon after the announcements are sent out.
A program committee consisting of Edward Joseph, Paul Dewald, and Dale Boesky was appointed to plan the events for the Friday anniversary meetings and the ball. Dr. Joseph points out that this also marks the resumption of the old policy of holding the spring meetings of the American in the same city as the meetings of the APA, and all APA registrants will be invited to attend the Friday meetings with complimentary day registration.
Encouraging our membership to participate in both the Friday meetings and the anniversary ball, Dr. Joseph says, “We are celebrating the survival of psychoanalysis despite all predictions of doom. The 75th Anniversary comes only once in a lifetime, like Halley's Comet.”
To book your tickets to the 75th Annual Meeting, be sure to take advantage of the special fares offered by United and Eastern airlines: 5% discount, over and above the lowest discounted fares for which you are eligible. Remember this additional 5% is available only through the toll free numbers: UNITED — 800-521-4041 — Acct. #6089A EASTERN—800-468-7022 — Access #EZ-5AP70