Mary Lasker
Mary Lasker | |
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Lobbyist
Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism (1992) |
Mary Woodard Lasker (November 30, 1900 – February 21, 1994) was an American health activist and philanthropist. She worked to raise funds for medical research and founded the
Early life
Mary Woodard was born in
Lasker worked as an art dealer at Reinhardt Galleries in New York City. She married the owner Paul Reinhardt. After divorcing, she created a fabric company, Hollywood Patterns.[3]
Health advocate
In 1938 she became the president of the
Her second marriage was to
The Laskers supported the national health insurance proposal under President Harry S. Truman.[3] After its failure, Mary Lasker saw research funding as the best way to promote public health.
With her husband, they created the
Together, they were the first to apply the power of modern advertising and promotion to fighting cancer. They joined the American Society for the Control of Cancer which at the time was sleepy and ineffectual and transformed it into the American Cancer Society. The Laskers ousted the board of directors. Afterwards, they raised then record amounts of money and directed much of it to research. The American Cancer Society also fought lung cancer through prevention via anti-smoking campaigns. Using TV equal-time provisions, they were able to counter cigarette advertising with their own message.[13]
In 1970, Congress passed a law banning the advertising of cigarettes on television, so the anti-smoking commercials likewise went off the air. [14]
Following her husband's death, she founded the National Health Education Committee.
She played major roles in promoting and expanding the National Institutes of Health, helping its budget expand by a factor of 2000 times from $2.4 million in 1945 to $5.5 billion in 1985.[15]
Lasker was prominent in lobbying Eleanor Roosevelt to endorse Lyndon Johnson's efforts to become the 1960 Democratic nominee.
Lasker was also instrumental in getting the US government to fund the
Braniff Airways board member
On September 15, 1971, Mrs. Lasker was elected to the Board of Directors of Braniff Airways, Incorporated. She became only the second female board member of Braniff following Braniff cofounder Thomas Elmer Braniff's wife, Bess Clark Braniff, who was elected to the board after the untimely death of her husband in January 1954. Mary Lasker's appointment to the Braniff board was rare and she joined a very small group of women who were directors at large American corporations.[18]
Awards and recognition
Mary Lasker is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, the Four Freedoms Award 1987 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1989.[19] The
Organizations
- Birth Control Federation of America
- Planned Parenthood
- National Committee for Mental Hygiene
- Lasker Foundation
- National Health Education Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- American Cancer Society
- Research to Prevent Blindness
- Cancer Research Institute
- United Cerebral Palsy Research and Education Foundation
- Museum of Modern Art
- American Heart Association
See also
- Albert Lasker - Husband
- Cancer (2015 PBS film)
- History of cancer
- Lasker Award - given out by the Foundation
- The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
References
- ^ "Wisconsin woman to appear on stamp". Associated Press. 28 February 2009.
- ^ a b "Mary Woodard Lasker". History of Watertown, Wisconsin. Watertown Historical Society. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015.
- ^ a b "The Mary Lasker Papers". Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ "The Mary Lasker Papers: Biographical Information". National Institutes of Health.
- ^ a b Hunt, Neen (December 13, 2007). "Mary Woodard Lasker: First Lady of Medical Research". Archived from the original on August 9, 2011.
- ^ "The Most Interesting Adman in the World: The Story of Albert Lasker". Under the Influence. CBC Radio. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ LSMFT Lucky's Ad.
- ISBN 978-0-8225-6060-9.
- ISBN 978-0-8142-0890-8.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
- ^ "Grantees Win Lasker Award" (PDF). NIHAA Update. Vol. 14, no. 1. 2002. p. 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 June 2013.
- ^ "The Lasker Awards Overview". Lasker Foundation. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ William Talman Anti-Smoking Ad 1968. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19.
- ^ "Cigarette ads banned on TV and radio, April 1, 1970". Politico. April 2019.
- ^ Joel L. Fleishman, et al. Casebook for the Foundation: A Great American Secret (2007) Page 50
- ^ "Mary Woodard Lasker (1901-1994)". Eleanor Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and the Election of 1960: A Project of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- OCLC 464593321.
- ^ Pat, Zahrt (September 1971). "Mrs. Albert D. Lasker Director Elected September 15, 1971". B-Liner Employee Newsletter. 22 (8): 3.
- ^ "What's New: Mary Lasker Collection Added to Profiles in Science". United States National Library of Medicine. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21.
- ^ United States Postal Service. "Mary Lasker". Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Sources
External links
- Notable New Yorkers - Mary Lasker Biography, photographs, and interviews of Mary Lasker from the Notable New Yorkers collection of the Oral History Research Office at Columbia University.
- The Mary Lasker Papers - Profiles in Science, National Library of Medicine