Mildred Mitchell-Bateman

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Mildred Mitchell-Bateman
Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Physician and medical administrator
SpouseWilliam L. Bateman

Dr. Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, M.D. (1922 – January 25, 2012) was an American physician and medical administrator. She was West Virginia's mental health commissioner in 1962, and was the first woman and first African-American to hold the position.[1]

Life

In 1922, Mitchell-Bateman was born in

Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. On December 25, 1947, she married William L. Bateman who was a therapist from Parkesburg, Pennsylvania.[2] Mitchell-Bateman continued to practice medicine until her death at age 89 on January 25, 2012, from illness.[4][3]

Career

Mitchell-Bateman began her career in 1947 at Lakin State Hospital, which at the time was West Virginia's mental health hospital for black patients.[5] She was hired as a staff physician at Lakin while on an internship at the hospital.[2] She left Lakin for Topeka, Kansas, to open her own practice and spent 3 years studying at the Meringer School of Psychiatry.[5] In 1955 she returned to Lakin as the Lakin State Hospital's Clinical Director. In 1958, she was named the superintendent of the hospital.[2][3]

In 1962, she was appointed director of the Department of Mental Health in West Virginia by Governor

Cecil Underwood.[8][9]

Outside her service to the state of West Virginia, she also worked to better the field of mental health nationally. In 1973, she became the vice president of the American Psychiatric Association.[3] She was the first African-American to do so.[2] In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter chose her to serve on his Commission on Mental Health, this work led to the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980.[1][8]

Mitchell-Bateman was described as being "soft-spoken and unassuming, as well as "having a non-confrontational style of leadership." Despite her reserved nature she was able to profoundly impact the study of mental health in the state of West Virginian and across the United States. She overcame discrimination of both her race and gender to become a leader in the Psychiatric community.[6] After her retirement she lived in Charleston, WV until she died there in 2012 at the age of 89.[5]

Awards and honors

Mitchell-Bateman received many awards and honors in recognition of her work. In 1974, Mitchell-Bateman received special recognition from the National Medical Association's Section on Psychiatry and Neurology. In 1995, she received the E.Y. Williams Distinguished Clinical Scholar's Award. She received the Wyeth-Ayerst Physician Award in 1996. In 2000, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychiatric Association. She also received the Governor's Award for Civil Rights Contributions in 2004.[1][8]

As well as honorary degrees from:

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, M.D." National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, M.D." Bateman Hospital. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d "Mildred Mitchell-Bateman". WV Culture. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. ^ Jarosz, Brooks; McComas, Josh. "UPDATE: Dr. Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Remembered". WSAZ News Channel 3. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d Bickley, Ancella. "Mildred Mitchell-Bateman". The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  6. ^ a b West Virginia's African-American Women of Distinction. American Sampler. 2002. pp. 3–4.
  7. PMID 11643297
    .
  8. ^ a b c d e f Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Papers, 1941-2006, Accession No. 2017/10.0839, Special Collections Department, Marshall University, Huntington, WV. https://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=sc_finding_aids
  9. ^ "Meet Local Legend: Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, M.D." National Library of Medicine.
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