William Bronston
William Bronston | |
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Born | March 1939 (age 85) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Education | |
Children | 2 |
Parent |
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Relatives | Olga Kameneva (grandmother) Leon Trotsky (great-uncle) Zinaida Volkova (great-aunt) Nora Volkow (second cousin, once removed) |
William Bronston (born March 1939) is an American psychiatrist and activist. Bronston is known for his involvement in the
Early life and education
William Bronston was born in March 1939 to
Bronston attended West Hollywood Elementary School, Bancroft Junior High School, and
University of Southern California and the Student Health Organization
After graduating from UCLA, Bronston attended the
Inspired by the success of the forum, they also began the student newspaper Borborygmi (meaning "stomach rumbles") in 1964, which featured essays and editorials centering medical students.[13] In January 1965, Bronston and McGarvey transformed the lecture forums into the Student Medical Action Conference (SMAC), which integrated the forums with praxis by organizing various social and political public health projects.[14] After graduating from USC in spring 1965, Bronston flew cross-country to coordinate a national students movement in the health sciences, aided by his access to discounted flights from his wife's job at TWA.[15]
In October 1965, Bronston organized a national convention at the University of Chicago, where Bronston co-founded the Student Health Organization (SHO).[16] The SHO, whose name was based on the World Health Organization, was a product of the New Left and imagined a national organization of medical students similar to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).[17]
Menninger School of Psychiatry
During his senior year of medical school, Bronston toured various post-doctoral programs in Sweden for intellectually disabled children,
Career
In 1968, Bronston moved to New York City, where he worked as the primary physician in a Harlem poor people's medical center run by the Black Panther Party.[24] At the clinic, which was among the first neighborhood mental health clinics in Manhattan, Bronston worked as part of a survey team on nutrition.[25] Bronston, who was frustrated by the team's limited resources and impact, left in 1970 to become a staff physician at Willowbrook State School, a state facility housing 5,000 mentally disabled adults and children.[26] Bronston also organized a commune in a Victorian Staten Island home and moved in with Michael Wilkins and other friends.[27]
Willowbrook State School
At Willowbrook, Bronston became of the chief medical officer of Building 76, which housed 200 disabled children.[28] Bronston reported being shocked by the institution's "general disregard of modern medical practice" and scheduled weekly meetings with Jack Hammond, the director of Willowbrook.[27] Their meetings went poorly, with Hammond objecting to Bronston's proposals to reform the system with concerns about practicalities.[27] In response to 1971 budget cuts and a "job freeze" at the institution, Bronston organized a campaign to send Wilkins and Bronston as the joint representatives of Willowbrook at the New York state medical convention.[29] The campaign was a failure and the opposition received unanimous support.[30]
After his campaign failure, Bronston attempted to reform Building 76, but his plans to re-organize the building's lines of authority, report accurate assessments of
Transfer to Buildings 22 and 23
At Buildings 22 and 23, Bronston went public with his grievances and started a campaign to politicize the residents' condition as the direct result of negligence.[32] He held meetings with parents, where he brought in guest speakers from model programs and described radical changes that could be made to the institution.[32] Encouraged by Bronston's meetings, groups of parents began organizing at meetings of the Benevolent Society—the official organization of parents at Willowbrook—and other social workers at Willowbrook held their own meetings calling on parents to fight against the budget cuts.[33] In November 1971, Bronston invited Richard Koch , his university professor, and Jane Kurtin, a reporter for the Staten Island Advance, to visit the facility.[34] Both Koch and Kurtin were shocked by the treatment at Willowbrook; Kurtin's report on the institution, "Inside the Cages", ran on the front page of the Advance and she went on to write multiple follow-up pieces.[34]
By the end of the month, a group of 100 parents led a demonstration around the institution, holding placards reading "stop the job freeze" and blocking traffic on
Litigation and Bronston's testimony
In March 1972, a group of fifty parents, lawyers and professionals including Bronston convened at the
Return to California
Bronston returned to California in 1975 and became the medical director of the Department of Developmental Disabilities at the
Personal life and beliefs
Bronston supports the adoption of a single-payer healthcare system and is a member of the advocacy group Physicians for a National Health Program.[48] Bronston has twins: a son and daughter.[49]
Selected works
- Bronston, William; McGarvey, Michael (July 1967). A Treatise on Reformation: The Health Student Movement. Conference on Radicals in the Professions. Ann Arbor, Michigan: OCLC 40178449.
- Film by William Bronston, music by Gordon Mumma (2006) [1978]. Willowbrook State School: Flagship Institution for the New York Department of Mental Hygiene. OCLC 1127920882.
- Goode, David; Hill, Darryl; Reiss, Jean; Bronston, William (2013). A History and Sociology of the Willowbrook State School. Washington D.C.: ISBN 978-1-937604-05-9.
- Bronston, William (2021). Public Hostage Public Ransom: Ending Institutional America. Conneaut Lake: Page Publishing. ISBN 978-1-68456-909-0.
References
Citations
- ^ Bronston 2004, pp. 1–2, 4
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 1; Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 37
- ^ a b Nisbet 2021, p. 39
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 4
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 11
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 6
- ^ Bronston 2004, pp. 9, 12–14
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 14; Mullan 2006, p. 52
- ^ Bronston 2004, pp. 14, 16; Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 34
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 34
- ^ Backmann 1992, p. 3; Bronston 2004, pp. 32, 35
- ^ a b Chowkwanyun 2018, p. 181; Chowkwanyun & Howell 2019, p. 1871
- ^ a b Chowkwanyun & Howell 2019, p. 1871; Mullan 2006, p. 53; Rogers 2001, p. 5
- ^ Chowkwanyun 2018, pp. 181–182; Chowkwanyun & Howell 2019, p. 1871
- ^ Mullan 2006, p. 52
- ^ Chowkwanyun 2018, pp. 181–183; Chowkwanyun & Howell 2019, p. 1871
- ^ Rogers 2001, p. 7
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 32; Carter 1968, p. 162
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 39
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 43; Nisbet 2021, p. 39
- ^ Bronston 2004, p. 44
- ^ Carter 1968, p. 162; Rogers 2001, p. 19; Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 34
- ^ Carter 1968, p. 162; Pelka 2012, p. 174
- ^ Nisbet 2021, p. 39; Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 34
- ^ Pelka 2012, p. 174; Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 34
- ^ Rogers 2001, p. 19; Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 34–35
- ^ a b c Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 35
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 35, 38
- ^ a b c Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 36
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 36–37
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 38–40
- ^ a b c Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 41
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 22, 41–42
- ^ a b Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 42
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 42–43
- ^ a b Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 43
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 16, 43–44
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 44
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 44–46
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 47, 76
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 1, 50
- ^ a b Rothman & Rothman 1984, p. 76
- ^ Rothman & Rothman 1984, pp. 76–78
- ^ Rogers 2001, p. 19
- ^ Bronston 2004, pp. 139–140
- ^ Nisbet 2021, pp. 49–53
- ^ Nisbet 2021, p. 53
- ^ Backmann 1992, p. 3
- ^ Japenga 1985, p. 21
Books
- Chowkwanyun, Merlin (2018). "Biocitizenship on the Ground: Health Activism and the Medical Governance Revolution". In Happe, Kelly E.; Johnson, Jenell; Levina, Marina (eds.). Biocitizenship: The Politics of Bodies, Governance, and Power. Biopolitics. Vol. 19. S2CID 159048858.
- ISBN 978-0-472-03197-9.
- Nisbet, Jan (2021). Pain and Shock in America: Politics, Advocacy, and the Controversial Treatment of People with Disabilities. JSTOR j.ctv2n7j1nh.
- Pelka, Fred (2012). "Institutions, Part 3". What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement. JSTOR j.ctt5vk2js.14.
- Archive.org.
Journals and magazines
- Carter, Luther J. (October 4, 1968). "Topkea: Psychiatric Aides Shake Up the Old Order". PMID 5675178.
- Chowkwanyun, Merlin; Howell, Benjamin (November 7, 2019). "Health, Social Reform, and Medical Schools — The Training of American Physicians and the Dissenting Tradition". PMID 31693812.
- Rogers, Naomi (Spring 2001). ""Caution: The AMA May Be Dangerous to Your Health": The Student Health Organizations (SHO) and American Medicine, 1965-1970". S2CID 143835245.
Archives
- Bronston, William (2004) [Conducted in 2001–2002]. "Physician-Advocate for People with Cognitive and Developmental Disabilities: Exposing Conditions at Willowbrook State School in New York, Medical Director and Consultant for the State of California" (Interview). Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Oral History Project. Interviewed by Kathy Cowan. Online Archive of California.
News articles
- Backmann, Dave (September 19, 1992). "Health-care 'rebellion' urged". Newspapers.com.
- Japenga, Ann (June 27, 1985). "Workouts, Word on Right Track to a Career in Sports". Newspapers.com.
External links
- William Bronston at IMDb
- William Bronston papers, 1961-2008 (Archives), OCLC 271856469