The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

For Over 50 Years, The Voice of Americans Fighting Alcoholism

1954 - 1963

"Ultimately, then, it is The Individual to whom we address our efforts, our hopes, our prayers. It is toward The Individual's recovery and happiness and usefulness to society that our organizational efforts, our education campaigns, our research endeavors are directed."          Marty Mann, executive director, 1958. "In what other health area is it necessary to work, not only with the medical profession and hospitals, but also with schools, colleges, judges, law enforcement agencies, social agencies, the clergy, industry, unions, as well as with federal, state and municipal governments?"          R. Brinkley Smithers, president, 1961. Like most young organizations, NCADD struggled with finding enough money to accomplish the work it set out to do. Despite a 1957 Roper poll showing that 58% of the nation viewed alcoholism as a disease (compared to just six per cent in 1943), stigma still made fund raising a difficult proposition. Although Affiliates originally were expected to give ten per cent of the money they raised locally to support NCADD, this proved to be an unreliable base of financial support. But NCADD's prospects improved greatly with the election of R. Brinkley Smithers to the board of directors in 1954. Brink, as he was known, had just begun his recovery from alcoholism when he met NCADD's Yvelin Gardner, who was the first person ever to tell him that he suffered from a disease. That was news to Brink, who then dedicated the rest of his life to making this as widely known as possible. The alcoholism movement--and NCADD in particular--had found its greatest patron. BRINK "ON BOARD" With Brink "on board," NCADD added a dozen staff members and expanded the board of directors to 60 volunteers who served on seven different committees. A direct service program for New York City began as a pilot project through the national office. The annual meeting, begun in 1952, became a three-day conference attended by as many as a thousand people. The Dwight Anderson Memorial Library, the earliest reference library on alcoholism of its kind, was established and named for NCADD's first board member. In addition to providing consulting services to increasing numbers of companies concerned about the impact of alcoholism on industry, NCADD also forged productive working relationships with many other health, labor, clergy and women's organizations. Though Marty's charisma, writing and PR skills already had given NCADD a high public profile--in the days before television the huge movie audience learned about it in a March of Time newsreel--Brink's financial resources allowed NCADD to thrive throughout the 50s and early 60s. This period also marked NCADD's full-time entry into the medical and research field with the appointment of Ruth Fox, MD to the staff in 1959. Through her evaluations of new treatment methods and professional education programs, NCADD legitimized its role as a public health organization. "AMERICA'S AGENCY FOR ALCOHOLISM" Recognition from the federal government quickly followed. During NCADD's 15th anniversary dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare called NCADD "America's agency for alcoholism." This official embrace soon translated into federal funding for research projects, including a groundbreaking statistical analysis of the socio-cultural, economic and psychological characteristics of alcoholics. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first of three presidents to hail Alcoholism Information Week, a new project launched by NCADD. It offered an opportunity to capitalize on television exposure which by 1960 had long replaced the movies and radio as America's favorite entertainment medium. Pat Boone, Art Carney, Jonathan Winters and Shirley Jones were among the early celebrities to join Marty Mann in recording TV spots to promote the campaign. NCADD also assisted the producers of the Armstrong Circle Theater and the Alfred Hitchcock show in developing early dramatic programs that sympathetically explored the subject of alcoholism. These productions reached vast new audiences in their living rooms and gave NCADD an incredibly influential audience for its message. As NCADD's second decade drew to a close, things had changed so much that the Washington, DC Affiliate and the local American Civil Liberties Union were confident enough to challenge in court the constitutionality of laws that treated alcoholics who were apprehended for public drunkenness as criminals. NCADD had come of age. 1964 - 1973

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

244 East 58th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022 phone: 212/269-7797   fax: 212/269-7510 email: national@ncadd.org   http://www.ncadd.org HOPE LINE: 800/NCA-CALL (24-hour Affiliate referral)