Early Life
Dr. Mildred Mitchell-Bateman was born in Brunswick, Georgia in 1922. She died at the age of 89 last year, in 2012 due to an illness. She went to college in 1937 at Barber-Scotia College in North Carolina, graduating in 1939, and went on to Johnson C. Smith University, graduating in 1941. She earned her doctorate in 1946 from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and began working at Lakin State Hospital in West Virginia. She married William L. Bateman in 1947, a therapist she met while working at Lakin State Hospital. She then began her career in psychiatry, attending Meninger School of Psychiatry in Kansas and returned to Lakin in 1955 to become the clinical director. A few years passed and she became superintendent of the hospital. She didn’t stop moving up; two years later she was appointed to the state Department of Mental Health in West Virginia as the supervisor of professional services. After the death of the previous director, she then took on that position, becoming the very first African American woman to be the head of a West Virginia state agency. Her achievements continued when she became the first black woman to become a vice president of the American Psychiatric Association in 1973. After the Department of Mental Health was merged into the Department of Health, she resigned and moved on to become the chair of the psychiatry department at the medical school of Marshall University where she stayed until 1982. In 1999, she was honored by Governor Cecil Underwood, who renamed the Huntington State Hospital the Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital after her. This is the leading mental health facility in West Virginia.
Professional Life
Dr. Mitchell-Bateman was inspired as a young girl to get into the field of health after a tornado came through her home town. She was only 12, but she volunteered and knew from then on that she wanted to become a doctor. She went on to have an illustrious career in the mental health field, holding many esteemed positions. She has many awards, including special recognition from the National Medical Associating Section on Psychiatry and Neurology, the 1995 E.Y Williams Distinguished Clinical Scholar’s Award, and the 1996 Wyeth-Ayerst Physician Award. She was an advocate for those with mental illnesses, looking for ways to help those others cast off as untreatable. The program she developed was called “Breaking the Disability Cycle” and she found the support of those who had the same convictions. She believed in treatment and rehab that was done to the fullest extent. She also believed that with enough attention, all or part of the disability is reversible. She also stood up for the freedom and dignity of patients, saying that they have rights, including being treated quickly and respectfully, as close to home as possible.
Relevance
She was an important, respected psychiatrist who represented both women and people of color. She is a shining example of a girl who successfully grew up with a dream to help others and achieved her dream. She was in a field dominated by men, and yet she went on to become a very influential contributor to the world of psychology. She was part of the President's Commission on Mental Health, appointed by the current president, Jimmy Carter. That group came up with the Mental Health Systems Act that passed in 1980, which made a difference in the lives of many. She was the voice for those who were looked over and written off. Her work was and is still very important, her legacy living on through her contributions. The hospital named after her is still the leading hospital in West Virginia, is fully accredited and others who want to take part in the medical field can start off with an internship there.
References
http://books.google.com/books?id=owbMbje6c6wC&pg=PA3&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=mildred%20mitchell%20bateman&f=false
