California Psychiatric Association
California District Branches - SCPS
A Brief History of the Founding and Development of
The Southern California Psychiatric Society
by Mathew Ross M.D. (edited by Lisa Graziano)
Southern California experienced an unprecedented population growth immediately post World War II, particularly by
veterans who had been stationed in or passed through the area during their military service. They were enchanted not
only by the climate but more importantly by the obvious opportunities available. Among them were young physicians who,
through their military experiences, had come to recognize the promise of psychiatry and were filled with the hopes of
the "can-do" American spirit.
They found scattered pockets of psychiatric practices of varied sophistication with no major focus or organization:
there was the Veterans Administration Hospital with the Brentwood residency training program; the medical schools at
University of Southern California (USC) and Loma Linda University; Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute and Society; Los
Angeles Medical Society; State of California Mental Hospital System; neuropsychiatrists; neurologists; psychiatrists; a
nucleus of many recent refugee orthodox and heterodox lay and medical psychoanalysts. Altogether, these professionals
represented the entire spectrum of psychiatric dogmas: hypnosis, insulin and electroshock, neuropsychiatry, neurology,
psychoanalysis, dynamic and not-so-dynamic psychotherapy, inpatient and outpatient clinicians, public and private
practitioners . . . a true potpourri!
As I viewed this scene in 1948, it seemed that somehow some sense of order, an organization, was needed. We needed a
voice for psychiatry in Southern California to speak to the public, to the press, and to whoever needed to consult with
psychiatrists. We needed a stabilizing force to bring together the proponents of these various professional notions so
that they might interact with each other, educate each other about their ideas and successes and failures, for the
benefit of their patients, themselves, and the greater society.
Because the groups were so disparate and their emotions often high and strong, it was a challenge to think about how
to bring them together in order to interact productively. Perhaps an organizing meeting arranged anonymously would
attract a nucleus for an organization of psychiatrists representative of the various persuasions and interests.
And so, with these thoughts in mind, I spoke to key persons in as many of the various psychiatric groups as I could,
trying to enlist their support of an organization which would represent Southern California psychiatry in all its
aspects. With the tireless help of Drs. Allen Enelow, Marvin Klemmes, and Jerome Kummer, I had a working
group to arrange the meeting at a hall we rented on Beverly Boulevard in or near the Rexall Building as it was then
known. That evening about 100 psychiatrists attended and founded the Southern California Psychiatric Society.
The letterhead of the Southern California Psychiatric Society indicated the following officers and
council members:
Mathew Ross, M.D., President
Jerome M. Kummer, M.D., Secretary
Charles W. Tidd, M.D., President-Elect
Leo Rangell, M.D., Treasurer
Councilors (all M.D.s); Roberta Crutcher; Allen Enelow; Samuel Futterman; Ralph Greenson; Norman Levy; Jack Lomas;
Judd Marrnor; Harry Nierenberg; Clarence Olsen; Eugene Pumpian-Mindlin; Robert Wyers; Eugene Ziskind
At this time, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) was far off on the East Coast, and its view of Southern
California was not only distant but dim. In 1953, however, APA did plan an Annual Meeting to be held in the newly built
Hilton Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles. At that meeting, APA Presidents Drs. Ewen Cameron and
Kenneth Appel gathered together thirteen representatives of psychiatric societies from various sections of the
United States, including the Southern California Psychiatric Society, and fumblingly, hesitantly brought us into a brand
new subdivision of the APA, namely the Assembly of District Branches. No one was quite certain how exactly we would fit
into the overall APA organizational pattern, but there was the feeling that grass-roots should have meaningful
representation in the affairs of the APA and might eventually speak for it and represent the APA at the local level. And
so in May, 1953, at the APA Annual Meeting, the Southern California Psychiatric Society became a District Branch of the
APA. SCPS' first president, Mathew Ross, M.D., became the representative of SCPS to the APA Assembly. Dr. Ross
subsequently became a member of the As Board, and ultimately its Speaker.
In 1962 the Internal Revenue Service granted 501(c)(6)) (non-profit, business league) status to the Southern
California Psychiatric Society. The first Directors of the Corporation were Drs. Samuel Futterman, Harry Nierenberg,
G. Cresswell Burns, Jack Lomas, Max Hayman, Leo Rangell, H. Michael Rosow, Helen Tausend, Ruth Jaeger, Max Sherman, Carl
Sugar, George Tagan, James T. Ferguson, Edward F. Price, Eugene Pumpian- Mindlin, and Frank Tallman.
SCPS' original geographic area covered the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Diego, Imperial,
Orange, Riverside, and Santa Barbara. In 1959 the counties of San Diego and Imperial broke off to form the San Diego
Psychiatric Society. In November, 1984, Orange County broke off to form the Orange County Psychiatric Society.
Various Chapters formed as subgroups of the Society including Ventura, Santa Barbara, South Bay, San Bernardino,
Riverside, and San Gabriel Valley. In 1984 the Society "regionalized" to form the regions of Inland, North Central, San
Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Santa Barbara, South Bay, South East, Ventura, and West Los Angeles. These regions
replaced the former chapters.
In 1986 the regions were realigned to form Inland, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley/ Los Angeles East, Santa
Barbara, Los Angeles South, Ventura, and West Los Angeles.
Finally, in 1988 these regions were again realigned to form our current regional structure: Inland, San Fernando
Valley, San Gabriel Valley/ Los Angeles East, Santa Barbara, Ventura, South Bay, Los Angeles South, and West Los
Angeles.
Service in SCPS has proven to be an excellent preparation for service and recognition by one's peers nationally. SCPS
has produced several APA Presidents, several Board of Trustees members, Committee Chairpersons, one Medical Director,
and inter alia positions of responsibility and prominence throughout the APA. This is a very significant aspect of SCPS
history in that it demonstrates not only the commitment of SCPS member/leaders to the local psychiatric scene, but also
to the national and international scenes.
Since its inception, the Southern California Psychiatric Society has continued to represent the interests of its
members and help further the national goals of the American Psychiatric Association.
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