In 2005, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the New York County District Branch (a.k.a. The New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry), former Executive Director Rosalie Landy wrote the following historical account of the DB for our Newsletter.

The New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry was organized on November 9, 1922, by a group of New York psychiatrists, with Dr. George H. Kirby as its first president. There were 164 original members. Officers of the Society were the president, the vice president, the secretary-treasurer, and a council of five members. There were to be four regular scientific meetings each year and one annual dinner meeting with a guest speaker. The early membership was almost evenly divided between non-psychiatric physicians and psychiatrists. The annual dues were $5.

The New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry’s relationship to the APA was originally that of an “affiliated society.” It had a representative with the central APA organization, but neither voice nor vote. The first APA District Branches were created to decentralize the APA and offer regional members more participation. The New York County District Branch was one of the earliest (1955) and largest. In 1936 district societies became “affiliated societies.” Creation of District Branches was discussed from 1936 on, but nothing was done about it until the 1950s. About this time, the APA Assembly was formed. In New York, the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry and the New York County District Branch merged in 1958. The New York County District Branch was incorporated in New York state in 1962.

In April of 1959, the first Bulletin of the New York State District Branch, American Psychiatric Association appeared. The Bulletin was initiated to serve several purposes and report, among other things, on the activities and interests of the 10 other District Branches in New York state. By then the District Branch membership stood at 1,200; the number of committees had risen to nine. Quite popular with the membership were the annual dinner meetings with guest speakers, held each January.

We published our first District Branch Newsletter in September 1978. Henry Weinstein was the editor. We began to publish articles from past presidents of the District Branch. Before I came on board in 1978, there was an Executive Secretary (as we were called in those days) in charge. I don’t know how long she was at the helm, but I do know that the District Branch office was located in one room on 41st Street and Park Avenue. On staff were three part-time employees, but it was decided that we needed a full-time person, to work especially on keeping our membership current. We incorporated two part-time positions into one full-time one and kept one part-time person. We hired a new accounting firm, as well.

We operated out of our Park Avenue office until we learned that the building was to be demolished, and so office hunting we went, and ended up on 56th Street between Lexington and Park avenues. During this period and for a while after, the Executive Council met at the Payne Whitney Clinic of New York Hospital in a small room in the basement. Our move to 56th Street still did not offer us space for our council meetings, so we moved again to 58th Street, where we held our council meetings and some committee meetings. Prior to this, committee meetings were held in homes or offices of the chairs of the committees — until today, some of these committees still use their offices or homes for their meetings. Unfortunately, because it became too expensive, we moved again to 23rd Street, where we are currently located in a good space — but not as glamourous as our previous locations.

In 1982, the Medical Director of the APA lauded this District Branch for its recruitment of new members.

And then there were the annual dinner dances. We wined and dined at the St. Regis, the Plaza, Tavern on the Green, and on a boat cruise up the Hudson. Some affairs were formal — ladies wore their long ballgowns and men wore tuxedos. Such events are unforgettable. Then along came the budget crunch and we had to curtail this activity.

It was now the beginning of the Executive Council Retreats at the Harriman Estate under the leadership of the then president, Jacques M. Quen, M.D. The purpose of the retreat was to plan the activities for the District Branch in the upcoming year. After several years, we had to discontinue this as well because of the budget.

In the summer of 1984, the membership of the New York County District Branch topped 2,000 members. The Medical Director of the APA again lauded our efforts. We increased the size of the staff from one and a half employees to two full-time employees. One handled the committees, which had increased tremendously, and the other handled membership. The Executive Director, in addition to other responsibilities, worked with the ethics committee. However, in 1984 the APA changed its procedures for handling ethical complaints, and we had to hire a part-time person to work with the ethics committee. Because of budgetary limitations, this position was dissolved in the early ’90s and the membership secretary assumed the responsibilities of the ethics secretary.

The New York County District Branch received the APA Newsletter Award in 1988; Harold Schwartz was the editor. Dr. David Hellerstein took over the helm in the fall of 1989, and the District Branch received several honorable mentions for the newsletter while he was editor.

In the spring of 1995, A Picnic for Parity was held in Central Park — the first one in New York, at a time of considerable upheaval in the mental-health community. Members, consumers, volunteers, families, and psychiatrists gathered on May 7 in Central Park.

In 2000, the first five-borough legislative breakfast was held, and in 2003 this Executive Director retired. Today, the New York County District Branch is an active, healthy, multifaceted organization fully in touch with the present and facing a lively and involved future. The founders of the older society would be proud of it.