Tag Archives: biography

“They Call Them Camisoles”: The Short Life and Tragic Death of Wilma Wilson

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

They Call Them Camisoles is a tantalizing document– Wilma Wilson’s first-person account of her 1939 commitment for alcoholism to the Camarillo State Hospital in California. Published in 1940, the book had recently been out of print.  I learned of it myself … Continue reading →

Posted in Michelle McClellan | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Remembering a Drug Activist: Siobhan Reynolds: 1961-2011

Posted on January 9, 2012 by

I didn’t keep up with my drug-related news over the holidays. I didn’t check Facebook or read any blogs. My mother was in town, and I was playing tourist. What could possibly happen, anyway, I thought, with legislators on holiday … Continue reading →

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Welcome Home: A Journey to Dr. Bob’s House

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

“Welcome home,” said the man who greeted us as we stood on the sidewalk in front of the Craftsman-style house.  After a long and rainy drive that had begun early that morning, I was grateful to hear those kind words.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Michelle McClellan | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Remembering Betty Ford

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

“Have you heard the news?”  I received a flurry of emails like this from family members and friends in the hours and days after Betty Ford’s death.  They know of my work on the history of alcoholic women, so it … Continue reading →

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Who was the First Woman in Alcoholics Anonymous, and Why Do We Care?

Posted on May 13, 2011 by

Historians are often asked factual questions to which we don’t know the answer, questions which, moreover, we are often predisposed against answering in the way the interlocutor expects and desires. In my case, I have been asked with some frequency, … Continue reading →

Posted in Michelle McClellan | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

The Points Interview: Barbara W. Grossman

Posted on March 21, 2011 by

The fifth installment of the Points Interview takes us on our first venture into biography as a dimension of drugs history.  Here, we talk with Barbara Wallace Grossman, author of A Spectacle of Suffering: Clara Morris on the American Stage (Southern … Continue reading →

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