Glady Strope Mental Health Citizens Advocacy Papers
Finding aid created by Humboldt State University Library staff using RecordEXPRESS
Humboldt State University Library
2023
One Harpst Street
Arcata, California 95521-8299
(707) 826-3419
archives@humboldt.edu
https://specialcollections.humboldt.edu/
Title: Glady Strope Mental Health Citizens Advocacy Papers
Dates: 1940-2005
Collection Number: 1999.09
Creator/Collector:
Gladys (Glady) Smith Strope (1923-2006)
Extent: 9 cubic feet
Repository:
Humboldt State University Library
Arcata, California 95521-8299
Abstract: The Glady Strope Mental Health Citizens Advocacy Papers consists of the files and publications created and accumulated by
Glady Strope while she served on mental health advisory committees and groups from the late 1950s until 2005 for Humboldt
County and the State of California. It includes materials from a wide variety of governmental, professional and advocacy
mental health entities. Glady Strope was instrumental in starting mental health services in Humboldt County, California.
The collection reflects the evolution of mental health treatments and services and the increased involvement by citizen advocates,
consumers and their families throughout the United States, during the last quarter of the 20th Century.
Language of Material: English
The collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to Cal Poly Humboldt Library. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce in any format,
please contact the Special Collections Librarian.
[Identification of item]. Glady Strope Mental Health Citizens Advocacy Papers. Collection Number: 1999.09. Humboldt State
University Library
Glady Strope donated the collection to Cal Poly Humboldt Library in three parts. The first part arrived in late 1995 and
very early 1996, a second part was donated on March 9, 2001, and the final part was donated in 2005.
Biography/Administrative History
In the late 1950s Glady Smith Strope started her career as a volunteer citizen advocate for mental health services in Humboldt
County. Glady is a graduate of Humboldt State University, class of 1944, where she majored in Psychology and Education. She
came to her volunteer work well informed about the mental health theories and practices of that era. Her advocacy work started
at the same time that California passed the Short/Doyle Act (1957) that mandated county level public mental health services.
Glady chaired Humboldt County’s first Mental Health Committee. She was tireless in recruiting others to the cause and in speaking
out that there was a genuine need for mental health treatment services at a time when the local general public was not yet
in full agreement because the causes of mental duress and illness were not well understood beyond professional circles. Humboldt
County citizens and elected officials made progress and by 1965 the county was offering direct services. From that time until
her retirement from active service in 1995 Glady stayed at the forefront, advocating for effective programs for every age
group and segment of the population, especially children. Over the years Glady became more and more active on statewide committees
and attended many conferences. She was continually educating herself, then others, and publicizing the need for good quality
mental health services. Glady was appointed to the California Council on Mental Health in 1986 and then, starting in 1991,
she served as Chair and Chief Executive Officer for one term. Glady remained active at the county level even after she received
state level appointments.
Glady started and ended her career as a volunteer. Within her papers (Box 9, folder 27) is Glady’s full statement of the ideas
and philosophy that guided her through the decades. Included here are the last two paragraphs; they provide a good summary:
“I am personally totally committed to Community Mental Health, and I feel very strongly, along with many experts in the field,
that mentally and emotionally ill people can be treated much better and at a much lower cost-both financially and emotionally-in
the community setting. Volunteers help make this community care possible. We are primarily concerned with enhancing the ‘quality
of life’ of our patients, not only throughout their hospital stay but when they return to their homes as well.”
“There are many frustrations, low points and discouraging times when working as a Volunteer with the mentally and emotionally
ill and with alcoholics. However, I can assure you that the personal benefits that accrue from giving a bit of one’s self,
and in sharing the most important thing we possess – the gift of time- far outweigh the frustrations and can be an incredibly
rewarding experience!”
In the last decade of her life Glady was still alert and attuned to mental health issues, though her direct participation
gradually waned. Many of her memories are captured in the interviews she did with KEET’s Living Biography program and the
oral history interview conducted by the Humboldt County Historical Society. See the Related Works section of this Finding
Aid for additional biographical information and the text of “History of Mental Health In Humboldt County as told by Gladys
Strope.”
Scope and Content of Collection
The Glady Strope Mental Health Citizens Advocacy Papers consist of the files and publications accumulated by Glady Strope
while establishing and serving on citizen advisory groups in Humboldt County and the State of California, and materials from
a wide variety of government, professional, and advocacy mental health entities from the late 1950s to 2005. The collection
is fuller for the latter half of the time period. It reflects the breadth of her interests and the long duration of her involvement.
The great changes in psychiatric theories, treatment methods, and public financial support for services during the late 20th
Century in the United States, and California in particular, are all reflected in the files.
The collection also reflects the changing nature of mental health services and the role of government in the second half of
the 20th century. California passed ground breaking legislation in 1957 (Short/Doyle Act) requiring counties to address mental
health needs. Humboldt County citizens and elected officials made progress in satisfying the requirements by 1965 when the
county began offering direct services. In 1967 California passed the Lanterman-Petris-Short Community Mental Health Services
Act which accelerated change in the whole mental health field in the state. This legislation along with the Short/Doyle Act
shifted California’s mental health services from a centralized state hospital model to community based services intended to
serve citizens in their home counties. The state hospital populations were reduced quickly and dramatically, but sufficient
funds to support necessary local services were not forthcoming. Funding for essential services has been a challenge for every
California county ever since. Advocacy efforts, such as Glady’s, were necessary to garner public support to keep the needs
of the public before the legislature and resource allocators.
Humboldt County’s mental health programs, issues, and events, as well as those for other rural California areas, are also
well documented with materials spread throughout the collection. Humboldt County has made a concerted effort to provide prevention
services, especially to children, and to achieve greater interagency coordination since the mid-1980s. Records describing
and tracking these efforts are found throughout the collection.
Community Mental Health Services
Humboldt County (Calif) -- History
Mental Health Services -- California -- Humboldt County
Rural Mental Health Services