Who She Was
Marty Mann was an American writer who is often described as the first woman to achieve long-term recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous. At the time, much of the public saw alcoholism as a character flaw. In 1944, she founded the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism to teach the public that alcoholism could be treated. She helped start local branches of her organization around the country and kept up a speaking schedule of more than 200 talks a year. She also wrote books, including Primer on Alcoholism, to explain the topic in plain language.
Why She Matters
Mann's message was that alcoholism is a disease, that people who have it can be helped, and that they are worth helping. She modeled her organization on public health groups that fought tuberculosis, cancer, and heart disease, and she argued that alcoholism was a public health problem and a public responsibility. Her speaking and organizing helped persuade state and federal lawmakers to respond to alcoholism as a public health issue. By speaking openly about her own recovery, she showed others that asking for help was possible. Her organization later became the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, and the idea she championed, that addiction is a health condition and not a character flaw, shapes how addiction counselors work today, with a focus on treatment and support instead of blame.
