John Fryer and Robert Spitzer correspondence, 1975
Permanent ID:
8186Dates:
July 24 1975August 18 1975
Image Description:
This digital record contains three images that depict two letters, one written by Robert Spitzer and addressed to John E. Fryer and the second a return from Fryer to Spitzer.Fryer (November 7, 1938 – February 21, 2003) was an American psychiatrist and gay rights activist best known for his anonymous speech at the 1972 American Psychiatric Association annual conference where he appeared in disguise and under the name Dr H. Anonymous. This event has been cited as a key factor in the decision to de-list homosexuality as a mental illness from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The American Psychiatric Association John E. Fryer, M.D., Award is named in his honor.
Spitzer (born May 22, 1932) is a psychiatrist and retired professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. He was a major force in the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).