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Alyce Chenault Gullattee

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Alyce Chenault Gullattee
An African-American woman with an Afro hairstyle, from a 1971 photo.
Alyce Chenault Gullattee, from a 1971 issue of Essence magazine.
Born
Alyce Vantoria Chenault

June 28, 1928
Detroit, Michigan U.S.
DiedApril 30, 2020(2020-04-30) (aged 91)
Rockville, Maryland U.S.
Occupation(s)Physician, psychiatrist, addiction specialist

Alyce Chenault Gullattee (June 28, 1928 – April 30, 2020) was an American psychiatrist, medical school professor, activist, and expert on addiction. She was a faculty member in the psychiatry department at Howard University College of Medicine for over fifty years.

Early life and education

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Alyce Vantoria Chenault[1] was born in Detroit, Michigan, one of the twelve children of Earl Chenault and Ella Bertha McLendon Chenault.[2] Her father worked in the automobile industry.[3] She graduated from Northern High School in Detroit in 1946.[4] She earned a bachelor's degree in zoology at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1956,[1] and a medical degree at Howard University in 1964, with residencies at St. Elizabeths Hospital and George Washington University Hospital, both in Washington, D.C. She was a member of Zeta Phi Beta, a Black sorority.[5][6]

Career

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In 1952, Gullattee worked at the Southwest Settlement House in Washington, D.C., and started a supervised playground program.[7] Gullattee joined the faculty of Howard University in 1970, in the department of neuropsychiatry.[8] She was director of the university's Institute on Drug Abuse and Addiction. She was also a clinical professor at Howard University Hospital.[5] She was known to visit active addicts directly, bringing them to the hospital for further treatment, even knitting a baby blanket for an addicted patient's newborn son.[9] She also consulted on psychiatric matters for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of Arlington County, Virginia.[10] She served on the board of trustees of Wesleyan University, on the National Medical Association's Drug Committee, and on several White House drug task forces. She had a long association with the NAACP, in various local leadership positions in California.[4][5]

Gullattee was a founder and first president of the Student National Medical Association. She was called as a consultant to the scene of the Attica Prison violence in 1971.[2][4][5] She was a speaker at a conference on Black Women at the University of Louisville in 1974; "I believe that the role of the female as an agent of change has been overlooked," she explained.[11] In 1983, she was head of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration (ADASA) of the city of Washington, D.C.,[12] and was a speaker at the first National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues, held at Spelman College.[13]

In 1989, she was in the news concerning a police report on the cocaine addiction and overdose hospitalizations of Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry.[14][15] She denied that she had made any such report.[16]

Personal life and death

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Alyce Chenault married educator Latinee Gullattee in 1948, in Santa Barbara. They had four children,[17] including daughters Deborjha and Aishaetu. She suffered a stroke in February 2020, and died from COVID-19 in Rockville, Maryland, on April 30, 2020, at age 91.[3][4][5][18]

References

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  1. ^ a b Berkeley, University of California (1957). Register - University of California. University of California Press.
  2. ^ a b "Interview with Dr. Alyce Gullattee". Domiabra. 2: 5–8. September 1972.
  3. ^ a b Rifkin, Glenn (2020-08-23). "Dr. Alyce Gullattee, Expert on Substance Abuse, Dies at 91". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  4. ^ a b c d Helfgott, Esther Altshul (June 20, 2020). "Alyce Chenault Gullattee (1928-2020)". Black Past. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  5. ^ a b c d e Frederick, Wayne A. I. (May 4, 2020). "In Memoriam: Alyce Chenault Gullattee, M.D." Howard Newsroom. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  6. ^ "Beta Zeta Chapter, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority". Washington Informer. April 17, 1980. p. 12 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ Nichols, Harman W. (1952-07-23). "Something Nice and No Tax". The Herald-Journal. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  8. ^ "Physicians of the Civil Rights Movement". School of Medicine. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  9. ^ Rowan, Carl T. (1981-03-26). "Heroin and Tragedy at a Very Early Age". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-12-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Lewis, Ida. "Conversation: Alyce Gullattee" Essence 2(June 1971): 28-30. via ProQuest.
  11. ^ Nolan, Irene (1974-03-09). "Society is Taking a New Look at the Black Woman". The Courier-Journal. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-12-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "D.C. Government Launches Campaign On Drug Abuse". Washington Informer. May 4, 1983. p. 3 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ Butler, Edith (September 30, 1983). "The First National Conference On Black Women's Health Issues". WomenWise. 6: 2 – via ProQuest.
  14. ^ "D. C. Mayor's Alleged Overdose Disputed". Lansing State Journal. 1989-11-29. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-12-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Brown, Tony (December 12, 1989). "D.C. Mayor: Drug Addict Or Scapegoat?". Columbus Times. p. B1 – via ProQuest.
  16. ^ "Woman Denies D.C. Mayor Story". The Boston Globe. 1989-12-01. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-12-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Black Psychiatrist Says Sex Manuals Were Written For Whites". Sun Reporter. June 5, 1971. p. 13 – via ProQuest.
  18. ^ "In Memoriam: Alyce Chenault Gullattee, 1928-2020". Women In Academia Report. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
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