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Cage 599
Whitman County Mental Health Advisory Board (WCMHAB)
Papers, 1958-1985

The Washington State University Libraries acquired records of the Whitman County Mental Health Advisory Board from the Board in October 1985 (MS 85-47). Robert W. Hadlow processed the collection in November 1992.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

The Whitman County Mental Health Advisory Board, an organization made up chiefly of volunteers, was first organized about 1965. Its first Mental Health Clinic was established in the old Washington Hotel, on Pullman's Main Street. The staff included a volunteer part-time director and three "moon-lighting" psychologists. In 1966 the Whitman County Mental Health Center added a paid part-time director.

In 1969, Pauli Owens, a social worker, became director, a position she retained until she resigned in 1985 in frustration over budgetary problems. Owens' vigorous efforts led to a great increase in the number of programs the mental health center offered residents of Whitman County.

When the Washington Hotel was razed in 1971 to make room for construction of new facilities for the Pullman branch of Seafirst National Bank, the Whitman County Mental Health Center moved to North 141 Grand Avenue, on the ground floor of the Cordova Theater building. It remained there until 1978 and then moved to the Wesley Building at NE 340 Maple Street, which Whitman County had purchased from the Simpson United Methodist Church to house a number of county outreach programs. The services offered the Whitman County Mental Health Center include adult day treatment, child and family counseling, and twenty-four hour crisis services. It is financed mostly through state and federal funds, with Whitman county contributing only two to three percent of the annual budget. The center remains at the Maple Street facility.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

The Whitman County Mental Health Advisory Board Papers are arranged alphabetically by folder title. Included minutes of monthly meetings and director's reports, organization by-laws, questionnaires, and newspaper clippings.

CONTAINER LIST

Box	Folder	Description
1	1	Board Meeting Attendance
		Board Meeting Minutes and Reports
	2	1968
	3	1969
	4	1970
	5	1971
	6	1972
	7	1973
	8	1974
	9	1975
	10	1978
	11	1979
	12	1980
	13	1981
	14	1982
	15	1983
	16	1984
	17	1985
	18	Brochures--Various
	19	By-Laws, Policies, Resolutions
2	20	Correspondence
	21	"Directory of Mental Health and Social Services in Whitman County," May 1964
	22	Newsletter, 1961-62
	23	Newspaper clippings, mounted, 1971-1980
	24	Newspaper clippings, unmounted, 1980s
	25	Organizational Charts
	26	Organizational Charts--Washington Department of Social and Health Services
	27	Photographs
	28	Progress Reports
	29	Questionnaires and evaluation tools
	30	Roster of Members, 1977
	31	Staff Salary Schedules, [1974]
	32	Telephone Number Lists--Whitman County