March 5, 1999

Former APA medical director Walter Barton, M.D., 92, died on January 26 at his home in Hartland, Vt. He had a long, distinguished career that included serving as APA president for the 1961-62 term and then as medical director for a decade beginning in 1964.

Barton is remembered fondly by former APA officers who worked with him. Former deputy medical director Donald Ham-mersley, M.D., told Psychiatric News, "Walter Barton served APA with distinction. He was a superb administrator who had a vision for APA that he was able to translate into a new plan of governance that has served us well for many years."

Hammersley continued, "He was a caring person whose door was always open. His detailed grasp of all issues affecting psychiatry was phenomenal. I feel most fortunate to have served as his deputy. When I saw last saw him in October, he was as keen, perceptive, and warmhearted as ever."

Former APA president Robert Garber, M.D., echoed Hammersley's praise of Barton. "Walter Barton was an exceptional administrator and excellent teacher. He established APA procedural manuals and increased APA's stature in the field by reaching out to the American Medical Association, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and the American Hospital Association.

"He was my first contact at APA when I attended what is now called the Institute on Psychiatric Services in Philadelphia in 1942. He was chosen to be on the faculty because of his excellent reputation as the superintendent of the Boston State Hospital."

Barton transformed a substandard custodial hospital into a leading service, teaching, and research center. The Barton Mental Health Center served its Boston neighborhood and was the site of one of the first demonstration programs that led to the community mental health movement.

Because of Barton's reputation as an excellent administrator, Garber called him for advice when he was asked to be superintendent of the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics. "He let me spend a week in his home office in 1952 learning the essentials of hospital administration. I shadowed him in his job and learned a tremendous amount."

Barton also was recruited by the late William Menninger, M.D., cofounder of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kan., to serve with a cadre of psychiatrists in the national War Office between 1942 and 1945, said Garber. "There were about 12 psychiatrists assigned to key mental health positions."

Highlights of Barton's military career included the development of rehabilitative services for the blind and deaf during World War II and serving as station hospital commander and psychiatric consultant to a base in the Philippine Islands.

Garber added that after the war ended, Barton was one of Menninger's "young Turks" who helped establish the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP), which led to a reorganization of APA. Menninger founded GAP in 1951, and Barton served as its president from 1953 to 1955. Barton also founded and chaired GAP's Committee on Mental Hospitals for several years, noted Garber.

Barton was president of the American College of Mental Health Administration, Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, and New England Society of Psychiatry.

His academic career included appointments at medical schools at Tufts, George Washington, Georgetown, and Boston universities. Following his tenure as APA medical director, Barton was a professor in the department of psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., then professor emeritus.

Barton was a life fellow of APA, AMA, and the American College of Physicians. He was also an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (England) and the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

He received numerous honors including the Nolan D.C. Lewis Award for outstanding contributions to psychiatry in 1962 and the E.B. Boris Award for significant achievement, contributions, and leadership in the field of psychiatry in 1970. He was also the recipient of APA's Distinguished Service Award in 1975 and the first APA Administrative Psychiatry Award in 1983.

Barton was a prolific writer with more than 180 articles in the scientific literature covering hospital administration, rehabilitation, and clinical topics. He wrote 12 books, many of which are considered classics in the field of hospital and mental health administration, according to Garber. Another book by Barton that Garber treasures is The History and Influence of the American Psychiatric Association, published by the American Psychiatric Press Inc. in 1987.

Barton is survived by his daughter, Gail Barton, M.D., of Windsor, Vt., also a psychiatrist, and his son, Paul Barton of Beulah, Colo. Barton's wife of 56 years, Elsa, died in June 1989.

Donations in memory of Walter Barton, M.D., may be sent to the First Congregational Church, 10 Station Road, Hartland, Vt. 05048, or to the Elsa Barton Scholarship Fund, APA, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22209-3901.