Brenman-Gibson, Margaret

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Margaret Brenman-Gibson was a Harvard professor in the department of Psychiatry. In 1982, she became the first woman to be appointed as a full professor. Brenman-Gibson was the first non-physician from any discipline to receive full clinical as well as research psychoanalytic training in America. She is considered the first psychologist. Brenman-Gibson also had a deep interest in nuclear weapons and the use of nuclear power. She picketed and protested in numerous places, including Los Alamos. William Gibson, the husband of Margaret was an American playwright and novelist. The couple married in 1940. Shortly thereafter, Brenman-Gibson took a job as psychoanalyst at Stockbridge, Massachusetts and William published his book, The Cobweb, which was set in a psychiatric ward. In addition to her work on hypnosis and hypnotherapy, and her interest in nuclear weapons, she was also the biographer of American playwright Clifford Odets. Odets and the Gibson's were friends, as the correspondence between them reveals.

From the guide to the Margaret Brenman-Gibson Papers, 1940-1999, [Bulk Dates: 1963-1981], (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)