Coles, Robert.

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Time magazine has called Robert Coles the most influential living psychiatrist in the U.S. Though best known for his work on children, he is also a leading authority on poverty and racial discrimination in the country. He first won recognition for his studies of black children in the South. From these, he has gone on to observe and write about children of other minorities (Native Americans, Inuit, and Chicanos) and in other stressful or disadvantaged situations (migrant camps, ghettos, Appalachia, and Northern Ireland.) Through his writings and testimony before congressional committees, he has sought reform in the areas of race relations, mining conditions, pesticides, health services, and, particularly, hunger and malnutrition. Coles has also written widely on contemporary literature, religion, psychology, and other dimensions of American culture.

Coles was born October 12, 1929, in Boston. He earned his B.A. from Harvard in 1950 and his M.D. from Columbia in 1954, after which he decided to become a child psychiatrist and continued his training through into the Air Force and served as chief of neuropsychiatric services at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.

At the end of his tour of duty in 1960, Coles became a member of the Psychiatric Staff of Harvard's Medical School (1960-1962) and Health Services (1963-). He and his wife, however, lived in Vining, Georgia, near Atlanta, for the first half of the 1960s, where he studied black children and how they were affected by school desegregation and the civil rights movement. He himself was actively involved in civil rights work during those years, particularly through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he served as psychiatric counselor. In 1966, he returned to Harvard as a lecturer in general education. In 1978, he became professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School.

A year after his return to Harvard, Coles published his first book, Children of Crisis: A Study in Courage and Fear, based on his work in the South. This was the first of a five-volume series, volumes two and three of which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Coles has written over thirty-five books (as of 1983) and over 500 articles, which have been published in more than sixty magazines, journals, and newspapers. He is a regular contributor to Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, Boston Globe, and several psychiatric journals. Since 1966, he has been a contributing editor to the New Republic, and has served on the editorial boards of American Scholar and several other journals.

In 1960, Coles married Jane Hallowell of Boston. They co-authored the two-volume Women of Crisis and several other works. They live in Concord, Mass., and are the parents of three sons.

From the guide to the Robert Coles Papers, 1954-1999, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Stephen Schlein Erik Erikson papers, 1944-1994. Houghton Library
creatorOf Atlantic (Firm : Boston, Mass.). Records, 1969-1974. Massachusetts Historical Society
referencedIn Clear Pictures, Film Footage Collection, 1991-1996 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
referencedIn Erik H. and Joan M. Erikson papers, 1925-1985 (inclusive) 1960-1980 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn J. Skelly Wright Papers, 1933-1987, (bulk 1948-1986) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Robert Coles Papers, 1954-1999 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection
referencedIn Reynolds Price Papers, bulk, 1927-2010 and undated, 1956-2006 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
referencedIn Erik H. and Joan M. Erikson papers, 1925-1985 (inclusive) 1960-1980 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Walker Percy Papers, circa 1910-1992 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection
referencedIn New Yorker records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Papers, 1892-1990 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Gore Vidal papers, 1850-2020 (inclusive), 1936-2008 (bulk) Houghton Library
referencedIn Stephen Schlein Erik Erikson additional papers, 1952-1992. Houghton Library
referencedIn New Directions Publishing records Houghton Library
referencedIn Milton Rogovin Papers, 1928-2006, (bulk 1960-2003) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn News Service Biographical Files, ., circa 1930s - 2004 University Archives, Duke University.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Atlantic (Firm : Boston, Mass.) corporateBody
associatedWith Duke University. News Service. corporateBody
associatedWith Erikson, Erik H. (Erik Homburger), 1902-1994 person
associatedWith Guggenheim, Charles person
associatedWith JUSTINE (WISE) POLIER, 1903-1987 person
correspondedWith New Directions Publishing Corp. corporateBody
correspondedWith New Yorker Magazine, Inc corporateBody
correspondedWith Percy, Walker, 1916-1990 person
correspondedWith Price, Reynolds, 1933-2011 person
correspondedWith Rogovin, Milton, 1909-2011 person
associatedWith Schlein, Stephen, collector. person
associatedWith Schlein, Stephen, collector. person
associatedWith Vidal, Gore, 1925- person
correspondedWith Wright, J. Skelly. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1929-10-12

Americans

English

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