Mary Lasker
Mary Woodard Lasker ( born November 30, 1900 in Watertown ( Wisconsin), † February 21, 1994 in Greenwich (Connecticut) ) was an influential American activist and Lobbystin for various charitable foundations and projects, particularly in medical research, care - and health care. She supported and promoted initiatives to beautify urban areas as well as museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and universities.
Life
Lasker grew up as the daughter of a banker on in Watertown (Wisconsin ); her mother was the founder of various parks. After several ear infections in childhood, she decided early on to become involved in the field of medical research.
In 1923 she received her degree at Radcliffe College in art history, studied briefly at Oxford, before she went to New York to build with her future husband Paul Reinhardt 's art collection his gallery with works of modern French artists, including works by Renoir and Miro. The 1926 contracted marriage with Reinhardt was divorced after 8 years.
She then worked as a designer, and they brought out a successful fashion line: The "Hollywood Patterns" were a successful series of inexpensive textiles with photos of movie stars and other film designs.
From 1938 it was also the first time active in the health sector for several American non-governmental organizations for birth control education and family planning; she was employee of the Birth Control Federation of America. This organization was the precursor of today's Planned Parenthood Federation.
In 1940, she married Albert Lasker, an American advertising executive, which includes an asset with its advertising campaigns had made for Lucky Strike. He was impressed by their ingenuity and shared their interest for both the art and the improvement of public health. The two founded the Lasker Foundation; this foundation set out to promote medical research and public and private healthcare organizations to the task. With his money and contacts Albert Lasker in high corporate and government circles they could influence different actions; they supported the 1945 trial of Harry S. Truman make a reform of the health system, which provided for a mandatory health insurance for everyone, building hospitals and a doubling of the medical staff in a 10 -year plan. Two decades later, the Foundation Lyndon B. Johnson supported the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid as part of the Social Security Act of 1965.
A lifelong concern for her was the fight against cancer, to which she also lost her husband in 1952; they criticized early American society to fight cancer ( ASCC ) for their management and their priorities. She made sure that the organization is completely restructured, increased the budget drastically and modern techniques of public relations and advertising were used. Since cancer was at that time considered incurable, it strengthened the faith of the public in medical science and the fact that cure for cancer could be found through research. She placed articles in the popular magazine Reader 's Digest, early and regular prenatal care should call to the attention of readers and commissioned radio ads to appeal to philanthropists and corporations. Previously, she had David Sarnoff, the powerful head of the Radio Corporation of America, convinced that the time had come to mention the previously hushed cancer in the ether. The little influential and dominated by doctors ACSS was renamed by its commitment to American Cancer Society ( ACS ) and used by the influence of her husband and his friends to a powerful organization, which in 1948 already earned $ 14 million in donations, which for research purposes fourth been.
Later she was the most prominent spokesperson for the National Cancer Act, regulation that provided in 1971 greatly increased funding for the National Cancer Institute and the responsibilities much more enhanced. It was heavily criticized for by some scientists as they with the search for a cure for cancer asked for their opinion more than could afford to science. Sol Spiegelman, director of Columbia University 's Institute of Cancer Research reproached her, she turn her fight the analogy of the moon landing on his head: It would be as if they would send their search for a cure, " man on the moon, without to know " the laws of gravity. Others complained that the basic research was provided about prevention and early detection of cancer as part of the National Cancer Act, which yet are the most effective means to fight cancer. The National Cancer Act finally adopted was a compromise and marked the high point of Lasker's influence.
Their dedicated rhetoric in the " war on cancer " increased public expectations about upcoming breakthroughs in cancer research and treatment. These expectations could not fulfill and science through her testimony that the cancer could be defeated within a few years, decreased Lasker their own political weight and contributed to the increasing skepticism of Americans against the modern biomedical science, which previously to the inexorable rise research had believed.
After her commitment in the fight against cancer to Lasker turned in the seventies other, less controversial topics, in particular the fight against high blood pressure ( hypertension) and glaucoma ( glaucoma). She organized for these concerns various campaigns, launched programs and generated different funding and financial resources. Even in the eighties, they generated more research funding for the fight on AIDS, arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, and growth failure.
Because of the lack of her view results of biomedical research since 1950 summed Lasker " I did something wrong or not enough is being done for the right things ." They never moved away from their responsibility for the shortcomings of the biomedical research and faced the criticism.
Since childhood Lasker loved parks and gardens and had a great interest in the beautification of urban areas. Thanks to her, blooming three hundred donated cherry trees in spring each year before the United Nations and every winter, decorate Christmas trees on Park Avenue. The former U.S. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson Lasker mentioned a few times in her biography A White House Diary: You called it charming, calling it " ... like a setting for jewels ". You thanked her for the donated daffodils on the paths along the Potomac and thousands of azalea bushes, blossoms dogwood and other plants along the Pennsylvania Avenue.
Lasker continued to support various museums and universities in New York and Washington, DC.
She died in 1994 at the age of 93 years in Greenwich (Connecticut ); she is buried in a private mausoleum at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, next to her husband.
Awards
On 15 May 2009 the United States Postal Service Lasker honored with the output of a 78 cent stamp in the series of important Americans. In the grounds of their merits are appreciated to the funding of medical research and its commitment to the beautification of cities explicitly.
Founded by her and her second husband Lasker Foundation, which awards for outstanding achievements in medical research since 1946 annual awards, named the price for public relations and financing within the meaning of medicine from 2000 Mary Woodard Lasker Public Service Award.
Lasker received the following highest civilian awards:
Ouellen
- Biography at NNDB
- Notable New Yorkers - Mary Lasker biography, photographs and interview with Mary Lasker from the Notable New Yorkers collection of the Oral History Research Office at Columbia University.
- Lasker biography at the National Library of Medicine.