Michigan Society of Gerontology

50th Anniversary

MSGRooted in major historical changes

Improved hygiene

Advances in healthcare

Changing position of women in society

Advances in transportation and personal mobility

The result• People living longer

• Population growing older

• Increasing number of older adults needing care

• Fewer caregivers

• Older adults with few resources struggling to care for themselves

• Inadequate long-term care services

A “Poor House”

A public support system created

• Great Depression• Social Security Act of 1935; old-age

homes began to be built• Hill-Burton Hospital Survey and

Construction Act of 1946• National Conference on Aging in 1950

The idea for MSG was formed• As early as 1953,

Professors from the U of M’s Institute of Gerontology, and others, saw the need for citizens to band togetheron behalf of older adults

• Led by Wilma Donahue, PhD, MSG was founded in 1956

• The founding meeting was held at the Kellogg Center

Wilma Donahue, PhD1900-1993

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Several early key members of MSG

• Wilma Donahue •Jordan Popkin • A. Hazen Price• Frederick Swartz • Minnie Oed• Harry Kelley• Katherine Reebel• Norma Silver• Herbert Rubenstein•Vladimir K. Volk•Charles Odell• Woodrow Hunter• Leonard Gernant

How MSG grew• The time was right. The country was

recognizing the need to respond to an aging population

• The leadership was right. Wilma Donahue and others were experts, activists, connected locally and nationally, as well as tireless recruiters

• MSG formed connections with other groups– Michigan Geriatrics Society– Michigan Welfare League– Michigan Health Council– National Society of Gerontology– U of M’s Division of Gerontology– The Michigan Commission on Aging

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Early MSG activism• 1958: MSG supported Bill 79 to establish

a Michigan Commission on Aging. It was established 2 years later

• 1959: MSG leaders prepared for the White House Conferences on Aging with a Michigan region study conference

• MSG had an active Legislative Committee that met with the MI Commission on Aging to discuss various issues related to policies and resources for the elderly

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Early MSG activism• 1961: MSG members took part

in the White House Conference on Aging in Washington, D.C.

• 1963: MSG recommended to Governor Romney that the Michigan Commission on Aging become a separate entity. He agreed.

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• 1963: MSG recommended to Gov. Romney that he allocate funds to pilot “County Commissions on Aging”. He agreed.

• 1964: Governor's Task Force on Aging was created with MSG support

Early MSG: Bridging Policy, Practice and Research

• 1965: MSG sponsored a conference on “Better Care of Elderly Patients in Nursing Homes”

• 1965: MSG members attended National Conference on Aging in Washington, D.C. Harry J. Kelley witnessed the signing of the Older Americans Act

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Michigan’s influence at the national level

1965: The Older Americans Act is passed. It was introduced in the Senate by Pat McNamara of MI, friend of MSG, who guided it to unanimous approval.

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Patrick Vincent McNamara

MSG activism continues• 1966: MSG held a special event

explaining federal legislation such as Medicare, Older Americans Act, and the War on Poverty

• 1968: MSG recommended to the state that it increase the food budget allowance for the elderly

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MSG: Policy, Practice and Research

• 1971: MSG members took part in the state and national White House Conferences on Aging

• 1973: MSG formed the Michigan Seniors Coalition. The first event drew 600 delegates

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MSG: Policy, Practice and Research• 1974-75: MSG started a newsletter

called “Legislative-News Hotline” which was followed by the 1975 OSA newsletter, “Aging Alert,” still published today

• 1976: The Haak-Lilliefors lecture series was established, featuring national leaders in the field

• 1977: MSG helped plan OSA’s first annual Senior Power Day, still held in cities across the state

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MSG in the Early 1980s

• 1980: MSG sponsored the first combined federal-state public hearing on aging held in Michigan

• 1981: MSG members participated in the White House Conference on Aging

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• MSG’s Legislative Committee was disbanded but active political dialogue and relationships continued

• Declining membership led to member surveys and ‘soul searching’ to reexamine and reaffirm MSG’s mission

• A student section of MSG was started in 1988. By 1990 there were over 100 student members.

MSG: 1990 to now • 1993: Letter to Hillary Clinton

from MSG President Judith Walters which asked for support of national LTC policy

• 2004: Jennifer Mendez, MSG Board member, was appointed to the MI Medicaid LTC Task Force by Governor Granholm

• 2005: MSG Members served as Delegates to the White House Conference on Aging

MSG: Still Bridging Policy, Practice, and Research

• Conferences, forums, or workshops are held annually

• MSG awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding practitioners, educators, policy makers and students

• MSG now hosts the only statewide listserv dedicated to creating dialogue on aging issues across all arenas

The MSG Photo Gallery

The 25th Anniversary Celebration, October 28, 1982, Kellogg Center, East Lansing, MI

Gordon Hannah, MSG President 1980-81Katherine Kumkoski, MSG President 1975-76

Larry Murray, MSG President 1981-1983

Harry WolfRichard Colwell, MSG President 1976-77

MSG 28th Annual Meeting

Beryl Zinn

John Schonenberg

Judy Hollister

David Dekker, MSG President 1979-80

Maurice Beck, MSG President 1983-85

Mary AblanStewart White

Rev. Josephine Morgan

Christine Hennessey

Wilma Donahue

“I believe no state deserves more credit for stimulating and realizing the new legislation than does Michigan. Your own Society, perhaps the foremost in the country, has contributed greatly to an understanding of the needs and aspirations of Michigan’s older people…”

Jay B. Constantine, Research Director of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, 1965