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Reed Erickson
Reed Erickson (October 13, 1917 – January 3, 1992) was an American engineer, activist, and philanthropist, as well as a transgender man who, according to sociology specialist Aaron H. Devor, largely informed "almost every aspect of work being done in the 1960s and 1970s in the field of gender affirmation in the US and, to a lesser degree, in other countries." He founded and ran the Erickson Educational Foundation (EEF), a nonprofit philanthropic organisation. Through the EEF, Erickson contributed millions of dollars to the early development of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) movements between 1964 and 1984.
Reed Erickson was born in El Paso, Texas on October 13, 1917, to a German-Jewish family. When Erickson was still quite young, the family moved to the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[citation needed] Erickson excelled academically while attending Wagner Junior High and the Philadelphia High School for Girls. In high school, Erickson started using the nickname Eric when among friends. He attended Temple University from 1936 to 1940.[citation needed]
In 1940, he and his family moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Erickson's father had transferred their lead smelting business. In Baton Rouge, Erickson worked in the family business and attended Louisiana State University (LSU). In 1946, Erickson became the first person assigned female at birth to graduate from LSU's school of mechanical engineering.[citation needed] Erickson graduated from the university as a member of several student and professional organisations, including Pi Mu Epsilon, Kappa Mu Epsilon, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (IAS).[verification needed]
After graduating from LSU, Erickson lived briefly in Philadelphia. There he worked as an engineer until losing his job for refusing to fire a woman who was suspected of being a communist. In the early 1950s, Erickson returned to Baton Rouge, where he resumed working in the family business and started an independent company, Southern Seating, making stadium bleachers.
After Robert Erickson's death in 1962, Erickson inherited a major interest in the family enterprises, Schuylkill Products Co., Inc., and Schuylkill Lead Corp., and ran them successfully until selling them to Arrow Electronics in 1969 for approximately $5 million. Erickson continued to be financially successful, eventually amassing a personal fortune estimated at over $40 million, most of which came from canny investments in oil-rich real estate, with Erickson's income often amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.[citation needed]
In 1964, he launched the Erickson Educational Foundation (EEF). It was initially funded and controlled entirely by Erickson. The EEF funded many early research efforts into gender-affirming healthcare, impacting much of the work being done in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s and, to a lesser degree, in other countries. During the years 1964–1970 and 1972–1975 alone, the EEF donated approximately US$250,000 to support projects on transsexuality. In particular, the Harry Benjamin Foundation received over US$60,000 during 1964–1968, and the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic received approximately US$72,000 during the formative years of 1967–1973. This included the creation of the Harry Benjamin Foundation, the founding of the Johns Hopkins University Gender Identity Clinic, and other important research projects, including the National Transsexual Counseling Unit. The foundation also developed and maintained a referral network of service providers, like physicians and psychologists, mostly located in the United States. The EEF's stated goals were "to provide assistance and support in areas where human potential was limited by adverse physical, mental or social conditions, or where the scope of research was too new, controversial or imaginative to receive traditionally oriented support."
Grants from the EEF supported the work of the early homophile organization, ONE, Inc., and the New Age Movement (an example being paying to print the first edition of A Course in Miracles), acupuncture, homeopathy, dream research, and dolphin communication studies. Sociologist Aaron Devor has written about Erickson's influence on the community through EEF and ONE Inc. However, the main centre of Erickson's attention through the EEF was transsexualism.
Multiple organisations and individuals have continued the work of EEF. The Janus Information Facility took over a number of responsibilities from EEF in 1977, including reprinting educational pamphlets for transgender people and their families, and conducting outreach to medical professionals, clergy, law enforcement personnel, and academics. In 1986, Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark and Jude Patton also continued some of the work of the EEF through their organization J2CP. Some pamphlets were also reprinted by Dallas Denny in 1993, following Erickson's death..
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Reed Erickson
Reed Erickson (October 13, 1917 – January 3, 1992) was an American engineer, activist, and philanthropist, as well as a transgender man who, according to sociology specialist Aaron H. Devor, largely informed "almost every aspect of work being done in the 1960s and 1970s in the field of gender affirmation in the US and, to a lesser degree, in other countries." He founded and ran the Erickson Educational Foundation (EEF), a nonprofit philanthropic organisation. Through the EEF, Erickson contributed millions of dollars to the early development of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) movements between 1964 and 1984.
Reed Erickson was born in El Paso, Texas on October 13, 1917, to a German-Jewish family. When Erickson was still quite young, the family moved to the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[citation needed] Erickson excelled academically while attending Wagner Junior High and the Philadelphia High School for Girls. In high school, Erickson started using the nickname Eric when among friends. He attended Temple University from 1936 to 1940.[citation needed]
In 1940, he and his family moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Erickson's father had transferred their lead smelting business. In Baton Rouge, Erickson worked in the family business and attended Louisiana State University (LSU). In 1946, Erickson became the first person assigned female at birth to graduate from LSU's school of mechanical engineering.[citation needed] Erickson graduated from the university as a member of several student and professional organisations, including Pi Mu Epsilon, Kappa Mu Epsilon, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (IAS).[verification needed]
After graduating from LSU, Erickson lived briefly in Philadelphia. There he worked as an engineer until losing his job for refusing to fire a woman who was suspected of being a communist. In the early 1950s, Erickson returned to Baton Rouge, where he resumed working in the family business and started an independent company, Southern Seating, making stadium bleachers.
After Robert Erickson's death in 1962, Erickson inherited a major interest in the family enterprises, Schuylkill Products Co., Inc., and Schuylkill Lead Corp., and ran them successfully until selling them to Arrow Electronics in 1969 for approximately $5 million. Erickson continued to be financially successful, eventually amassing a personal fortune estimated at over $40 million, most of which came from canny investments in oil-rich real estate, with Erickson's income often amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.[citation needed]
In 1964, he launched the Erickson Educational Foundation (EEF). It was initially funded and controlled entirely by Erickson. The EEF funded many early research efforts into gender-affirming healthcare, impacting much of the work being done in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s and, to a lesser degree, in other countries. During the years 1964–1970 and 1972–1975 alone, the EEF donated approximately US$250,000 to support projects on transsexuality. In particular, the Harry Benjamin Foundation received over US$60,000 during 1964–1968, and the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic received approximately US$72,000 during the formative years of 1967–1973. This included the creation of the Harry Benjamin Foundation, the founding of the Johns Hopkins University Gender Identity Clinic, and other important research projects, including the National Transsexual Counseling Unit. The foundation also developed and maintained a referral network of service providers, like physicians and psychologists, mostly located in the United States. The EEF's stated goals were "to provide assistance and support in areas where human potential was limited by adverse physical, mental or social conditions, or where the scope of research was too new, controversial or imaginative to receive traditionally oriented support."
Grants from the EEF supported the work of the early homophile organization, ONE, Inc., and the New Age Movement (an example being paying to print the first edition of A Course in Miracles), acupuncture, homeopathy, dream research, and dolphin communication studies. Sociologist Aaron Devor has written about Erickson's influence on the community through EEF and ONE Inc. However, the main centre of Erickson's attention through the EEF was transsexualism.
Multiple organisations and individuals have continued the work of EEF. The Janus Information Facility took over a number of responsibilities from EEF in 1977, including reprinting educational pamphlets for transgender people and their families, and conducting outreach to medical professionals, clergy, law enforcement personnel, and academics. In 1986, Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark and Jude Patton also continued some of the work of the EEF through their organization J2CP. Some pamphlets were also reprinted by Dallas Denny in 1993, following Erickson's death..