546 Professional Organizations
1938, psychologist members of the American Teachers Asso-
ciation, an all-black educational group, formed Division 6,
Department of Psychology, to facilitate communication and
strengthen their professional identity (Guthrie, 1998). Divi-
sion 6 sent representatives to the Intersociety Constitutional
Convention that led to the reorganization of the APA during
World War II (Capshew, 1999). However, the ATA’s Division 6
was unable to maintain its momentum after the war.
In 1963, the APA, at the urging of the SPSSI, formed the
Committee on Equality of Opportunity in Psychology
(CEOP) to examine the status of education, training, and
career paths of African Americans in psychology (Wispe
et al., 1969). However, many black psychologists were dis-
satisfied with the slow pace of the APA committee and were
frustrated with what they perceived as the APA’s neglect of
their African American members, the low numbers of African
Americans in APA governance, and the strikingly few black
APA employees. By the second half of the 1960s, a new pride
in African American identity had emerged as was evidenced
by the focus on Black Power and Black Nationalism. Many
younger African American psychologists simply did not
identify with the APA, perceiving it as conservative and
heavily invested in white, middle-class values. Their anger
and frustration came together at the annual convention of the
APA in San Francisco (B. Williams, 1997). A small group
meeting in a hotel room during the 1968 APA convention
grew into a larger meeting of 200 African American psychol-
ogists the next day (R. Williams, 1974). Out of this meeting,
the Association of Black Psychologists was formed (Guthrie,
1998).
ABPsi grew into a thriving organization with its own
agenda, its own mission, and its own identity. It became
the professional organization of choice for many African
American psychologists. ABPsi holds annual meetings
(twice in African countries), has an active publication pro-
gram that includes the quarterly Journal of Black Psychology,
the monthly newsletter Psych Discourse,theAssociation of
Black Psychologists Publication Manual, and the Source-
book on the Teaching of Black Psychology.
Following a dramatic confrontation of the APA leadership
by the newly formed Black Students in Psychology Associa-
tion (BSPA) during the 1969 convention, ABPsi and BPSA
cooperated in persuading the APA to address the concerns of
black psychologists about culturally biased testing practices,
lack of employment opportunities for African Americans in
psychology, and inadequate recruitment and support of black
graduate students (R. Williams, 1974). The events of 1968
and 1969 had effects that reverberated over the next several
years. Hispanic psychologists and Asian American psycholo-
gists also formed organizations and put pressure on the APA
to become more sensitive and supportive of their issues. As a
result, the APA formed the Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs
and opened the Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs. The latter
has been an important conduit of training monies for ethnic
minority graduate students.
In the early 1970s, two brothers, Derald (b. 1942) and
Stanley (b. 1944) Sue, coordinated a series of meetings in
San Francisco that included a variety of professionals in-
volved in mental health issues in the Asian community.
These meetings eventually led to the founding of the Asian
American Psychological Association (AAPA) in 1972. Mem-
bership was small at first, and the group struggled to maintain
cohesion (Leong, 1995). Despite this small beginning, the
AAPA had a membership of over 400 by the year 2000.
Although Asian mental health was the original concern of
the AAPA, since that time the organization has diversified in
its interests. Advocacy efforts on behalf of Asian Americans
led to involvement on U.S. Census issues and to a long en-
gagement against the English-only movement in California.
Members of the AAPA developed Asian American psycho-
logical theory that was applied to a range of psychological
topics, including clinical training and social research. Lead-
ers of the association were among the very first to develop
theory and practice related to multicultural counseling. The
National Institute of Mental Health relied on the association
to assist it in its efforts to diversify its training population,
and members of the AAPA served as key liaisons to the
NIMH and other federal agencies for the development of
mental health policy.
The AAPA developed close ties with the APA very early in
its existence. AAPA members served on key boards and com-
mittees of the APA, including the Board of Ethnic Minority
Affairs, the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in
the Public Interest, and the Committee for Ethnic Minority
Recruitment, Retention, and Training. The AAPA began pub-
lishing the Journal of the Asian American Psychological
Associationin 1979 and began a series of monographs in
1995 (Leong, 1995). In 1999, Dr. Richard Suinn (b. 1933)
served as the first Asian American president of the APA.
In 1971, Carolyn Attneave (1920–1992) formed the Net-
work of Indian Psychologists in the Boston area. About the
same time, Joe Trimble (b. 1938) formed a group in 1971
called the American Indian Interest Group. Trimble’s group
was formed with support from the SPSSI and was affiliated
with it. In 1973, Trimble merged his group with the Network
of Indian Psychologists. Attneave changed the name of her
group to the Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP) around
1975 (Trimble, 2000). Membership in the SIP was always
small, numbering around 100 at the end of the twentieth cen-
tury. Members of the SIP and other Indian psychologists