In an effort to learn more about the problem of alcoholism among Indians, and how to deal with it more effectively, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons today announced the appointment of a special three-man commission which will begin in the near future a three-month study on the Navajo Reservation (of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah) and other Indian reservations of New Mexico and Colorado.
Appointed to the commission were O.K. Armstrong, Springfield, Mo., former member of Congress; Earnest A. Shepherd, Avon Park, Fla., administrator of the Florida State Alcoholic Rehabilitation Program; and Rev. David A. Works, North Conway, N. H. Miss Selene Gifford, Assistant Commissioner (Community Services) of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, will serve as an ex-officio member.
In announcing formation of the commission, Commissioner Emmons pointed out that most Indian reservations have not up to now had the benefit of facilities and services for dealing with alcoholism which are available in many non-Indian communities throughout the country. The underlying purpose of the commission 1s study will be to take the first steps toward an eventual filling of this gap. If the results warrant, similar studies may be undertaken later in other Indian areas.
Initiation of the new study, Commissioner Emmons emphasized, does not mean that the Bureau advocates any change in existing Federal law governing sale of alcoholic beverages to Indians. The present law, he added, was enacted in 1953 to eliminate old statutory provisions which discriminated against the Indians solely on the grounds of race.
While the commission's study will be conducted under general supervision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States Public Health Service, which has been responsible for health work among Indians since last July, will take part by providing technical assistance and cooperation.
Mr. Armstrong, in addition to representing the South District of Missouri in the 82d Congress, has had a long and noteworthy career in both journalism and public service. For the past 12 years he has been a staff writer for the Reader's Digest and has contributed numerous articles to other magazines and periodicals. Following military service in World War I he did welfare work in Europe for two years and later taught journalism from 1925 to 1930. In 1931 and 1932 he was executive secretary of the Missouri Century of Progress Commission and subsequently was secretary of the Missouri Farmers Association Committee on Taxation. Beginning in 1932 he served three terms in the Missouri House of Representatives. In recent years he has been a world traveler and lecturer on international relations. He was born in Howell County, Mo., and is a graduate of Drury College, Springfield, Mo.; Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn.; and the School of Journalism of the University of Missouri.
Before moving to his present position in Florida in 1954, Dr. Shepherd served for seven years as Director of the Division on Alcoholism of the New Hampshire State Department of Health. He has also been both a fellow and lecturer at the Yale School of Alcohol Studies and served as chaplain of the New Hampshire State legislature in 1945. Following his graduation from the School of Theology at Boston University in 1934, he was pastor for 13 years at Methodist churches in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. He was born at Mount Sterling, Ohio, and has a bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master's degree from Boston University.
Reverend David A. Works has been rector of Christ Church in North Con-way since 1948. Prior to that he was for three years seminary assistant at Christ Church, Alexandria, Va. In 1952 he successfully urged the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church to establish a Study Committee on Alcoholism, the first action of this kind to be taken by a national religious body. For the following three years he served as assistant to the chairman of the Committee, Bishop Charles F. Hall of New Hampshire.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1920, Mr. Works served with the Marine Corps in World War II. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., Virginia Theological Seminary, and the Yale Summer School of Alcohol Studies.
