02/18/2026
Key Historical Black Psychiatrists and Mental Health Pioneers: Hiawatha Harris, M.D. Dr. Harris is an original member of APA’s Task Force on Black Psychiatrists and an APA Distinguished Life Fellow, and his career efforts were monumental in pioneering change and progress toward mental health outcomes, even beyond the black community. From 1962 to 1963, he worked both as a private practice psychiatrist and a part-time staff psychiatrist at an outpatient clinic, as well as as the Director of the Day Treatment Center at the Metropolitan State Hospital in California. Then, between 1964 and 1965, he advanced from Assistant Chief to Chief of Professional Education at the same hospital. In 1967, he took on the role of Executive Director of the Central City Community Mental Health Center in Los Angeles. In 1968 and 1970, he then accepted clinical assistant professor roles at UCLA, USC, and the Charles R. Drew Post Graduate Medical School. Between 1974 and 1999, he took on over 5 Medical Director positions in various hospitals and programs in Los Angeles before directing and co-founding his own community mental health outpatient agency in 2000, called Pathways to Wellness Medication Clinics, located in Oakland, California.
