Member-only story

America’s First Suicide Hotline Was a Single Phone in San Francisco

Bernard Mayes’ legacy has saved countless lives

Liz Jin
The Bold Italic
4 min readDec 7, 2020

A metal callbox that says “Crisis hotline: There is hope. Make the call.” Then a “Push to call” button.
Modern-day crisis hotlines like this are modeled after Bernard Mayes’ original program from the 1960s. Photo: Steven Clevenger/Corbis via Getty Images

When someone calls the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, they’re routed to one of over 180 crisis centers across the country, where health professionals and volunteers are standing by, ready to help them through a crisis.

But the first U.S. suicide hotline was a far more modest setup: a single red telephone in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District in 1961. The man behind the phone wasn’t a therapist or counselor. His name was Bernard D. Mayes, a British priest and journalist alarmed by the high suicide rate in San Francisco and compelled to do something about it.

Bernard D. Mayes in 2006. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Decades before Google and other search engines started advertising the national hotline on suicide-related search results, Mayes put cardboard advertisements on the side of city buses: “Thinking of ending it all? Call Bruce, PR1–0450, San Francisco Suicide Prevention.” The name Bruce was an alias, but the message was sincere.

Mayes received a single call on the first night after placing his ads. He took the call from his couch. By the end of that…

Create an account to read the full story.

The author made this story available to Medium members only.
If you’re new to Medium, create a new account to read this story on us.

Or, continue in mobile web

Already have an account? Sign in

Written by Liz Jin

“I wake up in the morning with a desire to both save the world and savor the world. That makes it hard to plan my day.”

Responses (3)

What are your thoughts?

The establishment of America's first suicide hotline, a single phone in San Francisco, marked a significant milestone in mental health support. It's a powerful reminder of the importance of providing help and support to those in need. While…

--

Focus on your “why” and the “how” will take care of itself.

This is so true.
When in doubt always remind yourself of your why.

--

Statistics indicate that the suicide rate in San Francisco has dropped drastically in the last 50 years, roughly the same length of time that San Francisco Suicide Prevention has been i...

That is fantastic! He is a very humble man, but he should take the credit!

--