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America’s First Suicide Hotline Was a Single Phone in San Francisco
Bernard Mayes’ legacy has saved countless lives
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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.
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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…