The record
The real Straight
The novel is told from memory. The institution was real. Straight, Incorporated ran for seventeen years, was praised by a First Lady, investigated on national television and found liable in federal court, and closed in 1993.
Every line below names its source. Allegations are described as allegations.
- 1970
The Seed
In Florida, former comedian Art Barker opens The Seed, a confrontational teen program. Straight grows out of its methods.
Source: published histories of The Seed; Straight survivor archives.
- 1976
Straight is founded
In St. Petersburg, shopping-center developer Mel Sembler, his wife Betty and a business partner found a successor program and name it Straight. Published obituaries say the Semblers had learned one of their sons was using marijuana.
Source: The Washington Post, obituary of Mel Sembler (2023).
- 1982
A First Lady visits
Nancy Reagan visits the St. Petersburg center in February 1982. She returns to Straight in Cincinnati in 1984.
Source: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, topic guide "Straight, Inc."
- 1984
On national television, and in federal court
On January 29, 1984, CBS's 60 Minutes airs a sixteen-minute report on Straight. That year a federal appeals court upholds a jury's verdict for Fred Collins, a college student who said he was held at Straight against his will. He was awarded $220,000.
Sources: 60 Minutes, "Straight, Inc.," CBS, Jan. 29, 1984 · Collins v. Straight, Inc., 748 F.2d 916 (4th Cir. 1984) · UPI, June 13, 1991.
- 1985
A royal visit
On November 11, 1985, Mrs. Reagan brings Diana, Princess of Wales, to Straight's Springfield, Virginia, branch. The same year the Straight Foundation registers in Massachusetts.
Sources: Reagan Library topic guide ("11/11/1985 Visit to Straight with Princess of Wales") · Massachusetts corporate filings.
- 1980s
Stoughton
By the late 1980s a New England branch operates at 53 Evans Drive, an industrial-park street in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Its exact opening and closing dates are still being verified. A Massachusetts nonprofit named Straight, Inc. is incorporated there on September 14, 1989.
Source: Massachusetts corporate records, compiled at survivingstraightinc.com.
- 1989
June 9
A fourteen-year-old from Brookline walks into the Stoughton building a little before eight in the morning. He walks out sixteen months later. In October, the Senate confirms Mel Sembler as ambassador to Australia.
Sources: the manuscript · Senate confirmation records.
- 1990
Lawsuits
A Florida jury awards a former client, Karen Norton, $721,000. Straight calls the award excessive. California denies a Straight center a license, citing evidence of "unusual punishment."
Sources: St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune, 1990 · UPI, June 13, 1991.
- 1991
Massachusetts says no
The state Office for Children refuses to renew the foster-care license for the Stoughton branch. Its report alleges a youth was punched by a staff member and a teenager with scoliosis was made to sit on the floor for up to ten hours a day. Straight calls the allegations unsubstantiated.
Source: UPI, "Drug treatment center under fire," June 13, 1991.
- 1993
Closing
Straight closes its remaining centers, citing the economy and falling enrollment. Two reopen the same year under new names.
Source: Tampa Tribune, May 14, 1993.
- 1995
A new name
The Straight Foundation becomes the Drug Free America Foundation. It still operates.
Source: Drug Free America Foundation public records.
- 2023
An obituary
Mel Sembler dies. The Washington Post's obituary lists his posts as ambassador to Australia (1989–93) and Italy (2001–05), and notes the company "ended up having to pay millions of dollars to settle lawsuits."
Source: The Washington Post, 2023.
Keep reading
- Straight, Inc. 1976–1993: the full sourced timeline, year by year.
- The survivors' own archive: survivingstraightinc.com.