Deniers of Recovered Memory

Pamela Freyd founded the False Memory Syndrome Foundation after her daughter disclosed memories of childhood sexual abuse by her father and Pamela’s husband, Peter Freyd.. Besides serving as the FMSF's executive director, Pamela Freyd played a key role throughout the entire recovered memory controversy: she signed off the FMSF's newsletter, organized meetings, influenced legislators, filed complaints, sued people supporting recovered memories, and gave numerous interviews to the press.

Peter Freyd is a mathematician at the University of Pennsylvania and the husband of Pam Freyd. He was accused of sexual assault by his daughter. After denying the allegations, Pam founded the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.

Ralph Underwager was a PhD psychologist in Minnesota who taught at St. Olaf's College and did not receive tenure. Following his denial, Underwager opened a private practice that included marriage counseling, and later married one of his clients (Hollida Wakefield). Underwager ran a self-published journal titled ‘Issues in Child Abuse Accusations’ and is the founder of Victims Of Child Abuse Laws (VOCAL), an organization founded to protect those accused of childhood abuse. Underwager and his wife went on to play an instrumental role in the founding of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.

Elizabeth Loftus is a professor of psychology on the advisory board for the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. She specializes in research arguing that memory is inherently faulty and untrustworthy, as it can become clouded by post-event information. She has taken her work into court, testifying as an expert witness on memory. Loftus is almost always testifying for the defense, often in cases where her client has been accused of sexual abuse. She has testified for countless individuals, including in famous cases such as those of Jeffery Epstein, Bill Cosby, Ted Bundy, and Harvey Weinstein.

Eleanor Goldstein was a close friend of Pamela Freyd and deeply connected with the FMSF. She co-authored and published Pamela Freyd's first book through her company SIRS, Inc. (Social Issues Resources Series), monetarily backing the project, distributing it to readers and giving it a higher sense of credibility than if Pamela Freyd had self published it. Eleanor used SIRS to promote and distribute materials that were sympathetic to the FMSF and critical of recovered memories, as well as dedicated a large portion of the SIRS database to documents supporting the FMSF.

Ofra Bikel is a documentary filmmaker and creator of “Divided Memories,” a four hour documentary produced by PBS, critical of recovered memory. The project was the first of its production value to argue that there was no scientific basis for recovered memory.

August Piper is a MD psychiatrist and member of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation Scientific Advisory Board, who wrote regular columns critiquing Multiple Personality Disorder in the FMSF newsletter. He helped Pamela Freyd write “questions and answers about false memory syndrome,” an informational pamphlet sent to those requesting information about FMS.

Accused of abuse by his daughter in 1992, Herman Ohme was a behind-the-scenes activist involved with the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. He rarely appeared in media or publications.

Richard Gardner was an expert witness in child custody cases who sits on the FMSF’s advisory board. He gave interviews for, wrote segments in, and is frequently cited by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation’s Newsletter. He coined the terms “Sex Abuse Hysteria” and “Parental Alienation Syndrome,” both of which have been debunked by various scholars. His legal work purports to differentiate between true and false accusations of abuse.

Harrison Pope serves as an expert witness in recovered memory cases, arguing against the validity of recovered memories. On numerous occasions, Harrison Pope has gone up against Jim Hopper, an expert witness arguing for the validity of recovered memories.

Mark Pendergrast is a writer and was a columnist for the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. He started his career writing books about the history of coffee and coca-cola, but after being accused of abuse by his two daughters, turned to writing about ‘false memories’ and accusations of abuse.

Paul McHugh is a psychiatrist and one of the first False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) Advisory Board Members who regularly presented at FMSF conferences and wrote articles for the FMSF newsletter. Along with Dr. Lief, McHugh processed the family surveys collected by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.