Charles J. Levy

Charles J. Levy died peacefully at home in Waterford, Vt., Sunday November 24, 2025. Charles was born August 21, 1935, in New Haven, Conn., to Edward and Hortense Levy. He attended Bard College. As a Bard student, he travelled south to report on the brutality of segregation. After attending Yale Law School for a year, he decided to pursue a career in sociology. He enrolled at the University of Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in Sociology, and then followed his advisor to Brandeis University as a PhD student.

At Brandeis, Charles met Elinor Miller in the library. They wed later that year (1962) in Edinburgh, Scotland. After Elinor graduated in 1963, they moved to the south where Charles began teaching at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.

In 1967, Charles was awarded his PhD in Sociology. The family moved back to the Boston area. He then worked at Harvard in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Social Relations. During the next few years, he wrote a book about his experiences in the South entitled “Voluntary Servitude” which explored the dynamics of interactions between white students from the north coming to Atlanta to help in the civil rights movement, either at SNCC or with Dr. Martin Luther King’s group.

While in Boston, he began researching the harmful psychological effects of the Vietnam War on veterans, particularly those from South Boston who had served in the Army and Marines. This resulted in a second book entitled “Spoils of War.” It includes perhaps the first description of a psychiatric condition, which can include debilitating flashbacks, that came to be known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The book garnered significant attention and highlighted the need for mental health services for veterans

He was recruited by the Canadian government to monitor and support one of their programs at the University of British Columbia. While there, he enjoyed camping with his family on Nootka Island off of Vancouver Island.

Returning to the Boston area from Vancouver, Charles then reestablished his connection with Harvard via its associated McLean Hospital. While there he was awarded a grant to study the effect of the harmful Agent Orange on veterans who had served in Vietnam.

Charles tended to become deeply immersed in his interests. These included an involvement in the world of vintage sports cars, which he shared with his son. He mentored his daughter on her psychology-of-aging research. He was an avid collector of books and toys, particularly automotive and aeronautical toys with an emphasis on blimps and dirigibles. He enjoyed travelling and was devoted to his family. He leaves his wife Elinor, his son Benjamin Levy and his wife Ann Thomas, his daughter Becca Levy and her husband Andrew Bedford and their daughters Talya and Shira Levy Bedford, as well as his beloved and large dog Chloe. He will be missed.