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As the country sought healing and peace after the Civil War, Wisconsin citizens took up Pres. Abraham Lincoln's challenge "to care for him who shall have borne the battle." Their efforts paved the way for the establishment in Milwaukee of one of the original three branches of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In May 1867, the first 60 veterans, including a musician from the War of 1812, moved to a single building on 400 rolling...
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The Oregon State Insane Asylum was opened in Salem on October 23, 1883, and is one of the oldest continuously operated mental hospitals on the West Coast. In 1913, the name was changed to the Oregon State Hospital (OSH). The history of OSH parallels the development and growth in psychiatric knowledge throughout the United States. Oregon was active in the field of electroshock treatments, lobotomies, and eugenics. At one point, in 1959, there were...
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Napa, because of its natural beauty and optimal conditions for "moral treatment," was chosen as the second site for a state hospital to ease overcrowding in Stockton Asylum. When the fully self-sustaining Napa Asylum opened in 1875, it quickly filled to capacity and became home to many people suffering from mental illness, alcoholism, grief, and depression. In 1924, Napa Asylum was renamed Napa State Hospital to reflect changes in the medical model...
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Northampton State Hospital, established in 1856, was built with the optimistic spirit of humanitarian reform. For many years, it was run by Dr. Pliny Earle, a champion of treatment that combined individualized care with manual labor, religious worship, recreation, and amusement. This vision was overwhelmed as the hospital was called upon to care for ever-larger numbers of people with varying needs. By the mid-20th century, the hospital was an isolated...
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For nearly 80 years, Pennhurst State School and Hospital was a reminder of how society viewed and treated people with intellectual disabilities. Over its existence, Pennhurst was home to more than 10,600 people. Many spent decades there, working to keep the institution running by performing various jobs. While some enjoyed the lives they had fashioned for themselves at Pennhurst, for many others, life there was crushing. Pennhurst also played a central...
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This collection of photographs, history, and firsthand accounts gives readers a glimpse at the roots of mental health. These vignettes are born of the personal stories of those who worked at these facilities, those who were institutionalized, and their families. The authors took the time to listen to their stories and endeavored to understand their past and recognize how these events continue to influence the mental health industry today. Pictured...
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The Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital was more than a building; it embodied an entire era of uniquely American history, from the unparalleled humanitarian efforts of Dorothea Dix to the revolutionary architectural concepts of Thomas Story Kirkbride. After well over a century of service, Greystone was left abandoned in 2008. From the time it closed until its demolition in 2015, Greystone became the focal point of a passionate preservation effort...
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What was founded as the Essex County Lunacy Asylum evolved from a single building on South Orange Avenue to a city within itself in Cedar Grove. It was named the Essex County Overbrook Hospital. Construction began on the hospital�s iconic brick buildings in 1896, and they were prominent features on Fairview Avenue for the next 100 years. The facility produced its own food, housed its own police and fire departments, and sustained its own power sources....
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Norwich State Hospital (NSH), established in 1904, was more than just a series of mortar and brick buildings to house and treat persons suffering from mental illness. For nearly 100 years, generations of people dedicated their careers and lives to developing NSH as a humanitarian community for mental illness rehabilitation. NSH gained international attention from some of the world's most renowned psychiatrists for being the first state hospital to...
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Camarillo State Hospital, affectionately known as "Cam," officially opened its doors in 1936, during a time when the California State Commission in Lunacy oversaw the treatment and care of those deemed mentally ill. A pioneering research institution in autism and schizophrenia, Cam achieved notoriety as one of two state institutions that accommodated children and as the first state hospital to receive certification for treatment of the developmentally...
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Kings Park Psychiatric Center, or "the Psych Center" as it is known locally, was unique for its time, as its focus was on patient care and making the hospital as "homelike" as possible. The facility was made up of a series of smaller buildings to give the feeling of community to the patients and staff alike, and both men and women were treated fairly and humanely. Long Island was home to many immigrants, some of whom had difficulty adjusting to life...
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In the fall of 1885, the City of New York transferred 55 men and women living at the Kings County Asylum to the new St. Johnland farm colony "to promote rational outdoor living, exercise, and occupation." In 1887, just a few miles away at Central Islip, another City of New York farm colony was established for the chronically mentally ill. Founded on the principles of moral therapy, the farm colonies provided treatment, recreation, religious services,...
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On the banks of Lake Chauncy sit the remains of the Westborough Insane Hospital, later known as Westborough State Hospital. Westborough is perhaps best known as the second homeopathic hospital for the insane in the United States and the first example of institutional reuse in the nation. The hospital's unique treatment methods put it squarely at the forefront of mental health treatment, and it was one of the last state hospitals in Massachusetts to...
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Allentown State Hospital, formerly known as the Homoeopathic State Hospital for the Insane at Allentown, was the first homeopathic state hospital for the treatment of the mentally ill in Pennsylvania. On October 3, 1912, under the direction of its superintendent, Dr. Henry I. Klopp, the hospital opened its doors to receiving patients. In 1930, Dr. Klopp opened a children's ward on the hospital's grounds, one of the first of its kind in the world....
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Opened on May 1, 1854, the State Almshouse at Tewksbury was a venture by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to provide economical care for state paupers. Originally intended to accommodate 500 residents, by the end of 1854 the almshouse had admitted well over 2,200 paupers, thus necessitating future expansion. Although the virtue of the institution was called into question in 1883 by Gov. Benjamin Butler, who decried Supt. Thomas J. Marsh, the almshouse...
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