Old/historic Institutions?

Question

I'm looking for some information on old asylums/institutions, etc from 1950 and before. I'm looking for locations, history of, pictures, anything.

If anyone could point me towards some helpful sites, or...if you happen to know of a specific insitution that existed during that time and know some history on it, etc, that would be great, too.

Answer 1

My Favorite to Learn About is Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville Ky. Not Only does it have interesting history But it is Haunted as well.

Here is Some Information about it:

*This sanitarium was built to house Tuberculosis patients. The first building could only house 40-50 patients. In 1924 the hospital started construction of a much larger building that opened it's doors in 1926 and could hold over 400 patients. Later on the hospital was closed down and sold to a private owner who still currently owns and is trying to renovate the property.*

**Tuberculosis was a very serious disease back then in the early times before antibiotics were discovered. People who were afflicted with tuberculosis had to be isolated from the general public and placed in an area where they could rest, stay calm, and have plenty of fresh air. That is why sanatoriums were built on high hills surrounded by peaceful woods to create a serene atmosphere to help the patients recover. **

Historical tip: tuberculosis was once known as "consumption", or "white plague."

**Construction of this large sanatorium began in March of 1924. It opened on October 17'th of 1926 to administer patients! Waverly functioned as a tuberculosis hospital until 1961, when it was closed down to be quarantined and renovated to be opened again in 1962 as WoodHaven Medical Services. The facility remained a geriatrics center until 1980, when it was closed by the state.**

Answer 2

Here is an outstanding website; it has photos and a nice historical narrative (The ONLY white Cherokee chief spent his remaining years at this facility):

http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/morganton_nc/index.html

Broughton State Hospital
aka Western North Carolina Insane Asylum, Broughton Hospital, Western Carolina Center
Located: Morganton, North Carolina
Established: 1883, still in use. Architect: Samuel Sloan
On the National Register of Historic Places


CREDITS AND ADDITIONAL READING
http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/morganton_nc/index.html
http://thomaslegion.net/thomas.html
http://thomaslegion.net/insaneasylum.html

Answer 3

http://www.abandonedasylum.com/nypc1.html. Here is an address for a website that shows pictures of New York State mental institutions. As I understand it, these all were postcards which seems pretty strange. Most of them are pre-1950 although they continued into the 50's and later. Rockland State Hospital is mentioned in Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl."

Answer 4

Dorothea Dix is a good name when it comes to asylums, prisons, reforms, etc. She was working for prison reform in the 1800's, trying to get the mentally insane out of prison with criminals.

The only institution I know of would be the one Zelda Fitzgerald (wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald of The Great Gatsby fame) was housed in in Asheville, NC. But I don't know anything else about it.

Answer 5

Bellevue Hospital Center in New York, founded in 1736, the oldest public hospital in the US. Beat poet Gregory Corso and Andy Warhol "Superstar" Edie Sedgwick stayed in its psychiatry ward.

Answer 6

The Institute of Celibacy.... ugh! i elect some action quickly or i'm gonna might desire to bypass to the psychological corporation too (as a affected person). i in my opinion do have the abilities to artwork at one.

Answer 7

That is a B r r r o o o a a a d d d question. But with no further guidlines will toss these into the mix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Educational_institutions_established_in_1940
"""A
Abraham Lincoln High School (San Francisco)
Altamont School
Ateneo de Naga University
B
Barry University
Brother Andre High School (Noakhali)
C
Carmel High School (Carmel, California)
Chandrakasem Rajabhat University
City College of San Francisco
Clay High School (Portsmouth, Ohio)
Clay Local School District
C cont.
Colegio Americano de Quito
Cy-Fair High School
D
Delhi College of Engineering
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
E
Edge Hill State School
Exton Elementary School
I
Illinois Institute of Technology
M
Marist College Ashgrove
Matthew Flinders Girls' Secondary College
Midwood High School
N
New England Institute of Technology
Q
Queen Elizabeth Elementary School (Vancouver)
R
Repton Preparatory School
Rydon Community College
S
St. Elizabeth High School (Delaware)
St. Francis High School (Sacramento, California)
St. John Bosco High School
T
Talk:Clay High School (Portsmouth, Ohio)/Temp
Tallinn English College
V
Village ""

http://www.lincolnhigh.net/
""Abraham Lincoln High School, one of the leading public high schools in San Francisco, begins its sixty-seventh year as a comprehensive high school that serves culturally diverse students from all areas of the city""

http://www.hac1.org/
""A pioneer in day school education, the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland is one of the nation's premier communal day schools. Founded in 1943 by spiritual and lay leaders who escaped the ashes of the Holocaust, the Academy has educated almost 6,000 students. Its graduates have assumed leadership positions- in virtually all walks of life - across the globe. The Academy is a nationally acclaimed educational institution and was recognized by Torah Umesorah/ National Society for Hebrew Day Schools in 1987 and by the Jewish Community Federation with the Charles Eiseman Award in 1992."""

http://www.iuk.edu/
"""Indiana University is an educational and cultural resource for north central Indiana. We invite you to visit our campus to find out about the resources and programs available to you. ""
established 1945



http://www.mcclellandschool.org/html/mcclelland_history.html
"""A group of Pueblo citizens met on January 10, 1905, to discuss the establishment of a home for dependent children. This group called themselves the Protestant Orphanage Committee. The result of this meeting was an orphanage sponsored by the group and operated by the Deaconesses of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The facility was located in a cottage at 1104 East Routt.

This facility consisted of four small rooms containing as many as nine beds per room. A tent was set up to be used as a boys’ dormitory to further expand the facility. Due to the increased numbers, larger, permanent quarters were necessary.

Andrew McClelland, a prominent local businessman, offered a three-story building, formerly a Southern Methodist Church college, to the committee for $5,000. In addition, $2,500 was included to make any needed repairs to the structure. A fund-raiser provided the needed funds to complete the deal.

The McClelland Orphanage was opened on April 25, 1906. Located at the corner of Lake Avenue and Abriendo, this three-story building was designed to house as many as 65 children. It was considered one of the best institutions of its kind in the country. By 1908, the building was filled to capacity. The orphanage was forced to turn deserving children away. The annual operating budget had reached $6,000 for sheltering the children. Fundraising efforts fell short of their goal to provide the needed capital to make additions to the facility. A donation of property valued at $10,000 was presented to the orphanage by Mrs. Lizzie Welsh of Los Angeles, California. Plans for the addition were started.



The institution struggled to stay financially solvent for the next fourteen years. Fundraising consisted of proceeds from guest speakers, contributions of money, and food and clothing from the community. McClelland Orphanage managed to maintain its reputation of operating on a cash basis and received positive comments from the local community.

The original aim of the organization had been to keep the individual character of the child alive, in spite of the necessary regimentation of group living. The children wore their own clothing, attended public schools and churches of their choice and, in later years, participated in Scouting and various individual pursuits.



During the years of 1917 through 1920, the connections between the Orphanage and the Deaconesses group were dissolved. They had faithfully served the home for over ten years. The necessity of hiring new salaried personnel created an additional hardship on the already strained budget. In November 1923, the load was lightened by the creation of the Community Chest. While additional funds were still necessary, it was becoming possible for part of the outside income from donations to be used as capital investment to create a trust fund.

In October 1927, the name of the organization was amended to the McClelland Children’s Home. At this same time, the qualifications for membership of the Directors were also changed to state that the affairs and management shall be under control of a majority of the Board of Directors who are members in good standing of some Protestant Church in the city of Pueblo, Colorado. The qualifications were originally limited to membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The number of directors was reduced from twenty-seven to twenty-one.

Plans for a new building to replace the original structure were started in 1932. In order to proceed with these plans in the years of the Depression, it became necessary to liquidate most of the holdings of the Home. This, together with a generous donation of $25,000 from the Pueblo Rotary Club, provided the necessary funds. The building was started in July 1934 and opened the following year. There were very few changes made at the orphanage until the late 1960s when, as child welfare programs were established and the need for orphanages decreased, the Trustees began to redirect the focus toward the diagnosis and evaluation of the learning processes of children. ""
Here is a 'crazy' one for you (ough I am so insensitive)
http://truelegends.info/amityville/asylum.htm
"""Part of the Amityville story is that there was an Indian insane asylum in Amityville. Less known is that there is an insane asylum that was called the "Amityville Asylum" and is now called "South Oaks." The Amityville Asylum had a colorful history over the years and had some famous "guests" such as Maurice Barrymore, Romeo Singer of Singer Sewing Machine, and the former Director of Research was Dr. Harold Abramson that was the researcher in the CIA LSD scandal in the 1970s. According to Newsday the asylum used electroshock therapy. Sherry Taub said in 2003 that in the past "Electroshock (Therapy) is forcibly administered." (http://www.survivorlink.org/statements/taub1103.html )There was one person that was committed there for accurately predicting a bombing, which many said was supernatural!""

http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/mainpage.html

http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/danvers_ma/index.html
"""Location: Hathorne Hill in Danvers, Massachusetts (north of Boston). Click here for a map.
Other Names: Danvers Lunatic Asylum, Danvers State Insane Asylum, abbreviations DSIA and DSH
Architecture: Designed by Nathaniel Bradlee in the Victorian Gothic style. The floor plan was inspired by the recommendations in the "Kirkbride Plan" (Thomas Story Kirkbride, M.D., L.L.D.)
Population: Originally constructed to hold 450 residents. Housed well over 2,000 at times.
Years of Operation: Established 1874. Opened 1878, closed 1992
Current Status: Owned by the development company AvalonBay. Most historic resources are being demolished at this time. The grounds will become a housing complex.
Other: The town of Danvers was formerly known as Salem Village (the actual location of the 1692 Salem witch trials). Witch-trials Judge Jonathan Hathorne lived in a house atop Hathorne Hill. The complex of abandoned buildings was featured in the 2001 film "Session 9" starring David Caruso of "NYPD Blue" and "CSI:Miami". ""


Hope this helps - - -

Peace...