The Opal, courtesy New York State Archives

When asylums first began moral treatment (a system of retraining the patient’s mind so he or she could re-enter society), asylum superintendents encouraged light activity and creative endeavors. In 1837, an inmate of the Hartford Retreat who had been a printer and editor created two issues of a short periodical called the Retreat Gazette.

Another former printer-patient launched a newspaper called the Asylum Journal at Vermont Asylum for the Insane in 1842. The paper ran for two years, and cost $1 per year to subscribe. It accepted writing from other inmates, though it was managed by the young man who founded it. The paper folded when the patient recovered and left the asylum.

Vermont Asylum for the Insane

Perhaps the most famous asylum periodical was the Opal, which began publishing at the State Asylum in Utica, NY in 1851. It was produced entirely by patients, and in 1857 earned over $600. This money was used to buy an oil painting of the former superintendent and a piano, though other profits had gone to books for the asylum’s library. The American Journal of Insanity also originated at Utica.

The Hartford Retreat (postcard)

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