Thomas Kirkbride Verbalized the One Man and One Rule Philosophy
The insane asylum at Yankton, SD (see last post) was typical of its time. It had a board of men in a trustee relationship who were charged with watching over the running of the asylum. Their duties were varied and wide-ranging, and it is likely that the asylum’s superintendent was not always happy with their oversight.
Outlines of Psychiatry
Like most people, Dr. Harry Hummer, superintendent of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, had a number of contradictory traits. Though he was accused of poor record-keeping on his patients and of a failure to institute any kind of mental health plan for them, he was clearly interested in maintaining expertise in his field. Continue reading
West Virginia Hospital for the Insane
In comparison with whites, few African-Americans were sent to insane asylums. Some asylums did not want to accept black patients at all, while others put black patients in separate wards. Some states created separate asylums entirely for the “colored insane,” apparently subscribing to influential alienist Thomas Kirkbride’s view that “colors and classes” should not be mixed in insane asylums.
The West Virginia Hospital for the Insane was fairly typical. Its board of directors recognized the need to provide care for “colored” patients, yet didn’t feel the asylum could accept them until it had room to separate the races. The asylum did begin to accept black patients sometime in the late 1880s, placing them in separate wards from whites. In 1893, the board of directors asked for $6,000 to build a colored hospital. Shamefully, this request was made even though the asylum only had 44 colored patients. In 1900, when the asylum housed 1,001 patients, only 68 of them were African-American.
Eastern Asylum for the Colored Insane, Goldsboro, NC
Mount Vernon Hospital for the Colored Insane, courtesy Reynolds Historical Library
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Thomas Kirkbride
During the heyday of insane asylums, every aspect of building design had a purpose. Buildings were designed to uplift troubled minds, separate types of insanity, and provide fresh air, sunlight, and lovely views. Thomas S. Kirkbride was an expert on asylum design, and wrote a comprehensive book on it called On the Construction, Organization and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane in 1854.
Nothing escaped Kirkbride’s notice. When he wrote about proper bathing accommodations, he specified that a little cold water should flow into the tub before any hot water, so that no vapor would be produced. Ceilings in patient rooms should be twelve feet high, and corridors in the wings of the building should be twelve feet wide. All stairs used by patients should be made of iron. Though he felt that large, supervised dormitories were the best solution for most patients, Kirkbride recognized that some patients would appreciate the privacy of a private room. Throughout this extensive book, Kirkbride demonstrates a vast experience in caring for the insane and considering both their welfare and comfort.
Danvers State Lunatic Hospital, built on the Kirkbride plan
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