Athens Insane Asylum Kitchen, circa 1930

Most insane asylums of the period put patients to work in gardens, considering their labor useful as occupational therapy as well as a way to defray operating costs. At the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, patients tended gardens, picked berries, and fished if they were able. The bulk of their food (especially meat) would have been issued as government commodity rations–usually a lower quality grade than what appeared at a butcher shop or good grocery store.

By the end of 1909, both patients and staff (who received rations as part of their salary) were going hungry. Ward attendant Jesse Watkins told an investigator: “At breakfast, as a rule, the patients have only syrup and a little butter, with plenty of bread, and coffee. When there is milk, they have oatmeal and sometimes oatmeal without milk.”

Dr. Hummer

Superintendent and chief physician, Dr. Harry R. Hummer, did not know how to use the ration tables supplied by the government. He distributed what he thought were the correct amounts of rations to his staff and patients, while allowing his wife to draw extra rations for himself and his family. An investigator uncovered his mistake and showed him how to use the tables properly.

Gladesville Mental Hospital Menu, 1929

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