Operating Room at Georgia State Lunatic Asylum

For such a small institution dependent on government funds, the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians had a surprisingly robust building program. Dr. Harry Hummer constantly requested new buildings, upgrades to old ones, new farm acreage (and then new outbuildings to accommodate more livestock and feed), as well as new patient buildings. Near and dear to his heart were two buildings in particular: an epileptic cottage and a hospital.

Virginia State Epileptic Colony Cottage for Feeble-Minded Women

Dr. Hummer never received his epileptic cottage, though he requested one many times. He did get the hospital, which presumably made more sense to the appropriations committee which designated money for such projects.

When the hospital was approved for construction, Dr. Hummer received full credit for it: “The entire enterprise owes its inception, development and consummation to Dr. Hummer,” said a writer for the Sioux Valley News. The paper went on to say that when the two-story, brick and concrete building was completed, “the sick will be provided with the best that science means and experience can contribute.”

Epilepsy Was Considered a Form of Insanity, so Cures Were Widely Sought

When Dr. Samuel Silk inspected the hospital in 1929, its operating room had “no equipment whatsoever, except for a surgical table, a slop sink and two wash bowls.”