Dr. Harry Hummer

Though the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians did not receive visits and inspections as regularly as most other asylums (see last post), some of the inspectors who visited had a strong sense that something was wrong. When Charles L. Davis inspected the asylum, he found it practically roiling with anger and rebellion, with almost all its employees ready to quit. In a report written in late 1909, Davis determined that Dr. Harry Hummer was not a good choice as superintendent for the asylum. Though quite a number of charges had been made against Hummer by the staff and his own assistant superintendent, Davis did not feel that any one of them quite warranted Hummer’s dismissal from the Indian Service. Instead, he advised the Indian Office that Hummer was simply temperamentally unsuited for his position. “In view of the facts developed through my investigation . . . there is nothing left but to recommend another man be placed in charge of the Asylum,” Davis wrote.

Twenty years later, in April, 1929, the facing sheet (a government form) of Dr. Emil Krulish’s latest report on the asylum said in the subject block: Reports on unsatisfactory conditions brought about by conduct of the supt. Dr. Hummer.” Dr. Emil Krulish ended this short follow-up to a prior inspection with: “. . . I desire to state that my last visit has more fully convinced me that a change in the management of this institution is imperative for the sake of harmony and efficient service.”

Dr. Hummer stayed on.

Advertisement for an Asylum

Staff of Arizona State Asylum, 1914

______________________________________________________________________________________