Refuge for the Insane, Canton, China
Medical and government personnel wanted to know exactly who was insane in the U.S., and compiled statistics that let them track the number of insane in a variety of categories. The Bureau of Indian Affairs kept up with the number of insane Indians, but the government’s 1890 census also provided a focused snapshot concerning other groups:
“As of the year 1890, the total number of Chinese insane reported was 196. Of the 196 Chinese insane, 188 were males and 8 were females. The proportion of insane among the Chinese is small, when it is taken into consideration that the Chinese population consists mainly of adults.
“The total number of Japanese insane reported in 1890 was 3, all males.”
Twenty years later, the 1910 census did not break down groups in the same way, but showed that of the 187,791 insane in the U.S., 491 persons, “mostly, if not entirely Chinese and Japanese,” were insane.
Chinese Flower Vendor, San Francisco, before 1910, courtesy Library of Congress
Group of Chinese Men, circa 1890-1910, courtesy Library of Congress
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