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==History==
 
==History==
 
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[[File:Jamestown ND State Hospital PC.jpg|300px|thumb|left|]]
 
The North Dakota State Hospital at Jamestown is one of two state institutions that predate statehood. Its location and mission as a "hospital for the insane" was authorized by the Dakota Territorial Legislature in 1883 and it opened on May 1, 1885, accepting its first two patients from Morton County. Fifty-eight patients whose addresses were in what eventually became North Dakota were moved to Jamestown from the Dakota Hospital in Yankton (now South Dakota). The first superintendent was Dr. O. Wellington Archibald, who had been an assistant surgeon at Fort Abraham Lincoln south of Mandan. By the end of 1886, the average daily census was 106 patients.
 
The North Dakota State Hospital at Jamestown is one of two state institutions that predate statehood. Its location and mission as a "hospital for the insane" was authorized by the Dakota Territorial Legislature in 1883 and it opened on May 1, 1885, accepting its first two patients from Morton County. Fifty-eight patients whose addresses were in what eventually became North Dakota were moved to Jamestown from the Dakota Hospital in Yankton (now South Dakota). The first superintendent was Dr. O. Wellington Archibald, who had been an assistant surgeon at Fort Abraham Lincoln south of Mandan. By the end of 1886, the average daily census was 106 patients.
  
 
But by 1892, conditions at the hospital were so crowded that attics were used for sleeping rooms and even then, patients had to sleep two to a bed, VanBeek wrote. Archibald warned the Legislature that if it didn't appropriate more money for adequate care, the hospital would be closed and each county would have to care for its own insane. He left the hospital in 1894.
 
But by 1892, conditions at the hospital were so crowded that attics were used for sleeping rooms and even then, patients had to sleep two to a bed, VanBeek wrote. Archibald warned the Legislature that if it didn't appropriate more money for adequate care, the hospital would be closed and each county would have to care for its own insane. He left the hospital in 1894.
  
By 1904, the census had risen to an average of 401 and still there were no additional buildings. Two buildings had been started in 1903 but construction was halted when the funding process was found unconstitutional, wrote VanBeek. When the state began enforcing laws that allowed it to collect fees from patients' families or their home counties, the construction started again and the two new buildings were completed. Staff was increased so that patients would not have to be locked in their rooms at night or restrained during the day.
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By 1904, the census had risen to an average of 401 and still there were no additional buildings. Two buildings had been started in 1903 but construction was halted when the funding process was found unconstitutional, wrote VanBeek?. When the state began enforcing laws that allowed it to collect fees from patients' families or their home counties, the construction started again and the two new buildings were completed. Staff was increased so that patients would not have to be locked in their rooms at night or restrained during the day.
 
 
[[File:Jamestown ND State Hospital PC.jpg|300px|thumb|left|]]
 
  
The census continued to rise, leaping from 538 in 1908 to 819 in 1912 and then to 1,288 by 1920, wrote VanBeek. In 1914, the hospital was almost closed down because of a smallpox epidemic. Also in 1914, the hospital began to routinely sterilize its "inmates," due to the common belief that their "deficient and degenerate mentality" would be handed down to any progeny. Sterilization was carried out on female patients for many years.
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The census continued to rise, leaping from 538 in 1908 to 819 in 1912 and then to 1,288 by 1920, wrote VanBeek?. In 1914, the hospital was almost closed down because of a smallpox epidemic. Also in 1914, the hospital began to routinely sterilize its "inmates," due to the common belief that their "deficient and degenerate mentality" would be handed down to any progeny. Sterilization was carried out on female patients for many years.
  
 
Policies were adopted in the 1920s that were designed to relieve overcrowding by improving patient care. It was hoped the changes would lead to shorter stays and more discharges. The policies included plans for after-care and preparing patients' families for release. Still the census went up, reaching 1,486 in 1929.
 
Policies were adopted in the 1920s that were designed to relieve overcrowding by improving patient care. It was hoped the changes would lead to shorter stays and more discharges. The policies included plans for after-care and preparing patients' families for release. Still the census went up, reaching 1,486 in 1929.
  
During the 1940s, the hospital census continued to rise, reaching 2,027. It was so crowded that VanBeek writes that the institution went through a Dark Ages period, with treatment stifled by the conditions, lack of qualified staff and "general hospital-wide disorganization."
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During the 1940s, the hospital census continued to rise, reaching 2,027. It was so crowded that VanBeek? writes that the institution went through a Dark Ages period, with treatment stifled by the conditions, lack of qualified staff and "general hospital-wide disorganization."
  
 
The American Psychiatric Association was brought in to inspect the hospital in 1949. Inspectors made many expensive recommendations, which reached the 1951 Legislature. It's not clear what was done in 1951, but in 1953, the next session increased hospital appropriations, The Forum reported
 
The American Psychiatric Association was brought in to inspect the hospital in 1949. Inspectors made many expensive recommendations, which reached the 1951 Legislature. It's not clear what was done in 1951, but in 1953, the next session increased hospital appropriations, The Forum reported
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File:Jamestown ND SH Postcard.jpg
 
File:Jamestown ND SH Postcard.jpg
File:jamestownND.png
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File:Jamestown ND State Hospital 1912.jpg
File:jamestownND7.png
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File:Jamestown ND State Hospital PC.jpg
 
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