Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

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|Title= Whitby Psychiatric Hospital
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|Title= Arkansas State Hospital
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|Image= Arkansas State Hospital 1910.jpg
 
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|Body= In 1911, the architect, James Govan, working with a team of advisory psychiatrists, physicians and government officials, presented his design for the Whitby Hospital. Govan's design called for a series of 16 cottages, each housing approximately 70 patients, situated in a village-like setting amongst winding treed avenues. While the exterior design of the cottages was strongly influenced by German architecture, any other similarity stopped there. Canadian physicians worked closely with their architect to make sure the Whitby Hospital would offer a calmer and more humane atmosphere for patients than other institutions they had seen in their travels. The buildings must be situated in such a way, said the physicians, that all wards in all cottages receive some form of direct sunlight, even during the shortest days. An overhead view of the site plan indicates that Govan did exactly that. The main group of cottages faced south west, slightly back from the shore of Lake Ontario.
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|Body= The Arkansas State Hospital is the only state-owned and -operated facility for the treatment of mental illness in Arkansas. The structure, function, and name of this facility have changed with the development of new technology and more progressive views for treating individuals suffering from mental illness, epilepsy, birth defects, learning disabilities, and the effects of old age.
  
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In the initial building stages, prisoners from nearby Central Prison supplied much of the labor. During later stages of construction, paid laborers and mechanics worked for wages ranging from $0.55 to $1.00 per hour. To ease the transfer of building materials from the local railway station a mile to the north east, workers built a narrow gauge trunk-line across several fields of pasture into the construction site.
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The Arkansas Lunatic Asylum was created by legislative act in 1873. In 1905, the name was changed to Arkansas State Hospital for Nervous Diseases; it was changed to Arkansas State Hospital in 1933. A facility known as the State Hospital still exists today, but what was historically encompassed by the “State Hospital” is now part of the Division of Behavioral Health Services of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, though many people still refer to it as the State Hospital
  
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As it turned out, this trunk-line became an invaluable aid in Whitby's first construction. From the outset, builders recognized the fact that enormous amounts of sand and gravel would be necessary to make the concrete needed for the foundations of buildings.During the initial stages of construction they discovered a method of mechanically scooping this sand and gravel out of the Whitby Harbour and, by using the rail system, they were able to transport it easily from the shore to the sand-sifter where it was drained, sifted and mixed with cement to make concrete. Many of the necessities needed for building were taken care of right on the grounds. [[Whitby Psychiatric Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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In 1873, $50,000 was appropriated by the state legislature for the purchase and construction of a facility for the care and treatment of the mentally ill in Arkansas. The purchase of a plot of land west of Little Rock (Pulaski County) took most of the original appropriation. The Brooks-Baxter War of 1872 and political wrangling about the planned location of the facility delayed any further action until 1881.
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In 1881, the legislature levied a one-mill tax on all property in the state for two years and created an appropriation of $150,000 for the construction, outfitting, and operation of the asylum.
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The asylum opened officially on March 1, 1883, with Dr. Chastaine Caldwell Forbes as superintendent. The first patient had actually been admitted by legislative order a few days earlier. [[Arkansas State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 03:51, 11 July 2011

Featured Article Of The Week

Arkansas State Hospital


Arkansas State Hospital 1910.jpg

The Arkansas State Hospital is the only state-owned and -operated facility for the treatment of mental illness in Arkansas. The structure, function, and name of this facility have changed with the development of new technology and more progressive views for treating individuals suffering from mental illness, epilepsy, birth defects, learning disabilities, and the effects of old age.

The Arkansas Lunatic Asylum was created by legislative act in 1873. In 1905, the name was changed to Arkansas State Hospital for Nervous Diseases; it was changed to Arkansas State Hospital in 1933. A facility known as the State Hospital still exists today, but what was historically encompassed by the “State Hospital” is now part of the Division of Behavioral Health Services of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, though many people still refer to it as the State Hospital

In 1873, $50,000 was appropriated by the state legislature for the purchase and construction of a facility for the care and treatment of the mentally ill in Arkansas. The purchase of a plot of land west of Little Rock (Pulaski County) took most of the original appropriation. The Brooks-Baxter War of 1872 and political wrangling about the planned location of the facility delayed any further action until 1881.

In 1881, the legislature levied a one-mill tax on all property in the state for two years and created an appropriation of $150,000 for the construction, outfitting, and operation of the asylum.

The asylum opened officially on March 1, 1883, with Dr. Chastaine Caldwell Forbes as superintendent. The first patient had actually been admitted by legislative order a few days earlier. Click here for more...

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