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

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|Title= Topeka State Hospital
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|Title= Worcester State Hospital
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|Image= Worcester01.png
 
|Width= 150px
 
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|Body= Legislature appropriated $25,000 in 1875 "for the purpose of building an asylum for the insane at some convenient and healthy spot within two miles of the state capitol building in the city of Topeka." One condition was that the land would be acquired at no cost to the state. So the city of Topeka and Shawnee County each contributed $6,000 to purchase the original 80 acres.
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|Body= Also once known as the Worcester Lunatic Asylum and the Bloomingdale Asylum, this psychiatric facility's history dates back to before the main building was built. On January 12, 1833, the old Worcester Insane Asylum opened, and was the first of its kind constructed in the state of Massachusetts. When overcrowding became a problem, a new hospital was to be built - a massive structure laid out in the Kirkbride plan, which is the one featured in these photographs.
  
The first two ward buildings, accommodating 135 patients, opened in 1879. Dr. Barnard Douglass Eastman resigned as superintendent of the asylum at Worcester, Mass., to become the first superintendent at TSH. The institution was called the Topeka Insane Asylum until 1901 when the Legislature officially changed the name to Topeka State Hospital. Eastman told legislators that patients who were being released to make room for more patients were "well enough to be in a measure useful. All were of a quiet and harmless character."
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Construction began in 1870 and the newly built Worcester State Hospital opened seven years later. Designed by architect Ward P. Delano of the firm Fuller & Delano of Worcester, the flagstone and brick building stood four stories tall, and between the 500 foot wings stood a beautiful clock tower, looming above the central administration building. On an interesting note, Sigmund Freud visited the hospital in 1909 during his only trip to America.
  
He described the treatment process this way: "Removal from the worriment, the overwork, the unsanitary conditions and the unsuitable food of many homes ... occupying body and mind in the new employment, cheering the drooping and melancholy and soothing the excited and irritable, are some of the elements of treatment of the greatest value, sometimes working rapid cures with but little medication."
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A massive fire engulfed the Kirkbride building on July 22, 1991, destroying almost all of the roof and floors, save for the right most wing and the administration building. The burned out shells of the other areas were bulldozed and the extra stone was used to seal up the gaping holes left by the connections to the remaining sections. A new hospital building was built behind the remains of the Kirkbride building and is still in operation as of 2008. Source
  
Patients who were able did useful work around the asylum during the day, constructing new buildings, working on the farm or sewing. Patients were admitted to the asylum only by court order. Eastman objected to such demeaning insanity trials, saying "The insane are sick, not criminal." But the policy didn't change until 1919. The Legislature allowed shell-shocked veterans of World War I to be treated at TSH without the indignity of an insanity trial. [[Topeka State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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In the spring of 2008 the remaining wing segments of the Kirkbride building are being demolished, along with the one of the historic rotundas and employee residences. The demolition is to make room for a new state psychiatric hospital. The clocktower / administration building will be spared, as well as the rotunda known as Hooper Hall. Though these last segments of the Kirkbride are not being demolished, there are no funds or plans to restore or even stabilize them. [[Worcester State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 04:03, 9 September 2013

Featured Article Of The Week

Worcester State Hospital


Worcester01.png

Also once known as the Worcester Lunatic Asylum and the Bloomingdale Asylum, this psychiatric facility's history dates back to before the main building was built. On January 12, 1833, the old Worcester Insane Asylum opened, and was the first of its kind constructed in the state of Massachusetts. When overcrowding became a problem, a new hospital was to be built - a massive structure laid out in the Kirkbride plan, which is the one featured in these photographs.

Construction began in 1870 and the newly built Worcester State Hospital opened seven years later. Designed by architect Ward P. Delano of the firm Fuller & Delano of Worcester, the flagstone and brick building stood four stories tall, and between the 500 foot wings stood a beautiful clock tower, looming above the central administration building. On an interesting note, Sigmund Freud visited the hospital in 1909 during his only trip to America.

A massive fire engulfed the Kirkbride building on July 22, 1991, destroying almost all of the roof and floors, save for the right most wing and the administration building. The burned out shells of the other areas were bulldozed and the extra stone was used to seal up the gaping holes left by the connections to the remaining sections. A new hospital building was built behind the remains of the Kirkbride building and is still in operation as of 2008. Source

In the spring of 2008 the remaining wing segments of the Kirkbride building are being demolished, along with the one of the historic rotundas and employee residences. The demolition is to make room for a new state psychiatric hospital. The clocktower / administration building will be spared, as well as the rotunda known as Hooper Hall. Though these last segments of the Kirkbride are not being demolished, there are no funds or plans to restore or even stabilize them. Click here for more...