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Welcome to Asylum Projects, A historic asylum wiki anyone can edit. 2,429 articles and counting

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Mission Statement The Mission The mission of this site is to archive both historical and current information on asylums across the United States and around the world. The Statement This site is dedicated to the history of asylums in all forms. The term of asylum is applied to not only what is commonly thought of: mental hospitals, but can also be applied to sanatoriums, state training schools, reform schools, almshouses, and orphanages. These institutions have and continue to play a major part in today's society. Everyone throughout the United States and in many other countries has in one way or another felt the touch of these institutions. These places have both directly and indirectly affected people and their families. They have shaped lives and created many popular myths about them. With all that in mind, this site was created to help in the historical research of any institutions that can be classified as an asylum. It was created for both serious researchers, those who are doing genealogical research, and people with an interest in asylums.

Featured Article Of The Week South Carolina State Sanatorium Motivated by the national anti-tuberculosis movement, the General Assembly of South Carolina allocated $10,000 to fund a state sanatorium in 1914. The sanatorium opened in 1915 with one “open-air ward of frame construction” and the capacity for sixteen white male patients. A wood-frame Administration Building, a private residence for the superintendent, and a small farm completed the complex. Located in State Park, the property consisted of two hundred acres. By 1919, the legislature appropriated funding for the addition of a women’s pavilion for sixteen patients as well as an infirmary with the capacity for twelve male and twelve female patients. The infirmary was designed for the care of bedridden patients. Also operating as a communal resource the building included a kitchen and dining room with a capacity for 100 people. The fully operational farm also served the entirety of the sanatorium. It produced dozens of crops, raised chickens and pigs, and later featured a 200-ton tile silo. The dairy, originally comprised of one cow, was another area of early expansion for the property. Some strands of tuberculosis were spread through unpasteurized milk, making the modern diary facility an important medical feature for the sanatorium. Click here for more... Archive, Future Featured Articles. Featured Image Of The Week As far back as 1694 the Lord Proprietors of the Carolinas decreed that the indigent mentally ill should be cared for locally at public expense. In 1751 the colonial government similarly recognized the mental health needs of slaves. In 1762 the Fellowship Society of Charleston established an infirmary for the mentally ill. But it was not until the 1800s that the mental health movement received legislative attention at the state level. Archive, Future Featured Images.

Featured Video The following thirty-four-minute video, created by the FingerLakes1.com, Inc. YouTube channel and Finger Lakes History/Seneca County Historian Walter Gable, details the history of Willard State Hospital. Other Articles With Videos, Future Featured Videos.

Recent Message Board Posts For everyone asking genealogical questions, please read this message from the administrators. Hello, In this space you normally would see our forum. This had been a hold over from earlier days before we had a Facebook page. Just prior to our server issues regular users had been barely using the forum with the majority of new posts from anonymous users asking genealogy questions or spammers. The old forum software does not work with our new version while the new forum software does not carry over old comments to the new forum. As a result, the forum will be discontinued in favor of our Facebook page. If you have questions or comments you can ask them there. Asylum Projects Facebook Page If you have genealogical question here is an information page to help you.