Difference between revisions of "Cherokee National Asylum for the Insane"
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Latest revision as of 16:09, 20 May 2025
| Cherokee National Asylum for the Insane | |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1872 |
| Closed | 1908 |
| Current Status | Closed |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | Tahlequah, OK |
| Alternate Names |
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History[edit]
Also known as the Cherokee National Asylum for the Insane, Blind, and Indigent Citizens and the Home for the Insane, Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, the institution opened under a board of trustees in Tahlequah, Indian Territory, on March 1, 1877, with Dr. E. Poe Harris as physician. From March 4 to September 7, 1877, the facility provided care for fourteen males and eight females. Ten years later, twenty-four patients were treated. By 1891 the facility treated thirty-four patients. An Indian Appropriation Act approved on February 4, 1873, provided funding for the establishment. The Cherokee Nation augmented the federal funding with money from the sale of some of their land.
The institution continued under the direction of the Cherokee Nation’s board of trustees and numerous stewards and medical superintendents. Storm damage in November 1879 and a fire in 1903 necessitated temporarily moving the patients to the Cherokee National Jail located in town. The asylum worked to be self-sustaining by growing crops and raising livestock. In January 1899, as the federal government gained more control over the tribes, the Cherokee Nation agreed to individual land allotments. The Cherokee asylum, its buildings, and forty acres were transferred to the federal government. At statehood, the federal government transferred the asylum to the state. On May 22, 1908, ten patients from the Cherokee asylum were moved to Central Oklahoma State Hospital. After then, Indians arrested and declared insane were sent to the government asylum, Saint Elizabeth's, in Washington, D.C.
The building served multiple purposes over time, ultimately being sold to the United States government in 1914, and then serving as the foundation for the Sequoyah Indian Training School.
