Editing Norfolk State Hospital

The first building erected in 1885 was a large brick asylum building, as constructed in those days. In the late fall of 1901 a fire occurred, which destroyed most of this building. It was rebuilt on the cottage plan, so that there are now three cottages constructed of brick and two of stone, besides the one wing of the old asylum building erected before the fire, which was repaired and reconstructed. Besides the above there is one brick building used for offices and quarters for officers.

The act of Legislature, approved March 4, 1885, establishing this hospital is in part as follows:

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Nebraska:

1. That there shall be established in the State of Nebraska an institution under the name and style of "A Hospital for the Insane of Nebraska."

2. That the said hospital for the insane of Nebraska be, and the same is hereby, established and located within three miles of the corporate limits of the city or town of Norfolk, Neb., on such site as may be deemed most practicable by the Board of Public Lands and Buildings. Provided, however, that the said city or town of Norfolk shall donate to the State of Nebraska a tract of land containing not less than 320 acres of good land upon which to locate the said institution.

4. That the sum of $75,000 be and the same is hereby appropriated out of the state general fund for the purpose of erecting the necessary buildings.

5. The entire cost of the buildings, including advertising and other expenses, must in nowise exceed the amount appropriated in section 4 of this act.

6. Upon the day specified in said advertisement, said board shall proceed to examine such plans and specifications, and adopt the one best calculated to subserve the wants of the institution. In case no plan is adopted the board shall continue to advertise, as provided for in section 5 of this act, until a plan is accepted.

7. Upon the adoption of a plan said board shall advertise in a way and manner provided for in section 5 of this act for sealed proposals to build said buildings, according to the plans and specifications adopted.

9. Before entering upon this contract the contractor shall be required to execute a good and sufficient bond, to be approved by the said board, in the sum of $50,000 for the faithful performance of said contract.

 

The Norfolk State Hospital was opened for the reception of patients February 15, 1888, when 43 female patients and 54 male patients were transferred from the Hospital for the Insane at Lincoln, Neb.

 

Dr. Kelley was the first superintendent, but as the hospital was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1901, there are no records showing the names and terms of service of the different superintendents and assistants prior to that time.1

Although habitual criminals and sex offenders were included in the law between 1929 and 1957, the “feeble-minded” were the initial targets. They remained a group of concern for several years after the state ceased its sterilizations of the criminally insane. The ratio of men to women sterilized is relatively equal, indicating no presence of bias toward either sex. In 1929, the Nebraska legislature altered the sterilization law to include those individuals convicted of sodomy. This amendment included individuals who had been deemed “moral degenerates or sexual perverts”. According to data provided by Julius Paul, more than 80% of sterilizations occurred on residents of the Beatrice State Home, founded in 1887 as the Nebraska Institution for Feebleminded Youth. The institution is now known as the Beatrice State Developmental Center, specializing in the treatment of children and adults with behavioral and developmental disabilities (Nebraska Dept. of Health). The website makes no mention of the location’s past involvement with eugenics and sterilization. In terms of a history, the website states, briefly, that the Center “has served citizens with mental retardation since 1887”. Now it is renamed the Norfolk Regional Center, and has 120-beds in part of a Sex Offender Treatment Center providing Phase I services in the Nebraska Sex Offender Treatment Program. The Nebraska Sex Offender Treatment Program is a three phase treatment program meant to reduce dangerousness and risk of re-offense for patients involved in treatment. Phase I treatment orients patients to the treatment process; begins working with patients to accept full responsibility for their sex offending and sexually deviant behaviors; teaches patients to give and receive feedback and utilize coping skills; and builds motivation for the intensive treatment in Phases II and III which are provided at Lincoln Regional Center.<ref>http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/beh/rc/nrcserv.htm</ref>

There are 2 cemeteries on the property, both only have a handful or markers. The "old" cemetery contains less then 100 graves and has 3 markers. The "new" cemetery has around 500 burial and about a dozen markers.