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

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|Title= Connecticut State Hospital
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|Title= Boston State Hospital
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|Body= In 1866 an act to create a hospital for the insane in the State of Connecticut was passed, but the birthday of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane cannot truly be said to have occurred until it was delivered to the public April 30, 1868.
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|Body= The Boston State Hospital – originally called the Boston Lunatic Asylum – was founded in South Boston in 1839. By the 1880s, new ideas about the care of the mentally ill emphasized the importance of fresh air, hard work, and separation from the adverse influences (both social and environmental) of city life, an approach that was referred to as “moral treatment.” Thus, when the time came to move out of the old and overcrowded facilities in South Boston, the Asylum’s leaders looked to West Roxbury – at that time a semi-rural area that had only recently been incorporated into the city of Boston – as an appropriate setting for a new hospital.
  
The report of the commission appointed by the Assembly in the year 1865 showed that there were 706 insane persons in the State of Connecticut, of whom 202 were in the Retreat at Hartford; 204 in the almshouses; and 300 outside of both; that it was impossible to secure suitable care and medical attention for this large and deeply afflicted class, either in the Retreat or in the almshouses, or in private houses; and that considerations of humanity and of true economy, as well as public welfare, demanded that these persons should liberally be provided for by the state.
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Beginning in 1884, some Asylum residents were moved to the former almshouse at Austin Farm, just across Morton Street from the present Boston Nature Center, where the Harvard Commons development stands today. In 1892, looking for more room for both buildings and farmland, the City purchased the 35-acre Pierce Farm, along Walk Hill and Canterbury Streets – part of which land is now the western end of the BNC. A few years later, the City bought another parcel of land, adjoining Pierce Farm and Canterbury Street, which now includes much of the Clark Cooper Community Gardens and other areas in the central part of the BNC.
  
The act, modified and supplemented by other acts, appears in the revision of the General Statutes, 1888. It provided that "The land of the state and its appurtenances in Middletown shall be and remain the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane." Further, "That the government shall be vested in a board consisting of the Governor and 12 trustees to be appointed by the Senate, one from each county and four from the vicinity of the institution. During the regular session of the General Assembly of 1889 the Senate shall appoint six of said trustees, of whom three shall hold office for four years from the first day of July, 1889, and three for three years from the first day of July, 1890. During the regular session of the General Assembly of 1891, and biennially thereafter, the Senate shall appoint six trustees, who shall hold office for four years from the first day of July following their appointment. The Governor may fill any vacancy which occurs during the recess of the General Assembly until its regular session. No trustee shall receive compensation for his services.  [[Connecticut State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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It was soon decided that Austin Farm would house women, while Pierce Farm became the “Department for Men” of the recently renamed Boston Insane Hospital. The new buildings at Pierce Farm, designed by city architect Edmund March Wheelwright, opened in 1895, and a few additional farm buildings were added over the following years.  [[Boston State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 04:21, 25 September 2022

Featured Article Of The Week

Boston State Hospital


BostonSH.png

The Boston State Hospital – originally called the Boston Lunatic Asylum – was founded in South Boston in 1839. By the 1880s, new ideas about the care of the mentally ill emphasized the importance of fresh air, hard work, and separation from the adverse influences (both social and environmental) of city life, an approach that was referred to as “moral treatment.” Thus, when the time came to move out of the old and overcrowded facilities in South Boston, the Asylum’s leaders looked to West Roxbury – at that time a semi-rural area that had only recently been incorporated into the city of Boston – as an appropriate setting for a new hospital.

Beginning in 1884, some Asylum residents were moved to the former almshouse at Austin Farm, just across Morton Street from the present Boston Nature Center, where the Harvard Commons development stands today. In 1892, looking for more room for both buildings and farmland, the City purchased the 35-acre Pierce Farm, along Walk Hill and Canterbury Streets – part of which land is now the western end of the BNC. A few years later, the City bought another parcel of land, adjoining Pierce Farm and Canterbury Street, which now includes much of the Clark Cooper Community Gardens and other areas in the central part of the BNC.

It was soon decided that Austin Farm would house women, while Pierce Farm became the “Department for Men” of the recently renamed Boston Insane Hospital. The new buildings at Pierce Farm, designed by city architect Edmund March Wheelwright, opened in 1895, and a few additional farm buildings were added over the following years. Click here for more...