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Videos
1964 Description of life on Ward 36 as published in the April 15th Edition of the O.S.H. Quest
1883 Description of OSH Wards as published in the Morning Oregonian
1861 Description of the Hawthorne Asylum in Portland by Dr. J.S. Giltner
Links:
Source: A Survey of the State Mental Institutions of Oregon. Washington, D.C.: United States Public Health Service, 1940.
The Standard Hospital Asylum and Institution Directory, written by M.F. Teehan and Published by Standard Publishing in Topeka, Kansas, was the directory for hospital workers. In addition to topical essays on general practices within asylums and institutions, it lists all institutions in the country (and some in the Caribbean as well) and provides detailed information on such things as staff housing situations, uniforms, staff entertainment, time off per week, salaries paid, size and layout of the hospital, size of the nearest town and approximate transportation fare between the town and the hospital.
It had the following to say about Oregon’s 3 institutions at the time [I have expanded upon the original abbreviations for the purpose of clarity]:
Eastern Oregon State Hospital, [closest town] Pendleton — Population 8,000. 2 miles. 50 c taxi fare.
Wing [layout]. Dr. W.D McNary [Superintendent]. Patients 800. Employees 75. Physicians 3. Semi-weekly amusements. Partial married quarters. Uniform: stripe gingham, belted at waist, bib and strap, white apron. Duty hours: 12.5-14. Night Duty hours: 10. Time Off: 3 afternoons a week.
From Morningside Hospital Catalog, 1920.
“Although Portland is somewhat remote from Alaska…” begins the less obvious explanation in a 1916 book of an intricate history of contractual agreements that brought thousands of Alaskans to Oregon for treatment in mental health facilities here.[1]
This history begins January 16, 1901, when the federal government contracted with the Oregon State Insane Asylum (OSIA) in Salem to care for people deemed “insane” in the then U.S. Territory of Alaska. The year long contract stipulated that OSIA care for what the book calls the “Alaska insane” for $20 per month per patient. During that year 29 patients were taken to Salem, 27 men and 2 women. The contract was renewed for year at the first contracts’ expiration. [2]
Can you identify this?
Oregon State Hospital Museum Project 