Not enough time to listen to all the QR code features in the exhibits during your visit? Access them all right here.
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:
The following was published in the March 27, 1955 edition of the Oregonian newspaper as a supplement to an article by Ann Sullivan on new drug treatments being introduced at the Oregon State Hospital. It is excerpted below.
Nine Methods Stand Out In Care of Mentally Ill
These are the most frequent treatments for the mentally ill in use at the Oregon state and most other mental hospitals today:
Psychotherapy, counseling directly with patient by doctor.
Electrotherapy, use of electric shock treatments which often can bring patient back to reality.
Insulin coma, lowering of blood sugar by insulin so that higher centers of central nervous system can be rested, calmed.
Nutritional therapy, use of right food, vitamins, etc., to restore patient to physical health.
Milieu, maintaining setting of healthful social living as much as possible for those who can be helped.
Group therapy, group discussion by patients of mental problems led by a therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist.
Chlorpormazine and reserpine, new drugs which have calming effect on several types of patients.
Attitude therapy, in which entire personnel of a patient’s ward has been particularly instructed on special handling.
Sedatives and Hydrotherapy (warm baths), also used for calming down.
Listen to the 1868 report of visiting physician Dr. J.S. Giltner to the Oregon Hospital for the Insane in Portland. The Oregon Hospital for the Insane was a private hospital run by Drs. Hawthorne and Loreya in Portland, Oregon from 1861-1883. They contracted with the State of Oregon for the care of people diagnosed with insanity prior to the creation of the Oregon State Hospital in Salem.
We are experimenting with the idea of using a combination of QR codes and YouTube videos to create audio features in the exhibit spaces. This is our first attempt. Let us know what you think below.
In researching the history of restraint as a form of treatment we came across this excellent (and entertaining) lecture by archivist Colin Gale on the history of Bethlem Hospital, also known in popular parlance as Bedlam. Bethlem Hospital was founded in London in 1247 and is considered by many the world’s first asylum. As highlighted in the lecture, the hospital had a practice of allowing public tours of the facilities during its history, a questionable practice that has left some interesting eye witness accounts of the facilities and practices.
The property tag on this operating table shows it was used at the Oregon State Hospital, but beyond that we didn’t know too much more about it. So we decided to do some investigating.
A little crawling around on the floor revealed a manufacturer’s tag that reads: “Made by the Shampaine Company, St. Louis Missouri, U.S.A. Model No. S-1502. Serial No. 527. Patent Nos. 2,416,410; 2,501,415; 2,532,677. Other patents pending.”
A quick Google search did not turn up much more than several other pieces from the Shampaine Company for sale on EBay. So we turned to the U.S. Patent Office, hoping that the patent issue dates might give us an early date of manufacture for the piece. With the following results: Read the rest of this entry »
The Oregon State Hospital Museum received a matching grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission for materials to aid in
cataloging and rehousing artifacts at the Oregon State Hospital. We turned in our interim grant report today with the results of the cataloging efforts. To date we have cataloged over 4423 individual items representing 522 different types of materials. These include everything from chairs (44) to alarms (3) to theracycles (2).
The grant has allowed the museum to purchase PastPerfect museum software, an electronic database which will allow us to track individual items. The database now has records* for:
Each record has space for us to attach a photo of the material and fields to track size, medium, type, creator, place of origin, etc. The great part about this database is that we can also tag records with different categories and names, which will make finding materials for exhibits and research much easier.
The second half of the grant project includes purchasing archival quality storage materials to help us rehouse the collections and preserve them for future generations. This will mean replacing the wadded newspaper used to quickly pack materials before the building was torn down.
In 1905, 48 people were admitted to the Oregon State Insane Asylum with a diagnosis of “alcoholism” and 16 for syphilitic symptoms.[1] George F. Berger was one of those people.
Berger was born in Wisconsin in April of 1869 to Frank and Margaret Berger, Germans who had immigrated to the United States from what is now Baden-Württemberg.[2] His family, including an older sister Mary, farmed in Randolph, Courtland, Columbia County, Wisconsin.[3]
Sometime between 1870 and 1880, the family moved to Oregon. By the 1880 Federal Census, George was 12 years old and living on Olive Street in Eugene. Father Frank is no longer in the picture and mother Margaret is going by the last name of Haney, suggesting she may have remarried. With a two year old brother named Jacob Berger, it would further suggest that George’s father died or left sometime between 1878 and 1880, leaving George as the man of the house at a very young age.
Due to an unfortunate fire which destroyed the 1890 Federal Census, we are forced to pick up George’s trail again in Oregon City in 1896 when we find him working as a bartender for Thomas Trembrath.[4] Four years later, he had moved back to his mother’s 5th Street home in Eugene, where he and his now 21-year-old brother both worked as bartenders.[5] Berger did not keep a low profile after his move back to Eugene. He was arrested and fined for gambling at least twice. As a 1903 Oregonian article reported: Read the rest of this entry »
With Wimbledon wrapping up, we thought we would highlight this very interesting piece of tennis history found in the recreational therapy supplies at the Oregon State Hospital. The most striking feature of this wooden tennis racket (2012.001.006), is the color portrait of a young woman named Maureen Connolly, at one time one of the most accomplished tennis players in the world.
Before the Williams Sisters, Graff, Navratilova and even Billie Jean King, Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly became the first woman ever to win a Grand Slam — winning all four Grand Slam events in a calendar year — which she did in 1953. Did we mention she was just a teenager at the time?
Her accomplishments are incredible considering the length of her career. A horse riding accident, led to her retirement from tennis at the tender age of 19, just two weeks after she won her third consecutive Wimbledon title. Read the rest of this entry »
The following is the description of duties of the watchman and watchwomen employed by the Oregon State Hospital as spelled out in the Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Oregon State Insane Asylum, Revised April 15, 1908.
WATCHMAN
1. The duties of the watchman will commence at 8 o’clock P.M., at which time he will visit the office to receive instructions for the night.
2. He must, while on duty, be faithful and vigilant; visit every part of the male wards at least every hour during the night, making as little noise as possible, never conversing in a loud tone, and opening and shutting the doors as quietly as possible.
3. He must be kind, gentle, and soothing in his manners to the patients, and use every means in his power to tranquilize those who are excited, and to allay the fears and apprehensions of the timid; he will pay particular attention to the sick, the suicidal, and those recently admitted; will see that the patients are properly supplied with water when it is asked for, and will attend to all other reasonable wants; will notice any unusual noise in the patients’ rooms, endeavor to ascertain the cause, and, if necessary, report the same to the attendant. He will notice anything unusual occurring during the night, and enter the same on a a slate or book provided for the purpose [see example of book here], and he shall report any irregularities, neglect of duty or violation of rules which may come under his notice.
4. It will be the duty of the watchman to look after the heating apparatus during the night; he must be very watchful about fire, and, in case of its occurrence must immediately give general alarm; he shall ring the bell at the hour for rising in the morning, and he shall perform such other duties as may be required of him.
WATCHWOMAN
1. The watchwoman shall have charge of the interior of the female department during the night. In the management of the patients, and in the discharge of other duties, she must be governed by the rules and regulations laid down for the government of the watchman.
The following was published in By Laws of Trustees Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Oregon State Insane Asylum,revised April 15, 1908.
Article V.
MATRON
Section 1: The matron shall, under the direction of the superintendent, have charge of the female department of the asylum. She shall have a general supervision of the sewing department. She shall be with the female patients in all the wards as much as possible; see that they are kindly treated; that their food is properly cooked, served and distributed; that their apartments are kept clean and in good order, and properly warmed and ventilated; that the female employees attend to their duties in all respects, and report to the superintendent any departure on their part from the rules and regulations of the institution.
Can you identify this?
Oregon State Hospital Museum Project 