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Welcome to Asylum Projects, A historic asylum wiki anyone can edit. 2,369 articles and counting

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Mission Statement

The Mission

The mission of this site is to archive both historical and current information on asylums across the United States and around the world.

The Statement

This site is dedicated to the history of asylums in all forms. The term of asylum is applied to not only what is commonly thought of: mental hospitals, but can also be applied to sanatoriums, state training schools, reform schools, almshouses, and orphanages. These institutions have and continue to play a major part in today's society.

Everyone throughout the United States and in many other countries has in one way or another felt the touch of these institutions. These places have both directly and indirectly affected people and their families. They have shaped lives and created many popular myths about them.

With all that in mind, this site was created to help in the historical research of any institutions that can be classified as an asylum. It was created for both serious researchers, those who are doing genealogical research, and people with an interest in asylums.

Featured Article Of The Week

Florida State Hospital

The Florida State Hospital, established in 1876, is located at Chattahoochee in the panhandle of Northwest Florida. It is on the site of an old United States Arsenal, which was built in 1834, just below the junction of the Flint and the Chattahoochee River, to command the ships on the Apalachicola River.

Florida State Hospital was originally a Federal Arsenal, built by the U.S. Army to be used as an arms depot during the second Seminole Indian War. It was used by the Freedman's Bureau from 1865 to 1868, and then served as the state's first penitentiary. Two of the original buildings still remain; the Officer's Quarters, which now serves as the Florida State Hospital Administration Building, and a Powder Magazine, which is currently being restored for eventual use as a museum and conference center.

The facility remained Florida's only state mental institution until 1947 and continues today to be the largest of a statewide system of treatment centers for individuals with mental and physical disabilities. It is listed on the National Historic Registry. Click here for more...

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Featured Image Of The Week

The Florida Industrial School for Girls was a reclamation school for delinquent females in Ocala, Florida. The state legislature first established the school in 1915, and was opened in 1917. The industrial school originally accepted girls from nine to seventeen years of age, but later accepted only those ages twelve to seventeen. No pregnant females were allowed. They were trained in home economics as well as traditional school curricula. The facility was located at 307 Southeast 26th Terrace. In 1995, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Featured Video

Let There Be Light was a 1946 American documentary film directed by John Huston. The film was the final entry in a John Huston trilogy of films produced by the request of the U.S. This documentary film follows 75 U.S. soldiers who have sustained debilitating emotional trauma and depression. A series of scenes chronicle their entry into a psychiatric hospital, their treatment and eventual recovery. Much of the filming was shot at Edgewood State Hospital. The film was controversial in its extremely effective portrayal of shell-shocked soldiers from the war. It was subsequently banned after its release despite the fact that the movie was commissioned by the US Army itself, due to the potentially demoralizing effects the film might have on the soldiers.

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Recent Message Board Posts

For everyone asking genealogical questions, please read this message from the administrators.

Hello,

In this space you normally would see our forum. This had been a hold over from earlier days before we had a Facebook page. Just prior to our server issues regular users had been barely using the forum with the majority of new posts from anonymous users asking genealogy questions or spammers. The old forum software does not work with our new version while the new forum software does not carry over old comments to the new forum. As a result, the forum will be discontinued in favor of our Facebook page. If you have questions or comments you can ask them there.

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