Difference between pages "Norwalk State Hospital" and "Kankakee State Hospital"

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{{infobox institution
 
{{infobox institution
| name = Norwalk State Hospital
+
| name = Kankakee State Hospital
| image = Norwalk.jpg
+
| image = Kankakee.png
 
| image_size = 250px
 
| image_size = 250px
| alt =
+
| alt =
| caption = Main Building
+
| caption =  
| established = 1915
+
| established = 1877
| construction_began =  
+
| construction_began = 1878
 
| construction_ended =
 
| construction_ended =
| opened = 1916
+
| opened = 1879
 
| closed =
 
| closed =
 
| demolished =
 
| demolished =
 
| current_status = [[Active Institution|Active]]
 
| current_status = [[Active Institution|Active]]
| building_style = [[Cottage Planned Institutions|Cottage Plan]]
+
| building_style = [[Cottage Planned Institutions|Cottage Plan]]<br>
 +
[[Kirkbride Planned Institutions|Kirkbride Plan]]
 
| architect(s) =
 
| architect(s) =
| location = Norwalk, Los Angeles County, CA
+
| location = Kankakee, IL
| architecture_style =
+
| architecture_style = Romanesque
| peak_patient_population =
+
| peak_patient_population = ~4,500 in mid-1950s
 
| alternate_names =<br>
 
| alternate_names =<br>
*Metropolitan State Hospital  
+
*Illinois Eastern Hospital for the Insane
 +
*Kankakee Developmental Center
 +
*Kankakee Mental Health Center
 +
*Governor Samuel H. Shapiro Development Center
 
}}
 
}}
  
==History==
+
== History ==
A study by a group of Los Angeles County Psychiatrists projected that with the area’s population growth and overcrowding at Patton State Hospital there was a need for a second Los Angeles area hospital. On June 7, 1913, based on this study, Governor Hiram Johnson signed Senate Bill No. 739 appropriating authority and funds to create a second state hospital in Southern California for the reception and treatment of California’s increasing population of persons with psychiatric disabilities, alcohol and drug addiction. Three hundred and five acres of land in Norwalk were purchased for $90,000 after a selection committee had inspected twenty Southern California sites and considered forty separate proposals. The three top contenders for the new facility were Beverly Hills, Signal Hill and Norwalk. Signal Hill in Long Beach was rejected because the sea air was not perceived as healthful as the country air in Norwalk. In addition, the climate was damp and foggy, and it was difficult to access. The decision to place the hospital in Norwalk was prompted primarily due to its location, with easy access to good roads and railroad service. At the time, Norwalk was a very large and popular resort area that was used seasonally because of its clean, healthy air, mild temperatures, mineral baths, Railroad Station as well as being the “in place” to have a cottage.  
+
On May 25, 1877, the Illinois Legislature approved the building of a new hospital to serve the eastern part of the state. The legislation directed Gov. Shelby Cullom to appoint a group of seven commissioners who would choose a location for the new institution. Selection of the commissioners involved regional rivalries and other political considerations; the final makeup of that group could be vital in determining which town would be chosen. Many cities offered inducements by way of donations, for the location of the new hospital but the site finally selected was a farm of 250 acres near Kankakee, and this was subsequently enlarged by the purchase of 327 additional acres in 1881.
  
On February 15, 1916, the State Lunacy Commission opened Norwalk State Hospital with 105 patients on Wards 2 and 4 with 21 employees, including one physician. Many of these patients most likely had a syphilis induced psychosis and were termed luetic patients, meaning a patient who was affected by syphilis. These first patients were noted to be “accommodating male patients of a quiet working class” and were transferred by rail and buckboard from Patton State Hospital (PSH) in Patton, CA. Those that came by buckboard, a four-wheeled horse drawn wagon, reportedly camped along the way for rest stops. These patients later assisted hospital staff with the building and development of the original construction located between Circle Drive and what has become Bloomfield Avenue. Circle Drive was planned as a frontage road for a cottage style hospital with separate buildings as opposed to one large complex modeled in the Kirkbride tradition which was devised for the Moral Treatment of mentally ill patients.
+
Work was begun in 1878 and the first patients received in December 1879. the plan of the institution is, in many respects, unique. It comprises a general building three stories high capable of accommodating 300 to 400 patients and a number of detached buildings, technically termed cottages, where various classes of insane patients may be grouped and receive the particular treatment best adapted to ensure their recovery. The plans were mainly worked out from suggestions by Frederick Howard Wines, LL.D., then Secretary of the Board of Public Charities, and have attracted generally favorable comment both in this country and abroad.
  
Many changes have taken place since the opening of Norwalk State Hospital on February 15, 1916 including the development of psychotropic medications, increased therapies and improved standards of care. On September 9, 1953 a voluntary name change to Metropolitan State Hospital was requested so as to represent the service area and not the geography of the hospital’s location. In 2012 the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) was formed to streamline the state hospital system. The hospital was renamed DSH-Metropolitan at that time and is one of five existing state hospitals in California. Today DSH-Metropolitan has a daily census of approximately 750 patients and approximately 1,400 employees.  
+
The seventy-five buildings occupied for the various purposes of the institution, cover a quarter section of land laid off in regular streets, beautified with trees, plants and flowers, and presenting all the appearance of a flourishing village with numerous small parks adorned with walks and drives.
  
The facility celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 15, 2016. To commemorate the occasion, the facility opened a Mental Health Museum, unveiled a ceramic tiled Centennial Wall, sponsored an all day mental health conference, provided a retiree/alumni tea and social, and facilitated multiple patient events.
+
The counties from which patients are received include:
 +
Cook, Champaign, Coles, Cumberland, De Witt, Douglas Edgar, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, La Salle, Livingston, Macon, McLean, Moultrie, Piatt, Shelby, Vermilion and Will. The whole number of patients in 1898 was 2,200 while the employees of all classes numbered 500.
  
 +
For the first quarter-century of its existence, the hospital grew steadily in both physical facilities and patient population. The first patient was admitted on Dec. 4, 1879; by Jan. 1, 1880, the patient population was 33. The patient population had risen to 2,300 by 1903, with more than 700 people (including eight physicians) providing treatment and support services. By 1903, the original dozen or so buildings had increased to nearly 50. The large central clock tower building, with multi-story wings on each side, housed hundreds of patients as well as hospital offices and living quarters for physicians. Twenty-six large stone cottages provided housing for from 24 to 173 patients each; 15 housed male patients, and 11 were reserved for female patients. More than two dozen additional structures served various support functions and employee housing.
  
Marilyn Monroe's mother Gladys was treated at this hospital after she had suffered a mental break down. Bela Lugosi is another famous former patient, admitted for 90 days in 1955 to treat his morphine addiction.
+
In 1975 the hospital became the center for care and treatment of the developmentally disabled and all other patients were moved elsewhere. The Kirkbride houses offices & a small number of elderly patients.
  
*[http://www.storymania.com/cgibin/sm2/smreadtitle.cgi?action=display&file=nonfiction/HandleyP-TheFinalAnalysis.htm "The Final Analysis" by Pegi Handley]
+
===Note:===
 +
This hospital started out planned as a Kirkbride, but was changed to a cottage plan while it was still being planned and built. It has been argued that this hospital was the first cottage plan to be built. Yet, some of the buildings on the campus do have building/ground styles that can be attributed to the Kirkbride plan.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Images of Kankakee State Hospital ==
 +
{{image gallery|[[Kankakee State Hospital Image Gallery|Kankakee State Hospital]]}}
  
==Images==
 
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
File:CAnorwalk.jpg
+
file:084a.jpg
 +
file:Kankakee01.png
 +
file:003a.jpg
 +
file:Kankakee6.png
 +
File:15689582850 368171585e_z.jpg
 +
File:kankakeeIL008.jpg
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
[[Category:California]]
+
==Video==
 +
* Video from Kirkbrides HD ~ http://www.vimeo.com/channels/KirkbridesHD
 +
 
 +
* http://www.vimeo.com/kirkbrideshd/kankakee
 +
 
 +
{{#ev:youtube|rauwH8Guhf0}}
 +
 
 +
==Cemetery==
 +
Located next to the Kankakee Community College, which used to be part of the hospital farm. The cemetery contains 1,500-2,000 graves of patients.
 +
 
 +
== Links & Additional Information ==
 +
[http://www3.gendisasters.com/illinois/10988/kankakee-il-insane-hospital-fire-jan-1885 An article on the 1885 fire]
 +
 
 +
The Architecture of Madness-Insane Asylums in the United States, Yanni, Carla, University of Minnesota Press (2007)
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Illinois]]
 +
[[Category:Active Institution]]
 
[[Category:Cottage Plan]]
 
[[Category:Cottage Plan]]
[[Category:Active Institution]]
+
[[Category:Kirkbride Buildings]]
 +
[[Category:Institution With A Cemetery]]
 +
[[Category:Past Featured Article Of The Week]]
 +
[[Category:Articles With Videos]]

Revision as of 20:23, 19 October 2024

Kankakee State Hospital
Established 1877
Construction Began 1878
Opened 1879
Current Status Active
Building Style Cottage Plan
Kirkbride Plan
Location Kankakee, IL
Architecture Style Romanesque
Peak Patient Population ~4,500 in mid-1950s
Alternate Names
  • Illinois Eastern Hospital for the Insane
  • Kankakee Developmental Center
  • Kankakee Mental Health Center
  • Governor Samuel H. Shapiro Development Center



History

On May 25, 1877, the Illinois Legislature approved the building of a new hospital to serve the eastern part of the state. The legislation directed Gov. Shelby Cullom to appoint a group of seven commissioners who would choose a location for the new institution. Selection of the commissioners involved regional rivalries and other political considerations; the final makeup of that group could be vital in determining which town would be chosen. Many cities offered inducements by way of donations, for the location of the new hospital but the site finally selected was a farm of 250 acres near Kankakee, and this was subsequently enlarged by the purchase of 327 additional acres in 1881.

Work was begun in 1878 and the first patients received in December 1879. the plan of the institution is, in many respects, unique. It comprises a general building three stories high capable of accommodating 300 to 400 patients and a number of detached buildings, technically termed cottages, where various classes of insane patients may be grouped and receive the particular treatment best adapted to ensure their recovery. The plans were mainly worked out from suggestions by Frederick Howard Wines, LL.D., then Secretary of the Board of Public Charities, and have attracted generally favorable comment both in this country and abroad.

The seventy-five buildings occupied for the various purposes of the institution, cover a quarter section of land laid off in regular streets, beautified with trees, plants and flowers, and presenting all the appearance of a flourishing village with numerous small parks adorned with walks and drives.

The counties from which patients are received include: Cook, Champaign, Coles, Cumberland, De Witt, Douglas Edgar, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, La Salle, Livingston, Macon, McLean, Moultrie, Piatt, Shelby, Vermilion and Will. The whole number of patients in 1898 was 2,200 while the employees of all classes numbered 500.

For the first quarter-century of its existence, the hospital grew steadily in both physical facilities and patient population. The first patient was admitted on Dec. 4, 1879; by Jan. 1, 1880, the patient population was 33. The patient population had risen to 2,300 by 1903, with more than 700 people (including eight physicians) providing treatment and support services. By 1903, the original dozen or so buildings had increased to nearly 50. The large central clock tower building, with multi-story wings on each side, housed hundreds of patients as well as hospital offices and living quarters for physicians. Twenty-six large stone cottages provided housing for from 24 to 173 patients each; 15 housed male patients, and 11 were reserved for female patients. More than two dozen additional structures served various support functions and employee housing.

In 1975 the hospital became the center for care and treatment of the developmentally disabled and all other patients were moved elsewhere. The Kirkbride houses offices & a small number of elderly patients.

Note:

This hospital started out planned as a Kirkbride, but was changed to a cottage plan while it was still being planned and built. It has been argued that this hospital was the first cottage plan to be built. Yet, some of the buildings on the campus do have building/ground styles that can be attributed to the Kirkbride plan.


Images of Kankakee State Hospital

Main Image Gallery: Kankakee State Hospital


Video

Cemetery

Located next to the Kankakee Community College, which used to be part of the hospital farm. The cemetery contains 1,500-2,000 graves of patients.

Links & Additional Information

An article on the 1885 fire

The Architecture of Madness-Insane Asylums in the United States, Yanni, Carla, University of Minnesota Press (2007)