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

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|Title= Topeka State Hospital
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|Title= Northampton State Hospital
|Image= Tsh.jpg
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|Image= Northampton_insane_asylum.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
|Width= 150px
|Body= Legislature appropriated $25,000 in 1875 "for the purpose of building an asylum for the insane at some convenient and healthy spot within two miles of the state capitol building in the city of Topeka." One condition was that the land would be acquired at no cost to the state. So the city of Topeka and Shawnee County each contributed $6,000 to purchase the original 80 acres.
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|Body= The Lunatic Hospital at Northampton was authorized in 1855 to relieve overcrowding in the Commonwealth's existing asylums at Worcester and Taunton, and especially to serve the population of the state's four western counties. It was planned for 250 patients, a population that was not expected to be reached for some time. Before the improvement of the originally purchased 185 acres overlooking the town of Northampton, one mile to the east. Built in 1856, the Northampton Lunatic Hospital was the fourth Kirkbride building constructed; it originally consisted of a single three-story brick building in the Gothic Revival style and had a capacity for 250 patients. Following the Kirkbride design, the central administration floors were flanked by two patient wings, one for males and one for females. After numerous expansions and additions to relieve overcrowding, the building has become a confusing maze of rooms and hallways.  [[Northampton State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
 
The first two ward buildings, accommodating 135 patients, opened in 1872. Dr. Barnard Douglass Eastman resigned as superintendent of the asylum at Worcester MA to become the first superintendent at TSH. The institution was called the Topeka Insane Asylum until 1901 when the Legislature officially changed the name to Topeka State Hospital. Eastman told legislators that patients who were being released to make room for more patients were "well enough to be in a measure useful. All were of a quiet and harmless character."
 
 
 
He described the treatment process this way: "Removal from the worriment, the overwork, the unsanitary conditions and the unsuitable food of many homes ... occupying body and mind in the new employment, cheering the drooping and melancholy and soothing the excited and irritable, are some of the elements of treatment of the greatest value, sometimes working rapid cures with but little medication." [[Topeka State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
 
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Latest revision as of 11:35, 21 December 2025

Featured Article Of The Week

Northampton State Hospital


Northampton insane asylum.jpg

The Lunatic Hospital at Northampton was authorized in 1855 to relieve overcrowding in the Commonwealth's existing asylums at Worcester and Taunton, and especially to serve the population of the state's four western counties. It was planned for 250 patients, a population that was not expected to be reached for some time. Before the improvement of the originally purchased 185 acres overlooking the town of Northampton, one mile to the east. Built in 1856, the Northampton Lunatic Hospital was the fourth Kirkbride building constructed; it originally consisted of a single three-story brick building in the Gothic Revival style and had a capacity for 250 patients. Following the Kirkbride design, the central administration floors were flanked by two patient wings, one for males and one for females. After numerous expansions and additions to relieve overcrowding, the building has become a confusing maze of rooms and hallways. Click here for more...