Taft State Hospital
| Taft State Hospital | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1930 |
| Opened | 1934 |
| Closed | 1970 |
| Current Status | Active |
| Building Style | Cottage Plan |
| Location | Taft, OK |
| Alternate Names |
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History
In 1931, the Oklahoma Legislature approved the construction of a hospital for people who were both mentally ill and African American; prior to 1934 these patients were treated in separate wards at Central State Hospital in Norman, OK. An All-Black community previously known as Twine and later changed to Taft, 8 miles west of Muskogee was chosen as the building site.
Opened in 1934 to treat only African-American patients, and was unique in the country as it was run entirely by African American staff. Taft State Hospital is one of seven psychiatric facilities in the U.S. built "exclusively to care for insane and idiotic negroes,” however the homeless, poor, and senile, were housed alongside the criminally insane and epileptic and mentally retarded; completely in violation of all state and national psychiatric standards.
In 1941 the institution housed 738 patients in 11 wards. The chief medical officer was Dr. E. P. Henry and was assisted by Dr. E. E. Bowser & Dr. C. E. Ford. In the same report the hospital is said to have employed 3 nurses and used treatments such as; hypoglycemic shock, metrazol shock, and fever therapy. The institution had its own laundry on site, as well as a butcher, bakery, dairy, and farmland where most of the foods used were grown and cultivated by patients.
In 1949 the State Government determined the consolidation of The Institute for Colored Blind, Deaf, and Orphans, The State Hospital for the Negro Insane, and The Training School for Negro Girls; (all had been located in or near Taft).
In 1964, state mental hospitals were desegregated and patients at Taft began to be moved to the state hospitals in Vinita and Norman
Closed in 1970 and converted into a correctional facility (the 3rd such state penitentiary to be placed in Taft by the state in the 100 years since it was founded as an All-African American town), which is still in operation today.
