Taft State Hospital

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Taft State Hospital
Established 1930
Opened 1934
Closed 1970
Current Status Active
Building Style Cottage Plan
Location Taft, OK
Alternate Names
  • Taft State Hospital for the Negro Insane
  • Jess Dunn Correctional Center



History

Opened in 1934 to treat only African-American patients. Taft State Hospital is one of seven psychiatric facilities in the U.S. built exclusively to care for “insane and idiotic negroes,” where the homeless and downtrodden are housed alongside the criminally insane and diseased, completely in violation of all state and national psychiatric standards.

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 near Taft. The institution was then integrated in 1950.

Closed in 1970 and converted into a correctional facility.

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