Massachusetts

Name: Worcester State Hospital
Brand: Madeline Ryan
SKU: 9781467106047
Price: 18.74 USD
Availability: InStock

Ted Williams, lanky body coiled, wallops another rocket at Fenway’s Green Monster. A youthful “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman sprouts up in Longmeadow, while Howard Johnson plants his first franchise in Quincy. An old dune shack teems with life along the Cape Cod National Seashore. Seven hundred schoolchildren pour through Nantucket streets to march against King Alcohol. Whether it is a nostalgic jaunt through Cambridge or a bit of window shopping at Jordan Marsh, our Massachusetts history books catalogue celebrates every corner of Bay State history. [View all Massachusetts books]

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Worcester State Hospital

Paperback

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Northampton State Hospital

Paperback

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Tewksbury State Hospital

Paperback

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Westborough State Hospital

Paperback

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Abandoned Asylums of Massachusetts

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Worcester State Hospital

9781467106047

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

This unique compilation of photographs vividly illustrate the architecture, landscape, and day-to-day functioning of Worcester State Hospital from its origins in the 19th century to the present day.

The Worcester State Hospital offered a novel and compelling promise: that insanity could be cured by humane treatment in a therapeutic setting. Patients would enjoy its idyllic landscape, genteel interiors, wholesome food supplied from its farm, and the individualized attention of medical professionals. The hospital’s reputation as a “model institution” helped to position the city of Worcester as an economic center and pioneer in social reform. Yet overcrowding, insufficient funds, and the limitations of medical knowledge undermined the institution’s mission, leading to the abandonment of its original features. Despite downsizing and decay, the Worcester State Hospital continues to exert a tangible presence on the landscape. Its iconic clock tower, salvaged from demolition, stands as a reminder of its historical legacy and of the continuing role of the site—now the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital—in the treatment of mental illness.

Madeline Ryan and Katherine Anderson have drawn upon their extensive knowledge of institutional history to craft an illustrated narrative of the Worcester State Hospital utilizing photographs held by the Worcester Historical Museum as well as images from private collections.

Northampton State Hospital

9781467122269

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Northampton State Hospital, established in 1856, was built with the optimistic spirit of humanitarian reform. For many years, it was run by Dr. Pliny Earle, a champion of treatment that combined individualized care with manual labor, religious worship, recreation, and amusement. This vision was overwhelmed as the hospital was called upon to care for ever-larger numbers of people with varying needs. By the mid-20th century, the hospital was an isolated small city, with hundreds of employees caring for more than 2,000 patients in overcrowded and inadequate conditions. It became a nationally important center of political and legal struggle over the role of state hospitals in the care of the mentally ill. After being gradually phased out, the hospital was closed in 1993, and the buildings, though listed in the National Register of Historic Places, were demolished in 2006. This volume brings to life the 135-year story of Northampton State Hospital through beautiful and haunting photographs drawn from the collections of Historic Northampton, the city's local history museum.

Tewksbury State Hospital

9781467106528

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Now known as the Tewksbury State Hospital, the institution was originally a venture by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to provide economical care for state paupers known as the State Almshouse at Tewksbury.

Originally intended to accommodate 500 residents, by the end of 1854 the almshouse had admitted well over 2,200 paupers, thus necessitating future expansion. Although the virtue of the institution was called into question in 1883 by Gov. Benjamin Butler, who decried Supt. Thomas J. Marsh, the almshouse would continue to serve the destitute of the commonwealth for years to come. The name would later be changed to Tewksbury State Hospital to reflect the inclusion of the mentally ill, the sick, and those suffering from infectious disease as patients. Today, the hospital remains operational in providing specialized care in the Thomas J. Saunders Building while also serving as host to various governmental agencies and community organizations like the Public Health Museum on its historic campus. Although many of the early structures were demolished in the 1970s, the Tewksbury State Hospital remains an active institution brimming with architectural beauty and a rich public health history.

Ashlynn Rickord Werner is an historian of state hospitals for the mentally ill and state schools for the developmentally disabled. She serves on the board of directors for the Public Health Museum, which is housed in the Old Administration Building at Tewksbury State Hospital. Jon Maynard is an historian, preservationist, and architectural photographer. He runs Westborough State Hospital Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is building a memorial to the now demolished hospital.

Westborough State Hospital

9781467103183

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

On the banks of Lake Chauncy sit the remains of the Westborough Insane Hospital, later known as Westborough State Hospital.

Westborough is perhaps best known as the second homeopathic hospital for the insane in the United States and the first example of institutional reuse in the nation.The hospital's unique treatment methods put it squarely at the forefront of mental health treatment, and it was one of the last state hospitals in Massachusetts to close its doors.The pioneering African American pathologist Solomon Carter Fuller spent much of his career at Westborough studying the physical changes made to the brain by Alzheimer's.When it closed in 2010, it was the only state hospital in New England with a dedicated unit for deaf and hard of hearing patients.Though somewhat less infamous than some of its neighbors, Westborough holds a very distinctive place in the history of mental health treatment.

Katherine Anderson is a veteran special education teacher and has been researching and writing about asylums and mental health care for more than a decade. With the help of researcher and historian Jon Maynard, this book continues the legacy of Westborough State Hospital and the many men and women who lived and worked there.

Abandoned Asylums of Massachusetts

9781467115544

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

This collection of photographs, history, and firsthand accounts gives readers a glimpse at the roots of mental health. These vignettes are born of the personal stories of those who worked at these facilities, those who were institutionalized, and their families. The authors took the time to listen to their stories and endeavored to understand their pasts and recognize how these events continue to influence the mental health industry today. Pictured throughout are the physical relics of the places—the now largely abandoned asylums—where these stories unfurled.