Elgin State Hospital
Encyclopedia
The Elgin Mental Health Center (formerly Elgin State Hospital) is a mental health facility operated by the State of Illinois in Elgin, Illinois
. Although during its history, its mission has changed, at times it treated mental illness, tuberculosis, and provided federally-funded care for veterans. The hospital's site, which included a patient-staffed farm reached a maximum of 1139 acres (4.6 km²) after World War II
.
opened in Jacksonville, Illinois
in 1851, but the need for two more hospitals serving Northern and Southern Illinois became apparent. The legislature authorized the two new hospitals on April 16, 1869, and set up a committee to select a site for the Northern Illinois hospital. To gain this important source of future employment, the City of Elgin sold more than $40,000 worth of bonds to purchase 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) of land south of the city limits and also promised to provide free freight to the site for building materials. After the site was selected, a Board of Trustees, primarily consisting of prominent Elgin residents, was appointed to construct and run the new hospital. The Trustees followed the recommendations of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane
(AMSAII), in terms of the amount of land required and also by adopting the Kirkbride Plan
for the Central Building. Colonel S.V. Shipman, who had designed the main building of the Mendota, Wisconsin state hospital, was selected as the architect of the Elgin building. The front expanse of the Center Building was 1086 feet (331 m) and was designed to be narrow in order to offer natural light and ventilation. The building was used until it was demolished in 1993.
The hospital received its first patient on April 3, 1872. It was originally called the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane, and its first superintendent was Edwin Arius Kilbourne.
The hospital received its first criminal patient who was "not guilty by reason of insanity" in 1873. and this "forensic" population grew until the legislature established a separate state hospital for the forensic population in Chester, Illinois in 1889.
The hospital outgrew the Central Building and the Annex building was opened in 1891, just south of the Center Building with 300 additional beds. Identical buildings were also built at Jacksonville and Anna. The Annex was closed in 1971 and razed in 1972.
Prior to 1894, many physically ill patients were denied admission to the state hospitals as being too infirm to benefit from care and were kept in local almshouses. However, changes in Illinois laws required that they be treated by the state hospitals. As a result, in 1894, Wing Hall opened as a detached infirmary building, bringing the total hospital capacity to 1,107 beds. In 1910, a 110 bed infirmary for female patients opened in an addition to the north end of the Center Building called "D-North" bringing the bed capacity to 1,210. These buildings were replaced in 1921 with the construction of a new general hospital located between the Central Building and the Annex. In 1967, this hospital was replaced by a new Medical and Surgical Building. The new circular building was designed by Bertrand Goldberg
, who also designed Marina City
in Chicago.
The hospital attracted staff by offering subsidized housing on its grounds. Both the Central Building and the Annex included staff apartments. Later a separate Nurses' Home, Staff House, Ricketts & Carriel Hall offered staff apartments. There were also at least seven single family houses. Cooking and laundry facilities were provided to employees, but many ate in central staff dining rooms located in the Center Building and the Staff House. Senior staff had their own dining room on the second floor of the Center Building. The cost of housing, food and laundry was deducted from employee paychecks. In 1965, the hospital began to phase out staff housing, with the last residents departing in 1969.
The name Elgin State Hospital was adopted on January 1, 1910, shortly after the administration of all state charitable institutions came under the new Board of Administration, which replaced the previous Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities and the local board of trustees. In 1917, the Department of Public Welfare assumed responsibility for Elgin State Hospital and retained control until the creation of the Department of Mental Health in 1961 (L. 1961, p. 2666).
Following World War I
, the federal veteran's bureau contracted with the State of Illinois to erect new buildings on the grounds of the state hospitals to care for veterans. Elgin received the first such building, named Wilson Cottage, which was opened in 1921. The veteran's program was a "hospital within a hospital" with separate federal funding. Elgin State continued to maintain over 400 beds for ex-serivemen through the 1930s.
In 1929, the Illinois State Psychopathic Institute relocated to the grounds of Elgin State, which included schools for nursing, hydrotherapy and occupational therapy. The institute also conducted clinical trials for new drugs. Although the Institute moved to the Medical campus of the University of Illinois in 1935, its laboratory remained at Elgin State. Further innovations at Elgin came from the pastoral training of its chaplain Anton Boisen
.
From its founding through the 1960s, the hospital maintained a farm to supply a portion of its food needs. For example, a October 1, 1880 inventory reported 285 hogs, 40 cattle and 26 horses. The original farm was located to the west of the Center Building and Annex. In the 1880s, a slaughter house was built along the Fox River
to provide meat for the hospital. In 1929, the state purchased the 143 acre (0.57870098 km²) farm adjacent to the southwest corner of its grounds, which brought its land area to 817 acres (3.3 km²) with another 190 acre (0.7689034 km²) under lease. A farm colony was built adjacent to McLean Blvd on the west end of the grounds with three wards, a central kitchen, a power plant, a large dairy barn and a water tower. During the 1930s and 1940s the farm not only grew crops such as corn, but also raised 100 to 150 dairy cattle, 500 to 1,500 hogs, and 5,000 chicken at any time. The farm colony housed able-bodied male patients. The farm colony contributed approximately one third of the total cost of food used at the hospital, which fed both patients and staff. After World War II, the hospital reached its maximum size of 1139 acres (4.6 km²), but later shrunk as portion of the grounds were assigned to the State Highway Department and the Elgin Community College
campus.
In 1975, the hospital changed its name to the Elgin Mental Health Center.
In 1983, the Governor decided that state hospital operations would be consolidated, and closed the hospitals in Manteno and Galesburg with certain patients being transferred to Elgin. In 1987, Illinois and the United States Justice Department entered into a consent decree committing to greater resources at Elgin and improved patient care.
.) The hospital also provides mental health inpatient treatment for adults from a specific geographic catchment area and works closely with the community mental health agencies and community hospital psychiatric units in its region.
, Elgin had 759.5 employees and an appropriation of $66,251,900. , Elgin had 582 beds, 40 physicians, 163 registered nurses, and 67 medical social workers.
All of the buildings on the northern half of the grounds, except for the Administration Building which was built in 1967, were removed and only asphalt roads, without curbs or sidewalks remain.
Elgin, Illinois
Elgin is a city in northern Illinois located roughly northwest of Chicago on the Fox River. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois, with a portion in Cook County, Illinois...
. Although during its history, its mission has changed, at times it treated mental illness, tuberculosis, and provided federally-funded care for veterans. The hospital's site, which included a patient-staffed farm reached a maximum of 1139 acres (4.6 km²) after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
History
Illinois' first mental hospitalJacksonville Developmental Center
The Jacksonville Developmental Center is an institution that currently serves developmentally challenged clients and is located in Jacksonville, Illinois.-History:...
opened in Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....
in 1851, but the need for two more hospitals serving Northern and Southern Illinois became apparent. The legislature authorized the two new hospitals on April 16, 1869, and set up a committee to select a site for the Northern Illinois hospital. To gain this important source of future employment, the City of Elgin sold more than $40,000 worth of bonds to purchase 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) of land south of the city limits and also promised to provide free freight to the site for building materials. After the site was selected, a Board of Trustees, primarily consisting of prominent Elgin residents, was appointed to construct and run the new hospital. The Trustees followed the recommendations of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane
Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane
The Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, also known as The Superintendents' Association, was organized in Philadelphia in October, 1844 at a meeting of 13 superintendents, making it the first professional medical specialty organization in the U.S...
(AMSAII), in terms of the amount of land required and also by adopting the Kirkbride Plan
Kirkbride Plan
The Kirkbride Plan refers to a system of mental asylum design advocated by Philadelphia psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride in the mid-19th century.-History:The establishment of state mental hospitals in the U.S...
for the Central Building. Colonel S.V. Shipman, who had designed the main building of the Mendota, Wisconsin state hospital, was selected as the architect of the Elgin building. The front expanse of the Center Building was 1086 feet (331 m) and was designed to be narrow in order to offer natural light and ventilation. The building was used until it was demolished in 1993.
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| Edwin A. Kilbourne | 1871–1890 |
| Henry Brooks | 1890–1893 |
| Arthur Loewy | 1893–1897 |
| John B. Hamilton John B. Hamilton John B. Hamilton was an American physician and soldier. He was appointed the second Surgeon General of the United States from 1879 to 1891.-Early years:... |
1897–1898 |
| Frank Jenks (acting) | 1898–1899 |
| Frank Witman | 1899–1906 |
| Vaclav Podstata | 1906–1910 |
| Sidney D. Wilgus | 1910–1911 |
| Ralph Hinton | 1911–1914 and 1917–1930 |
| Henry J. Gahagan | 1914–1917 |
| Charles F. Read | 1930–1946 |
| D. Louis Steinberg | 1946–1953 |
| Daniel Haffron | 1953–1963 |
| Ernest S. Klein | 1963–1970 |
| Daniel Manelli | 1970–1972 |
| Robert J. Mackie | 1972–1986 |
| Roalda Alderman | 1986–1991 |
| Angelo Campagna | 1992–1995 |
The hospital received its first patient on April 3, 1872. It was originally called the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane, and its first superintendent was Edwin Arius Kilbourne.
The hospital received its first criminal patient who was "not guilty by reason of insanity" in 1873. and this "forensic" population grew until the legislature established a separate state hospital for the forensic population in Chester, Illinois in 1889.
The hospital outgrew the Central Building and the Annex building was opened in 1891, just south of the Center Building with 300 additional beds. Identical buildings were also built at Jacksonville and Anna. The Annex was closed in 1971 and razed in 1972.
Prior to 1894, many physically ill patients were denied admission to the state hospitals as being too infirm to benefit from care and were kept in local almshouses. However, changes in Illinois laws required that they be treated by the state hospitals. As a result, in 1894, Wing Hall opened as a detached infirmary building, bringing the total hospital capacity to 1,107 beds. In 1910, a 110 bed infirmary for female patients opened in an addition to the north end of the Center Building called "D-North" bringing the bed capacity to 1,210. These buildings were replaced in 1921 with the construction of a new general hospital located between the Central Building and the Annex. In 1967, this hospital was replaced by a new Medical and Surgical Building. The new circular building was designed by Bertrand Goldberg
Bertrand Goldberg
Bertrand Goldberg was an American architect best known for the Marina City complex in Chicago, Illinois, the tallest residential concrete building in the world at the time of completion.-Life and career:...
, who also designed Marina City
Marina City
Marina City is a mixed-use residential/commercial building complex occupying an entire city block on State Street in Chicago, Illinois. It lies on the north bank of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, directly across from the Loop district...
in Chicago.
The hospital attracted staff by offering subsidized housing on its grounds. Both the Central Building and the Annex included staff apartments. Later a separate Nurses' Home, Staff House, Ricketts & Carriel Hall offered staff apartments. There were also at least seven single family houses. Cooking and laundry facilities were provided to employees, but many ate in central staff dining rooms located in the Center Building and the Staff House. Senior staff had their own dining room on the second floor of the Center Building. The cost of housing, food and laundry was deducted from employee paychecks. In 1965, the hospital began to phase out staff housing, with the last residents departing in 1969.
The name Elgin State Hospital was adopted on January 1, 1910, shortly after the administration of all state charitable institutions came under the new Board of Administration, which replaced the previous Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities and the local board of trustees. In 1917, the Department of Public Welfare assumed responsibility for Elgin State Hospital and retained control until the creation of the Department of Mental Health in 1961 (L. 1961, p. 2666).
Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the federal veteran's bureau contracted with the State of Illinois to erect new buildings on the grounds of the state hospitals to care for veterans. Elgin received the first such building, named Wilson Cottage, which was opened in 1921. The veteran's program was a "hospital within a hospital" with separate federal funding. Elgin State continued to maintain over 400 beds for ex-serivemen through the 1930s.
In 1929, the Illinois State Psychopathic Institute relocated to the grounds of Elgin State, which included schools for nursing, hydrotherapy and occupational therapy. The institute also conducted clinical trials for new drugs. Although the Institute moved to the Medical campus of the University of Illinois in 1935, its laboratory remained at Elgin State. Further innovations at Elgin came from the pastoral training of its chaplain Anton Boisen
Anton Boisen
Anton Theophilus Boisen was widely regarded as a pioneering figure in the hospital chaplaincy and clinical pastoral education movements. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Boisen was the son of Hermann Balthsar Boisen and Elisabeth Louisa Wylie...
.
From its founding through the 1960s, the hospital maintained a farm to supply a portion of its food needs. For example, a October 1, 1880 inventory reported 285 hogs, 40 cattle and 26 horses. The original farm was located to the west of the Center Building and Annex. In the 1880s, a slaughter house was built along the Fox River
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois in the United States. There are two other "Fox Rivers" in southern Illinois: the Fox River and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.-Wisconsin:The Fox River rises near...
to provide meat for the hospital. In 1929, the state purchased the 143 acre (0.57870098 km²) farm adjacent to the southwest corner of its grounds, which brought its land area to 817 acres (3.3 km²) with another 190 acre (0.7689034 km²) under lease. A farm colony was built adjacent to McLean Blvd on the west end of the grounds with three wards, a central kitchen, a power plant, a large dairy barn and a water tower. During the 1930s and 1940s the farm not only grew crops such as corn, but also raised 100 to 150 dairy cattle, 500 to 1,500 hogs, and 5,000 chicken at any time. The farm colony housed able-bodied male patients. The farm colony contributed approximately one third of the total cost of food used at the hospital, which fed both patients and staff. After World War II, the hospital reached its maximum size of 1139 acres (4.6 km²), but later shrunk as portion of the grounds were assigned to the State Highway Department and the Elgin Community College
Elgin Community College
Elgin Community College is a U.S. post-secondary educational institution which awards Associate of Arts degrees. It was founded in 1949 as part of Elgin Area School District U46. Community College District #509 was formed 17 years later in 1966, a year after Illinois legislators created the...
campus.
In 1975, the hospital changed its name to the Elgin Mental Health Center.
In 1983, the Governor decided that state hospital operations would be consolidated, and closed the hospitals in Manteno and Galesburg with certain patients being transferred to Elgin. In 1987, Illinois and the United States Justice Department entered into a consent decree committing to greater resources at Elgin and improved patient care.
Today
The hospital is primarily used to care for "forensic patients" who have been found "not guilty by reason of insanity," and those persons found "unfit to stand trial," but who are required by Illinois law to remained confined in a mental hospital for a period of time. (Convicted criminals who are mentally ill are confined at the Chester Mental Health CenterChester Mental Health Center
The Chester Mental Health Center is a mental health facility for criminals operated by the State of Illinois in Chester, Illinois. It is adjacent to the Menard State Prison.-History:...
.) The hospital also provides mental health inpatient treatment for adults from a specific geographic catchment area and works closely with the community mental health agencies and community hospital psychiatric units in its region.
, Elgin had 759.5 employees and an appropriation of $66,251,900. , Elgin had 582 beds, 40 physicians, 163 registered nurses, and 67 medical social workers.
All of the buildings on the northern half of the grounds, except for the Administration Building which was built in 1967, were removed and only asphalt roads, without curbs or sidewalks remain.
Notable patients
- David Hyrum SmithDavid Hyrum SmithDavid Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader, poet, painter, singer, philosopher, and naturalist. The youngest son of Joseph Smith, Jr. and Emma Hale Smith, he was an influential missionary and leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was born approximately five months after the murder of...
- son of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movementLatter Day Saint movementThe Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
. Was confined for 27 years.