“A View of ‘Bedlam’: Institutional Visiting in the Early American Republic” by Christopher P. Elmore

“Today many are still shocked to learn of medical institutions entrusted with the care of the sick and mentally ill selling admission and putting their human charges on display, not unlike zoo animals.”

Reliving History Magazine

“Held to account for their use of taxpayer monies, those charged with managing public institutions found it difficult to justify denying the public admittance into their facilities. This was especially true given the dark conditions characteristic of public houses in earlier times, and even more so due to the rather severe methods of treating mental illness at the time. Many hospital administrators felt that opening up their asylums to public view would dispel some of the more lurid rumors that inevitably circulated around conditions within their walls.”

Subscribe today!

More information about Samson Historical Society