The Asylum's Quiet Harmony
A rare glimpse into the operations of Washington Territory’s only mental hospital, as reported by its superintendent in 1884.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
To the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for the Insane—Gentlemen: In accordance with your by-laws, I have the honor to submit the following report of the hospital for the year closing this date. By act of our last legislature the year is made to close on June 30th instead of August 15th, as heretofore. This makes our year six weeks shorter than usual. We had 200 patients under care during the year, with 34 discharged as recovered and 22 deaths recorded. The causes of death ranged from 'general paralysis' to 'exhaustion from chronic mania.' The health of the inmates at the present time is good. I have taken great pains to show to sheriffs and others coming from a distance the whole of the hospital. I feel sure that it has been of great benefit to the public, which is so firmly impressed with the idea that an insane asylum is a dreadful place. One man made a visit from southern Oregon to see a sister who had been committed from Spokane county. After having seen his sister and the hospital, he said to me before his departure: 'I came expressly to see what kind of a place my sister had been sent to, and if I was not satisfied I meant to take her away. I am now satisfied that my sister will be well cared for and I will write to her folks that everything is all right.' A very pleasant as well as beneficial attraction has been added in the way of a brass band, which performs weekly for the patients. With good will within and without, we enter hopefully upon the duties of another year. Respectfully submitted, John W. Waughop, Supt.
“I feel sure that it has been of great benefit to the public, which is so firmly impressed with the idea that an insane asylum is a dreadful place.”
In 1884, Superintendent Waughop was actively fighting the public stigma attached to mental illness by inviting families for tours. Today, while the facilities have transformed from 'insane asylums' to modern behavioral health centers, the struggle to de-stigmatize mental healthcare and ensure humane, well-funded treatment remains a central civic challenge in Washington.
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