Vermont Brattleboro Retreat/Asylum
Cynthia Seguin


 
 

When was this "asylum" opened, and what did it look like? Did it follow Kirkbride's design?   

Retreat Healthcare was founded as the Brattleboro Retreat in 1834, by a $10,000 donation by Anna Marsh as attested to in her will. The hospital was the first facility for the mentally ill in Vermont, and one of the first ten psychiatric hospitals in the United States. The new facility was patterned on a Quaker concept called moral treatment, a daring departure in the care for the mentally ill (Asylum Projects, 2014).

This building was built before Kirkbride design was known, but if you look at the composition of this building it is very similar to Kirkbride’s design

 


What was this institution's original intent?

 The Brattleboro Retreat — the first mental hospital in northern New England, the fifth in America to offer “humane treatment,” and the first anywhere to operate an Asylum Farm, a model followed by the leading mental institutions of the 19th century. From its beginning, the Farm provided food, fuel, occupational therapy, and activity in nature for the Brattleboro Retreat community.

The administration established the following "firsts" among psychiatric hospitals in the U.S.: patient-produced newspaper, bowling alley, chapel, theater, gymnasium, recreation fields, patient chorus, book discussion groups, outing club, working hospital dairy farm, patient-managed enterprises, and the first swimming pool at a U.S. psychiatric hospital.


Who were the patients there? Do narratives of their experiences exist?

Melancholy Occurrence.--- Mr. Charles Spaulding of New Ipswich, N. H. who has been insane for the last few years, wandered from his home a short time since and came to Windham in this State. On the 20th inst. he was found by his brother, who was about to take him home. In the mean time the insane man slyly took an axe unnoticed by his brother, knocked him down, and then struck him several times with the axe, which wounded him so that he survived but a short time. The insane man was immediately taken and placed in the jail in this County. He now appears to be wholly unconcerned, says he is glad that he killed him and intends to kill another brother and a sister (Brattleboro History)


What was the patients' experience like in that institution, and did that change over the course of the institution's history? 

The administration established the following "firsts" among psychiatric hospitals in the U.S.: patient-produced newspaper, bowling alley, chapel, theater, gymnasium, recreation fields, patient chorus, book discussion groups, outing club, working hospital dairy farm, patient-managed enterprises, and the first swimming pool at a U.S. psychiatric hospital (Wikipedia, 2018).


Did the institution, its services, and patients change over time? 

Most patients have enjoyed more freedom than at other institutions, with windowed bedrooms instead of cells or cages. Due to rapid construction, patients had large private rooms even as overcrowding became an issue at other hospitals, leading many historians to conclude that the Brattleboro Retreat is among few long-established psychiatric hospitals with an unblemished history. This dignity ended for many patients when state hospitals began to be built (Wikipedia, 2018). 

The retreat cautiously approached modern treatment modalities such as electroconvulsive therapy("ECT") and utilized them in a fairly limited capacity (Wikipedia, 2018).


How many people lived, worked, and died there?

 Within nine months the Asylum had 48 patients.  The new construction built in 1841, was able to accommodate up to150 patients.  In 1886, after fifty years of operation, there were as many inmates as 450 at times (Marge Howe, 2007).

Some patients came for just a few weeks or months, some lived out their lives at the Asylum.  When one looks at the places that the patients came from, through just the years 1836 to 1900, you can see that along with Vermonters, there were people from many places, ethnic backgrounds and all levels of society.  There were rich and poor, educated and uneducated, Americans and non-Americans (Marge Howe, 2007).    


Were bad conditions ever exposed to the public? How?

I could not find anything regarding bad treatment of anyone housed at the Brattleboro Retreat


Would you have wanted "treatment" in this institution?

If I were experiencing mental illness I would want to be housed here.  Everyone here was to be treated the most humane.  The Brattleboro retreat offered activities and had the nicest amenities such has larger bedroom, swimming pools, and walking paths. 

 

References

http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php/File:Brattle3.png

http://brattleborohistory.com/cemeteries/asylum-cemetery-1854.html

http://www.retreatfarm.org/history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brattleboro_Retreat

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/county/windham/asylumwebpage.htm

 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 27, 2018 at 3:58 PM

    Thanks so much for researching this facility. The Retreat is an interesting topic of conversation for those in Vermont today. Some see it as a great resource when individuals are really struggling and need individualized, constant support. Over the years, I have had a few clients who had mentioned the Retreat in their histories, and one who was transferred there while he had been active in experiences to gain work skills. My understanding is that they try to provide some hard and soft skill training when possible while the client is there in preparation for discharge. At one point, I believe that the facility was known for treating individuals who were not able to manage in other facilities, especially individuals with borderline personality disorder. What has your experience been around this facility? Have clients spoken about it in a positive way, or not so positive? (https://www.brattlebororetreat.org/)

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  2. AnonymousJuly 29, 2018 at 8:58 AM

    It's great to read about a facility such as this one that put their patients' needs high on the priority list. So many mental health facilities have histories full of bad treatment and poor conditions, so this is a nice aberration. I think it's fascinating that this was the first facility to use the "Asylum Farm" model. The facility that I had researched also used this model. This facility has so many positive "firsts", all of which benefit the patients directly. I especially like the patient-produced newspaper -- I wonder what kinds of things they'd write about? Great job researching!

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    Replies
    1. UnknownJuly 29, 2018 at 11:34 AM

      Thanks for posting this, Cindy. I've been to Brattleboro many times, but never knew about this place. Do you know if the physical structures still stand and whether they have any kind of educational/historical activity there now to acknowledge that history? Pineland was the place in Maine that I decided to write about and they only have a little bit of that as the area was mostly re-purposed as a farm. Most people in Maine know about it or have heard about it since it didn't officially close until 1996. I've worked with older clients that lived there in their younger years.

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