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[Big Ed]

All the junk was still inside it you could get in if you had the correct keys.

They are annexes as well  Both held patients.  The steam pipes ran under the annex buildings so in the winter they were hot, not just warm, hot.  One February night I was assigned to the annex for the night, and in the off ice it was a 101 degrees.  The thermometer was sitting in an open window.  The "I" annex was used for hydro-therapy.  The bed rooms were in the hydro-therapy rooms

Up until the 30's the building was a work in progress, as the populations grew, the buildings expanded., But the bat wing configuration was completed when A and J buildings were built

It was originally a functional medical facility, complete with operating rooms, a lab, and radiology room, it became a geriatric facility in the late 60's early 70's.  Then when the Kirkbride closed down it became the psych hospital.

When I was there the tubercular huts were unused, and condemned, in fact they were demolished before the  Kirkbride closed.

Yes some staff rented rooms at the Female Nurses home, I believe the last person moved out in 1980 or so.  It was cheap to live there, and came with meal vouchers, as part of the really nominal cost of the room it was under 100 bucks a month to live there, maybe less.

[Beth]

By junk in the lobotomy wing what do you mean?  Surgical equipment?  Wow, that place would be a real artifact to mental health treatment.

One last comment.  Seems like the solariums tacked on to the front of the buildings would have blocked out existing windows (views and ventilation), especially in patient rooms.

With all the added buildings tacked on here and there, the Kirkbride concept was totally abandoned.  Quantity over quality, I know out need rather than desire.

Thanks so much, Ed.  A lot of insights into the amazing past of mental health care.  I do think a lot more good was done then not.  Few go into this type of thankless grueling work just to be mean and evil....most want to make lives better and believe that a difference can be made.  I'm not convinced that what we do nowadays for this vulnerable population is a whole lot of improvement.  I'm guessing at least 50% of people with serious mental health illnesses are on the streets now getting no help; many refuse help because the side-effects are overwhelming.  People coming into state care, not only have serious problems, but they really have little to no resources to address those problems and the general public are often clueless about the difficulty of the work involved.  Its unfortunate that these amazing buildings are mostly being torn down, DSH being the king of them all.  With them goes a part of our past and a showing of what we did do for many sick and helpless folks.

You and those you worked with made a difference.  It has been a real pleasure!

[Big Ed]

This is inside the lobotomy building.  There was some other stuff, stuff not easily moved.

[Beth]

Yep, I've seen a version of that picture.  I wonder if anyone has that souvenir now?      

That's probably the worst thing that happened at DSH.

[Beth]

I believe this is the lobotomy building, which is attached to first floor of A Wing.