This album includes photographs, circa 1930, of Mendocino and Napa State Hospitals. Photographs of these two California asylums for the insane provide information about the state's management of such hospitals and the care and treatment provided for patients at mental hospitals in the early 20th century. During the 1950s, most of the buildings at Mendocino State Hospital were razed and replaced. The album is a record of the original buildings at Mendocino. Napa State Hospital is the oldest California State Hospital still in operation. The original gothic castle-like main building at Napa State Hospital was razed and replaced in the 1950s. The album contains images of the original buildings at Napa as well as its grounds and its well-known ranching and farming operations. The album shows the major buildings but may also include the only known images of many minor structures which may no longer exist today. The album also contains images of state-owned land and equipment and includes statistics about state properties such as information on construction, dates, dimensions, and additions. According to State Archivist J.N. Bowman in 1955, no other state had been found with such a complete series of pictures of its buildings within such a restricted time-period. Records of state hospitals in California are of high interest to researchers, and the time period that these particular records cover is significant because it is during the Great Depression, which caused an increase in the number of patients committed to the psychiatric hospitals. In addition, because the records are Department of Finance records, one can assume that the state agencies featured in the photographs would want to look their best as they justified their existence and fought for their share of funds from the state budget.
Type
text
Format
Original Photograph Album
Extent
16 x 21 in. 362 Pages of 362
Identifier
car_000307 F3254:005 ark:/13960/t5r88g18w
Language
English
Subject
Depressions--1929--California Napa State Hospital (Calif.)
Time Period
1929/1941 1930
Place
California Napa (Calif.)
Provenance
California State Archives California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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