The following information has been re-published as a courtesy per the request and approval of UofL Health – UofL Hospital. Kentucky Historic Institutions does not own the proceeding information and photographs; UofL Health – UofL Hospital retains ownership and all rights and privileges. If you request to use any information or photographs from this page…
We Need Your Help!
We are currently looking to add Kentucky funeral homes to the KHI website. Historically, funeral homes have not only played a crucial part in the grieving process of many families, but they have also helped influence death practices, mourning rituals, and even medical history. In many areas of the US, funeral homes also provided life-saving…
Early Treatment of Kentucky’s “Pauper Idiots and Lunatics” and the Allowance System
In 1939, E. M. Sunley published a short but comprehensive report detailing the early history of the treatment of Kentucky’s “idiots” and “lunatics.” Early on, Sunley noted that Kentucky gave “allowances” of public funds to help with the care of these individuals. After Kentucky entered the Union in the late 18th-century, provisions were made early…
The 1906 Examination for License to Practice Medicine in Kentucky
The following questions were on the examination for licensure to practice medicine in the state of Kentucky in 1906. The questions were taken verbatim. Do you have what it takes to pass the 1906 Board examination to practice medicine? Give it a try! PHYSIOLOGY. 1. Name the glands the secretion of which form the saliva;…
A Micro Case Study of Lobotomy: Miss Sarah Simpson
It was a dry but chilly morning on Thursday, December 8, 1949, when former schoolteacher, Miss Sarah Simpson, walked onto the property of the Booker T. Washington School on Georgetown Street in Lexington. Schoolteacher Miss Marietta Hunter, age 46, was busy starting the day as her students slowly began to pour inside the warm school….
The Historical Use of Restraints in Asylums
According to records from Eastern State Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky, there were several types of mechanical and environmental restraints used on patients. Some of these include camisoles, tying up patients, strong dresses, straitjackets, and the use of seclusion. The following data sample represents the years of 1937 and 1938. They will show the number of patients…
The Marymount Hospital “Serial Killer”
“That little town, they had a lot of guilt to cover up because if they had pursued it further in 1971, the things that happened in Cincinnati would not have come to pass. I would have been arrested then instead of 16 years later.” -Statement from Donald Harvey at the Warren Correctional Institution, Lebanon, Ohio,…
The 1923 Prison Riot at Eddyville
Author’s note: Though most reports, including the death certificate, list Walters’ first name as Monte, there were reports that his name was actually Chester Walters. Additionally, these reports refute the Texas listing as his place of birth and list him as being born in Iowa. For this post, Walters will be referred to as Monte…
A Brief Look at the Use of Psychosurgery
At the 1949 Proceedings of the First Research Conference on Psychosurgery, Charles C. Limburg of the Human Resources Division, Department of the Air Force, presented his research findings, A Survey on the Use of Psychosurgery with Mental Patients in the United States. To begin, Limburg briefly examined a 1949 article written by Lawrence C. Kolb…