While physical diseases were obviously an issue during this time period, a more subtle health issue came in the form of mental illnesses, which lead to the construction of the Flatbush Lunatic Asylum. The first reference to this facility was in 1852, when the Board of Supervisors first pitched the idea. The board selected “a level piece of ground, east of the Nursery Building, 200 feet from the road” to be the building site.[i]
This photo, taken by Brian Wasser in 2007, shows one of the buildings of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center. The KPPC, a project that evolved from the Flatbush Lunatic Asylum, ran from 1885-1996.
By 1854, the Lunatic Asylum was functional, albeit experiencing some physical health issues, such as cholera.[ii] However, investigations in 1875 revealed that perhaps this institution was not treating its patients with the care they deserved, not uncommon in mental hospitals of this era and even later times. Some of the charges included “undue intimacy with some of the females in the asylum” and “cruelty to the patients.”[iii] Even after some of these charges were proven, the asylum lived on, gracing headlines for quite some time. In 1886, the Eagle covered the doctor’s duties in the asylum and tried to disprove reports of maltreatment of patients.[iv] Accusations continued to fly well into the 1890s, including one case where doctors were accused of mistreatment of a dead body.[v] There were also accusations that the asylum released patients who were not yet cured.[vi]
[i] “Board of Supervisors,” New York Times, June 4, 1852.
[ii] “The Yellow Fever of 1856,” New York Times, February 13, 1858.
[iii] “The Flatbush Asylum Investigation,” New York Times, November 18, 1875.
[iv] “The Insane – Dr. Shaw’s Humane and Difficult Work,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 27, 1886.
[v] “Shocking Desecration Charged,” New York Times, September 11, 1893.
[vi] “A Lunatic Not Cured,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 10, 1895.
