Samuel died on 11 May 1933 in Howard, Cranston, Rhode Island. He probably died at the State Hospital for Mental Diseases.
In 1869, the more than 417 acre William A. Howard farm in Cranston, Providence County, Rhode Island was purchased. The property was to be used for a state asylum for the insane and poor, a state workhouse, and a house of corrections. In 1870, eighteen wood-framed buildings were built, and in November, 118 patients were admitted to the asylum.
Music therapy began at the hospital in 1881, when twelve canaries and six cages were purchased and placed in the halls. In 1900, an orchestra was established; it included one patient musician. Another patient joined the orchestra in 1904. An organ was purchased in 1925. The same year, the hospital choir gave a concert at a local radio station.
Hydrotherapy began in 1927. Patients were given baths, wet sheet packs, salt glows, foot baths, needle sprays, fan douches, and rain douches. Hydrotherapy was most frequently used as a form of restraint; some patients received continuous baths.
Some patients did chores, such as housekeeping and farm labor. In 1930, Samuel A. Thomas did not do any work, but some of the other patients worked in the ward, laundry, dining room, or industries.
The State Hospital for Mental Diseases is now the Eleanor Slater Hospital.
References
Golden, Janet, and Schneider, Eric C. Custody and Control: The Rhode Island State Hospital for Mental Diseases, 1870, 1970. Rhode Island History 41(4), November 1982, pp. 113-125.
History- Rhode Island -Dept of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals
My grandmother is located in the Rhode Island 1920 Census at the State Hospital for Mental Diseases, Howard. She was there until 1930. A family member just inquired at the Rhode Island Historical Society and at the now, Eleanor Slater Hospital for my grandmother's records. She was informed by both locations that the records were destroyed. At the State Hospital, the clerk questioned the records department and recalled that she had seen such records. She took contact information and said that she would inquire further for our family. I wonder if you had investigated to obtain records from the facility and what was your experience?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joyce
My great grandmother,Phoebe Jane Tingley Hood was also listed as an an "inmate " at Howard on the 1930 census,coincidentally, I spent 3 months training there as a student nurse with RIHSN in 1969. I would also like to know if anyone has any knowledge of existing records .
ReplyDeleteI have tried to see records from multiple hospitals in RI, which I know exist. The ones for the poor house on the East Side, are owned by Brown University. My problem is, what gave them the right to own patients files. I honestly think they won't turn them over because of how the patients were treated. The only people that can tell you about the treatment are the ones that resided at the hospitals. Years ago, some were still around, horrible stories.
DeleteDear Joyce,
ReplyDeleteDid you ever get those records? I am hoping to get the medical records of my 2x great-grandfather. If you did, who exactly did you contact?
Thanks..Julie
Did anyone ever have any luck getting old records?
ReplyDeleteLooking for old records. On my grandmother's sister. Could have been around 1963
ReplyDeleteI am also searching for state hospital records of my grandfather. He was in from the 1930’s to 1965. Please post if anyone knows even where to start.
ReplyDeleteI am searching for any records of my maternal grandmother who is listed in the 1950 Census as a “patient” of Rhode Island State Mental Hospital in Cranston, RI. Her incarceration would probably have started in 1949 at the age of 32. I don’t know how she came to be a patient there or how long she was kept there, but I do know that she was eventually transferred to a psychiatric hospital in New York in the 1960’s or 70’s at the request of family. I would really like to have answers about my grandmother’s medical records.
ReplyDelete