Digital Gallery
Discover...
In the 19th and 20th centuries, reformers in the United States and Europe built asylums in response to a range of social issues including disability - mental health, and alcoholism. These documents and images from the NLM Digital Collections bring to life the day to day experiences of people at these sites: the conditions of the asylums and the limits on liberty that many people in them experienced.
Architectural drawing of the Sheppard Asylum’s fourth floor, by British-American landscape architect Calvert Vaux , ca. 1860
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Often, servants and attendants lived on the grounds of asylums, as reflected in these servants’ quarters rooms. Room and board were part of the staff’s salaries. Superintendents often lived on the asylum grounds as well in their own separate houses.
Copyright,
Privacy,
Accessibility,
Site Map,
Viewers and Players
National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894
National Institutes of Health, Health & Human Services
Freedom of Information Act , NLM Customer Support
National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894
National Institutes of Health, Health & Human Services
Freedom of Information Act , NLM Customer Support