Fractured Intentions: A History of Central State Hospital for the Insane

They came from everyday life. Their illnesses knew no socioeconomic boundaries. Locking people in cabins, smokehouses and outdoor pens was not the answer. Leaving them in county homes was no solution. Turing to doctors for help, families hoped for the best. The State of Indiana and doctors agreed on the need for hospitals to help the mentally ill. To understand the history of Central State Hospital, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Nicole Kobrowski began the story on the practices of European and Colonial roots. These theories and methods, including a way a hospital should be built and operated, influenced Central State Hospital and mental health in Indiana. Kobrowski gives readers a comprehensive historical view of Indiana’s first psychiatric facility: causes of insanity, operations and staffing, architecture and buildings, legislative acts, burials and cemeteries, and other historical information.