A photograph of what appears to be a straitjacket on a bed by a window. The photograph was found in the files of Northern State Hospital at the Washington State Archives in Olympia.
Washington State Archives
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Washington State Archives
A photograph of what appears to be a straitjacket on a bed by a window. The photograph was found in the files of Northern State Hospital at the Washington State Archives in Olympia.
Washington State Archives
A few hours north of Seattle, Washington, lies a ghost town dotted with decaying barns, milking sheds, an old cemetery and stately buildings that once housed thousands. It wasn’t an actual town, but rather a psychiatric hospital, Northern State Hospital. A deep contradiction lurked there: the gardens and farms were designed to give residents work and fulfillment in a rural setting. But the medical treatments were often harsh.
Northern State Psychiatric Hospital closed in 1973, at a time when states across the country were adopting new models of community care and closing their own state psychiatric hospitals.
Today is Sunday Storya look at the movement towards deinstitutionalisation and what it means for people with mental illness and society as a whole.
This episode was produced by KUOW’s Will James, Sydney Brownstone and Esmy Jimenez with assistance from Abby Wendle. Edited by Liz Jones with additional editing by Jenny Schmidt.
Please let us know what you think. [email protected].
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