Tioronda and later the Craig House itself.
Below you can read a report on Craig House by Jim Krivo as well as a report from the Beacon Historical Society Newsletter
Craig House and the History of Mental Illness Treatment
Dr. Jim Krivo
Report derived by research the following sources: Princeton University Library Manuscripts Division, Wikipedia.
People have taken care of those with mental illness since humans have been on the planet. And it is hard to decide where to begin this discussion. But we could begin in the year 490, when there was a hospital in Jerusalem for the mentally ill. Later in the Middle Ages, mentally ill people were cared for in Monasteries. In Paris, hospitals had cells just for mentally ill people; and in England, St. Mary of Bethlehem ( Bedlam), was specifically for mentally ill people. At the time, patients were all kept in some form of chains. By 1400, however, there were only 6 men in the Bedlam Hospital. By the 18th century , more humane treatment was considered. Philippe Pinel , in 1793, in France, introduced treatment without the use of restraints. In England William Ellis, superintendent of West Ridge Asylum In England, opened a “moral” therapy hospital, without restraints,and cared for 450 patients. He was knighted for that.
In the 1800’s in the United States, many State owned institutions were being built, many built in a way that was beautiful, thinking that doing so would be part of the therapy. One such institution was the Hudson River State Hospital in Poughkeepsie. The first Superintendent of the Hudson State Hospital was Joseph Howland, the man who owed and built Tioronda, which became the Craig House. He also had been on the commission appointed by the governor at the time, to find the place for this second hospital in the state for mentally ill people. The civil war had caused more need for such a facility....probably because of what is now called PTSD. And General Howland himself was greatly affected by that war. The people of Dutchess County offered the site for the hospital free, and Joseph Howland arranged for the same architect who designed Tioronda, to design The Hudson River State Hospital, and the same people who designed Central Park, (Vaux and Olmstead, friends of Sargent, who lived next to Howland) to design the gardens for the facility. It was felt that having beauty in hospital would help people overcome their mental illness. The costs for construction kept growing in order to meet the needs of the designers. It took a quarter of a century to finish construction. The hospital operated from 1867 to 1967. In 1952, there were 6000 patients. Subsequently its population gradually plummeted, and in 2001, it closed.
The 20th century brought about changes in the care for the mentally ill. In the 1920’s malarial therapy was used for treatment of mental diseases and was considered a breakthrough. Later, the use of barbiturates was started for treatment. In the 1930s insulin therapy was used for schizophrenia. In 1946, lobotomy was was a treatment modality considered acceptable. By 1951, 18,608 people had been treated this way.
The eugenics movement sought to sterilize people with mental disorders, and in Nazi Germany mentally ill people were exterminated.
More modern type drugs began with the introduction of Thorazine in 1950. From 1921 to 1937, the discharge rate from mental hospitals was 6%. From 1955 to 1967, the rate increased to 67%,largely thanks to the drug Chlorpromazine. In 1948,the drug Lithium was introduced for depression.
During World War II, conscientious objectors were placed in mental hospitals, and there they began a movement to stop abuses of patients. A group of Quakers began a magazine called "Attendant" which evolved into the National Health Foundation.
In the 21st century , the population of institutionalized patients has shrunk dramatically, however, author Heather MacDonald in the City Journal has said “jails have become society's mental health institution though few there have expertise in this area. In Rikers, 28% of the inmates are regarded having mental health services.”
The Tioronda Estate was purchased in 1915 by Drs. Robert Lamb and Clarence J Slocum to be a mental health treatment center. Clarence Slocum had visited a mental health facility where patients could walk around freely in Scotland, called the Craig Hospital, named this place the Craig House. Until it closed its doors,the Craig House had a reputation for being the finest place for mental health rehab in the nation. Many of the people who came there were famous and I shall discuss a few of them.
Jane Fonda’s mother , Frances Seymour (1186-1974) was the daughter of Eugene Ford Seymour, who was a descendent of Edward Seymour, First Duke of Somerset, brother of Jane Seymour,the third wife of Henry the VIII. Frances Seymour married Henry Fonda in 1936 and was later hospitalized at Craig House , and there she committed suicide in 1942. Some people consider our kama to be affecting our present life. Maybe here, considering the connection between her and the wife of Henry he VIII ?
F.. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda was there several times. The last time was was in 1934, after which she was transferred to another center in a catatonic state.
During her stay here, there were many letters written between Dr Jonathan Slocum, Dr. C. Clarence Slocum’s son, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as between her and her mother and even from Eleanor Roosevelt. They are all in a collection in the library of Princeton University. Here are some quotes from these letters “My room is the nicest I’ve ever had anyplace”. “All of the beauty of this place must cost an awful lot of money”. “Scott, this place is probably hideously expensive. I don’t want you to struggle”. these notes lets us appreciate how nice it was to be at the House , and also appreciate that just being at a nice place doesn’t make a cure.
Rosemary Kennedy was hospitalized there after having a lobotomy at George Washington Hospital in Washington DC. In 1941, doctors told her father that this neurosurgical procedure, lobotomy, would help her mood swings and sometimes violent outbursts. At the time, few lobotomies had been performed. Dr. James Watts carried out the procedure and Dr. Walter Freeman assisted, and described what it was like “ We went through the top of her head. I think she was still awake...The instrument looked like a butter knife. He swung it up and down to cut the brain tissue. As it was happening , he asked Rosemary questions. When she began to become incoherent , he stopped.” This left her incontinent and with an infantile mentality,starring at the walls. This was certainly a tragedy, and lets us appreciate the potential fallibility of any physician.
From 1930 until she passed in 1948, Constance Whitey Warren was a guest there. She was a famous sculptress. This shows Craig House was a place where people stayed a long time if they wanted, and could afford it.
This report about Craig House and the history of mental health treatment over the centuries, is meant as an introduction to talk more, and to stimulate further discussion about how to apply this knowledge of our past to help direct our future.
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What I learned at our Discussion Group April 27. Jim Krivo
At our discussion group we got to hear, from people who actually worked at Craig House, what it was really like. I believe the consensus was that guests, ( and they were called guests , not patients). of the House enjoyed being there and were treated royally. Also, that such an environment was conducive to psychological benefit, but in itself didn't automatically bring lasting happiness. The guests were all very wealthy .
Until 1977, when the addition was made to the mansion, it was functioning the best. The addition was made in order to get insurance revenue, and keep the place operating.
Some guests stayed for a long time, and some times their chauffeurs would take them into town to get a drink at the town tavern," the White stone". Each guest stayed in one of the guest houses with an attendant to help them. Beacon School children would work after school, bringing their food to their cottages,from the central kitchen.
I also learned that Jane Fonda and her brother were not informed that their mother had committed suicide until years later. And when they did, when Peter was performing at the local summer stock theater in Beacon, he came to the Craig House to talk with people there, and afterwards went to the local tavern. And when Jane Fonda became aware of all her mother had gone through in her life, she was able to appreciate, accept and forgive her.
If you have thoughts on this , great. You can enter them in our blog.
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Until 1977, when the addition was made to the mansion, it was functioning the best. The addition was made in order to get insurance revenue, and keep the place operating.
Some guests stayed for a long time, and some times their chauffeurs would take them into town to get a drink at the town tavern," the White stone". Each guest stayed in one of the guest houses with an attendant to help them. Beacon School children would work after school, bringing their food to their cottages,from the central kitchen.
I also learned that Jane Fonda and her brother were not informed that their mother had committed suicide until years later. And when they did, when Peter was performing at the local summer stock theater in Beacon, he came to the Craig House to talk with people there, and afterwards went to the local tavern. And when Jane Fonda became aware of all her mother had gone through in her life, she was able to appreciate, accept and forgive her.
If you have thoughts on this , great. You can enter them in our blog.
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Report about Craig House in Beacon Historical Society Newsletter July, 2012
In the April 1935 issue of fortune Magazine , the editors selected Craig House in Beacon as one of the five best sanitariums in America for treating nervous disorders. In 1915, Craig House was established as a private sanitarium, founded by doctors Robert Lamb( former superintendent of the Matteawan State Hospital) and Clarence Jonathan Slocum. by 1935, when the Fortune article was written, Dr. Lamb had long ago sold off his interest and departed and C.J. Slocum on his own, had turned the former General Howland and Henry Winthrop Sargent estates into one of the five best psychiatric hospitals in America. Fortune magazine tells how Slocum managed it.
" There are no locked doors, no barred windows in individual cottages scattered over the estate. There are several employees to each patient- almost 100 nurses, a score of men working on the grounds, six doctors,dozens of cooks,waitresses, chauffeurs, etc. Minimum rates are $150 per week, maximum four or five times as much. you get the atmosphere of an upper class home, with Dr. Slocum and his wife in roles of host and hostess. Dr. Slocum is grey haired, tweedy and discreet. He and his vivacious ,social wife own 90% of the stock in Craig House Corp.,which is unrestricted as to profit. Dr. Slocum detests psychoanalysis and will have none of it. His" practical psychotherapy" consists simply in getting friendly terms with the patient, visiting him daily to talk over his problems and give him advise and encouragement."
There was a Craig House Golf Course with golf pro Harry Vinall, who gave lessons. Along with the 18 hole golf course Craig house offered other recreational activities: indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a stable with six riding horses, tennis courts, a baseball field, and a gymnasium housed in the former Tioranda School Building.
" There are no locked doors, no barred windows in individual cottages scattered over the estate. There are several employees to each patient- almost 100 nurses, a score of men working on the grounds, six doctors,dozens of cooks,waitresses, chauffeurs, etc. Minimum rates are $150 per week, maximum four or five times as much. you get the atmosphere of an upper class home, with Dr. Slocum and his wife in roles of host and hostess. Dr. Slocum is grey haired, tweedy and discreet. He and his vivacious ,social wife own 90% of the stock in Craig House Corp.,which is unrestricted as to profit. Dr. Slocum detests psychoanalysis and will have none of it. His" practical psychotherapy" consists simply in getting friendly terms with the patient, visiting him daily to talk over his problems and give him advise and encouragement."
There was a Craig House Golf Course with golf pro Harry Vinall, who gave lessons. Along with the 18 hole golf course Craig house offered other recreational activities: indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a stable with six riding horses, tennis courts, a baseball field, and a gymnasium housed in the former Tioranda School Building.
