1 Comments Posted by DPSJACKSON@GMAL.COM

wrote:
I recently found a diary written by my husband's grandfather from Nov 1938 to Nov 1939. He was a patient at Manteno from Feb 28, 1938 until Nov 17, 1939. He was being treated for malaria and syphilitic-meningo - encephalitis. Once cured of malaria he received over 65 shots to cure the syphillis. In order to be released back into the population he had to test negative 4 times. He was there during the Typhoid Fever epidemic and was ready to be released when he tested positive as a "carrier" of typhoid. For six months no new patients were admitted and very few patients ready for release were allowed off the grounds. After two more months in the Typhoid ward he tested negative for the 4th time but was still required by law to sign legal documents called "Carrier Agreement" before he could go home. He was asked to have an experimental surgery where live malarie cells would be injected into his brian to possibly cure the syphillis. He decided against the surgery and came back home to Nashville, TN and his wife and six children three grown and three still home. I love the pictures but his diary doesn't describe this hospital as a hell on earth. The doctors and nurses were caring people doing the best they could for these patients. Mental illness research was just beginning and he does mention the cold & hot baths as a treatment of unruly patients, and that it seemed to work in most cases.