LibGuides: Disability Resources at MNHS: Minnesota State Hospitals

Minnesota State Hospital System Overview

The Minnesota State Hospital System began in the 1860's with a wider movement toward state care of those judged mentally ill throughout the United States. The first Minnesota mental patients, previously sent to an Iowa State Hospital, were returned to temporary buildings at St. Peter in 1866. St. Peter State Hospital opened officially with its own buildings in 1870, with other state hospitals following. Rochester State Hospital, opened as an inebriate hospital in 1877, was taking general mental patients by the next year. Fergus Falls State Hospital was added in 1890.

Facing an overcrowded system in the 1890s, it was decided to add two more state hospitals in Anoka and Hastings, as well as change the way the system worked. St. Peter, Rochester, and Fergus Falls State Hospitals became "admitting" hospitals, assessing the patients and sending those deemed "incurable" to the newly designated asylums for custodial care only. These asylums, Anoka, Hastings, and Willmar, would not provide treatment beyond healthy meals, beds, and ensuring patients did not harm themselves or others. The state hospitals would keep acute patients, deemed treatable through diet, exercise, work, and supervisory care. During this same time period, the reasons for someone to be judged "insane" by the courts expanded and became simpler to prove, creating a large population surge of those unable to be cared for at home. By 1900, over 50% of patients in state hospitals were over 50 years of age.

The involuntary commitment process was fairly simple:

A citizen in good standing had to petition the court to have the person brought in for examination. This was often a family member, but did not have to be.
The sheriff would be instructed to bring the person before the court. If the court was delayed in meeting, this meant the person would often be housed in the jail until the hearing.
The person would be examined by a medical doctor, who did not need to have any special training in psychiatric issues or care.
On the recommendation of the petitioner and doctor, the judge would order the commitment and a guardian for the person was assigned.
The person would be taken to the state hospital. Parole or release from the hospital would require the consent of the guardian.*

By the 1940s, reform movements were pressing to improve the care of patients in the state hospitals by providing stimulation through visitors and programs, provide better quality food, and end the use of restraints on patients. Governor Luther Youngdahl famously burned a pile of straitjackets, called "camisoles", and other restraints on the lawn of Anoka State Hospital on October 31, 1949, to illustrate one reform issue. Articles in the Minneapolis Tribune highlighted further issues. The 1949 Mental Health Bill created the Minnesota Commission of Mental Health, overseeing many of these reforms. See the box on the Legal Subjects and Reform tab for sources about this The 1960s saw the beginning of massive reform toward the principle of home care, community, and specialized services for those with mental health conditions, leading to the eventual closing of almost all the state hospitals in the 1990s and early 2000s.

*Source: Asylums, treatment centers and genetic jails : a History of Minnesota State Hospitals, by Michael A. Resman, 2013. North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc. MNHS call number: RC445.M62 R47 2013

Terms Used

Many of the terms used in these records are obsolete and may not have any basis in modern medical science. They are given as suggestions for searching because they may have been used in the titles of organizations or institutions of the time period.

Please be aware that some of the terms may be offensive.

State Hospital for the Insane
Asylum
Mental Hygiene
Insane
Mentally Deficient
Mentally Ill
Alcoholism

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Researching State Hospital Records

To begin research in the State Hospital Records, please keep these guidelines in mind:

Individual patient records are restricted for 75 or 100 years to preserve patient privacy of those who may still be alive, or have living immediate family.
Starting around 1900, most modern medical records for state hospitals were routinely destroyed 30 years after the death or discharge of the patient, so the fullest medical information will be in the oldest case files. Some of the case books for patients prior to 1900 have been scanned and are available through the collection finding aid. Check individual case book collections for availability.
Modern state hospital records will mostly consist of basic information, including the patient's name, what hospital they were in, dates, and possibly a basic diagnosis, but rarely any further information. Further records, such as treatment, daily progress, or in-depth diagnoses, were routinely destroyed for privacy after the death or discharge of the patient.
Alternative records about some aspects of daily life may be available in administrative record collections, which are less likely to be restricted due to individual patient information.
State Hospital records routinely utilize terminology that is outdated, offensive, or no longer considered valid today. See the Terminology Glossary for a definition of many of these terms.

Best Bets

For access to specific patient records and the individual institution's administrative collections, see the State Hospitals: Historic Patient Records Research Guide. Patient records will be in the first box. The administrative records will be listed in the bottom box labelled "Other Records" Also, search the name of the hospital and "Published Records and Reports" in the library and archives catalog. The sources referenced here detail the overall needs and creation of the state hospital system.

One year follow-up : persons admitted to programs for mental illness in Minnesota state hospitals. The Research Committee ... and Office of Research and Evaluation, Minnesota Dept. of Public Welfare, 1975. MNHS call number: HV3006.M6 M66

A study of the institutional needs for the mentally retarded in the State of Minnesota. [John L. Holahan], 1952. MNHS call number: HV3006.M6 H65

A Major Minnesota Problem. Minnesota Association for Retarded Children, 1964. MNHS call number: RC445.M62 M35

The Future of Minnesota's state hospital system: a report. Prepared for the Honorable Albert H. Quie, Governor, State of Minnesota, by the Minnesota Dept. of Public Welfare, 1982. MNHS call number: RC445 .M61 F87

Minnesota Task Force on Use of State Hospital Facilities Meeting files, Jul-Dec, 1982. Minutes and agenda materials of this joint Senate/House task force, established (Laws 1982 chapter 532) to prepare a report to the legislature on the feasibility and cost implications of using existing state institutional facilities for the care of physically and mentally disabled persons who would otherwise be housed at state expense in private facilities. The files include several reports on the status of Minnesota's state hospital system and on care options particularly for the mentally ill and mentally retarded. The task force submitted its report in January, 1983. The report is not included with its files. MNHS call number: See finding aid in the library

Regional Treatment Centers correspondence, 1989-1994, by the Minnesota Residential Program Management Division. Letters to the regional treatment centers documenting the division's administration of the day-to-day operation of the state-owned centers, including governing board meetings, funding, personnel, staff training, statewide committees, patient transfer, buildings and equipment, medical records, regulations and policies, admission/discharge system, accreditation, contracts, and incident reports. MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Individual Institutional Histories:

This Great Charity: Minnesota's first mental hospital at St. Peter, Minn., 1866-1991. William D. Erickson, 1991. MNHS call number: RC445 .M63 S237 1991

Plain talk about Anoka State Hospital : its patients, programs and role, 1977. Anoka State Hospital Local No. 1307 Information and Education Committee. MNHS call number: RC445.M6 A635 1977

History of Rochester State Hospital, 1879-1951. MNHS call number: RC445.M63 R676 1951

Gillette Children's Hospital : first state supported hospital for the treatment and research of unique pediatric orthopedic disorders in the United States. Wallace H. Cole, 1972. MNHS call number: RA982.S14 G546 1972

Fergus Falls State Hospital : the early years (1885-1900). Emery Johnson, Jr., Otter Tail Record, Volume 7, No. 3 (Winter 1986). MNHS call number: F612.O82 O87 v.7:3

A Short History of the Fergus Falls State Hospital, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, compiled by Emery Johnson, Jr., 1972. MNHS call number: RC445.M62 F475 1972

See also: Oral History tab

Beyond the Library:

With an Eye to the Past. Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities website. Includes multiple original documents and other sources about the history of each of the state hospitals, Gillette Children's Hospital, Owatonna State School, and Faribault State School and Hospital.

Secondary Sources

Asylums, treatment centers and genetic jails : a History of Minnesota State Hospitals, by Michael A. Resman, 2013. North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc. MNHS call number: RC445.M62 R47 2013

The Evolution of State Operated Services, Minnesota Department of Human Services, 2007. MNHS call number: RC445.M62 E963 2007

Historical Development of the Minnesota hospitals for the care of the insane, by George H. Freeman, 1941. MNHS call number: RC 445 .M6A5 .F8

Guess what happened today: my 30 years with the Minnesota state hospital system, by Martin Larson, 2010. MNHS call number: F605.1 L382 A3 2010