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Finding Asylum: Race, Gender and Confinement in Virginia, 1885 – 1930

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Finding Asylum: Race, Gender and Confinement in Virginia, 1885 – 1930 FINDING ASYLUM: RACE, GENDER AND CONFINEMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1885 – 1930 By Shelby Pumphrey A DISSERTATION Submitted to MichigaN State UNiversity iN partial fulfillmeNt of the requiremeNts for the degree of AfricaN AmericaN aNd AfricaN Studies – Doctor of Philosophy History – Dual Major 2020 ABSTRACT FINDING ASYLUM: RACE, GENDER AND CONFINEMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1885 – 1930 By Shelby Pumphrey FiNdiNg Asylum is aN iNstitutioNal aNd social history that describes how the state of VirgiNia maNaged meNtally ill AfricaN AmericaNs at CeNtral LuNatic Asylum for the Colored INsaNe betweeN 1885 aNd 1935. As the NatioN’s first asylum dedicated exclusively to the care of AfricaN AmericaNs, CeNtral was established iN VirgiNia as the model southern, black asylum, aN archetype that was replicated across the southern UNited States iN the decades followiNg the eNd of the Civil War. It reveals how race aNd gender bias bled iNto psychiatric theory aNd practice at CeNtral. It also provides a window iNto the lives of black VirgiNiaNs who were committed aNd eveNtually coNfiNed to the iNstitutioN. FiNally, it tracks how raced aNd geNdered uNderstaNdiNgs guided state imperatives to coNfiNe, treat aNd sterilize AfricaN AmericaN patieNts at CeNtral. Copyright by SHELBY PUMPHREY 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have aN eNtire commuNity to thaNk for their eNcouragemeNt, support, eNergy aNd time throughout this process. ThaNk you to my advisor aNd committee members, Drs. LaShawN Harris, Pero Dagbovie, GleNN Chambers aNd Michael Stamm, whose guidaNce has ushered me through this process. I also owe maNy thaNks to Dr. KiNg Davis, who met with me iN the archives, regularly checked iN oN my progress aNd eNcouraged my work at every turn. A special thaNk you to Drs. Tamara Butler aNd Yomaira Figueroa, who opeNed their offices aNd Nurtured me duriNg my time at MichigaN State. The commuNity that you both have created for so maNy woc graduate studeNts is traNsceNdeNt – we will Never be able to thaNk you eNough. I would Not have beeN able to complete this project without my family, I am eternally grateful for them. ThaNk you to my mother for her releNtless eNcouragemeNt, my father for eNsuriNg that I had all of the comfort food aNd faith that I could hold, aNd KeNzie (aNd Ellei) for keepiNg me grouNded. ThaNk you to Sekhmet for providiNg peace aNd calm wheN all I waNted to do was quit. Special thaNks to the librariaNs, archivists aNd support staff at the Library of VirgiNia aNd the FluvaNNa CouNty Historical Society. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Historiography ............................................................................................................. 3 Chapter OutliNe ......................................................................................................... 15 A Note oN the Sources .............................................................................................. 19 CHAPTER ONE: MaNagiNg the CommoNwealth’s “Colored INsane” ............................. 22 FiNdiNg Space: CreatiNg a Segregated System for VirgiNia’s INsaNe ....................... 24 LocatiNg aNd MaNagiNg the Temporary Asylum at Howard’s Grove ......................... 30 ReasoNs for CommitmeNt, DiagNosis aNd TreatmeNt at Howard’s Grove ................ 37 PatieNt Life at CeNtral LuNatic Asylum for Colored INsaNe ........................................ 44 The StraNgliNg of Mary FraNces RobiNson and the ImmiNeNt DaNgers of OvercrowdiNg .......................................................................... 47 ReadjustiNg for the Better? ....................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER TWO: MaNy Roads to CeNtral: The Limits of CommuNity, CommitmeNt aNd ProtectioN iN Black VirgiNia, 1885 - 1900 ................................................................ 59 Black RichmoNd ........................................................................................................ 61 JohN Mitchell Jr and the Richmond Planet. ............................................................... 73 ElleN Coy: Public NuisaNce aNd Deposed Baptist ..................................................... 78 The Good RevereNd Booze ...................................................................................... 91 CommuNity, INsaNity aNd the Politics of PuNishmeNt iN Cases of INterracial VioleNce .................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER THREE: Curious CommitmeNts, the CrimiNally INsaNe and Charles CarriNgtoN’s CastratioN Lab ......................................................................................... 101 EstablishiNg the PermaNeNt Asylum at Petersburg ................................................. 103 CorrectiNg the “Abuse” of the Hospital .................................................................... 107 TreatiNg the Various Classes of PatieNts ................................................................ 113 Dr. Charles CarriNgtoN aNd Illegal SterilizatioN of VirgiNia’s CrimiNally INsaNe ....... 121 Hiram Steele, Notorious Negro Outlaw aNd OccasioNal LuNatic ............................. 124 CHAPTER FOUR: ClassificatioN, GeNder aNd ResistaNce iN the Modern Psychiatric Hospital ......................................................................................... 138 ModerniziNg CeNtral State Hospital ......................................................................... 139 Shifts iN PatieNt Life aNd Demography, 1910 – 1924 .............................................. 149 Escape by (M)aNy MeaNs ....................................................................................... 157 Black Female PatieNts iN the AmericaN Psychiatric Hospital .................................. 162 MaNic-Depressive Psychosis aNd DemeNtia Praecox ............................................. 168 Black Motherhood ................................................................................................... 171 CHAPTER FIVE: SterilizatioN, Parole aNd RespoNsibility iN the Era of Buck v. Bell .... 180 A ChaNge iN Leadership: CeNtral State Hospital, 1924 ........................................... 183 PatieNt Life: Work, RecreatioN aNd ReligioN ........................................................... 187 v SterilizatioN at CeNtral ............................................................................................. 190 CommuNity, Parole aNd the Costs of OvercrowdiNg ............................................... 197 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 217 CoNtiNuiNg the History of CeNtral State Hospital ..................................................... 220 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 224 vi INTRODUCTION A dismal cover huNg over the grouNds of CeNtral State Hospital wheN I first visited iN August 2016. With oNly a fractioN of the Hospital still iN use by that time, the crumbliNg buildiNgs still served aN importaNt aNd Necessary purpose as a remiNder of the state’s legacy of segregated aNd uNequal meNtal healthcare for AfricaN AmericaNs. UNderneath the rickety chapel, boarded up dormitories aNd otherwise dilapidated iNfrastructure stood a village sized remiNder of VirgiNia’s uNprecedeNted decisioN to establish the NatioN’s first asylum dedicated to the care of AfricaN AmericaN patieNts. As I was guided about the grouNds, a rich history uNfolded – one populated with politically motivated physiciaNs and uNscrupulous judges, but details about commitmeNt, patieNt life aNd death at CeNtral were largely abseNt. Of the few unintended moNumeNts to those who were coNfiNed aNd eveNtually died at the Hospital are the uNmarked graves that pepper the Hospital’s shared border with the iNterstate. This cheerless swath of land, tucked at the edge of the property aNd covered with oblong sedimeNt gravestoNes, served as oNe of the few clues that this place oNce held thousaNds of people, iNdividuals with childreN aNd jobs, frieNds aNd Neighbors. Like the uNofficial graveyard, a symbol of a discarded past, CeNtral represeNts a Neglected chapter iN AfricaN AmericaN history aNd the history of psychiatry, oNe that oNce fully explored will expand how we uNderstaNd black meNtal illNess duriNg this importaNt period. Finding Asylum: Race, Gender and Confinement in Virginia, 1885 - 1930 explores the maNagemeNt of VirgiNia’s meNtally ill AfricaN AmericaN populatioN from 1885 up until 1930 with a focus oN CeNtral LuNatic Asylum for the Colored INsaNe – the NatioN’s first asylum dedicated to the care of AfricaN AmericaNs. It combiNes iNstitutional 1 aNd iNdividual histories to better uNderstaNd how AfricaN AmericaNs experieNced meNtal illNess iN VirgiNia duriNg this importaNt period iN AmericaN history. PlaciNg the lives of black patieNts at the ceNter of this previously uNtold story, Finding Asylum serves as a corrective to iNcomplete histories of meNtal healthcare iN the state aNd the regioN. It argues that race aNd geNder were cornerstoNes iN the developmeNt of the NatioN’s earliest segregated meNtal healthcare system. UsiNg commitmeNt records aNd other admiNistrative documeNts, it demoNstrates the roles they played iN the commitmeNt, coNfiNemeNt aNd treatmeNt of patieNts held at CeNtral. This study employs a historical approach that ceNters the AfricaN AmericaN experieNce
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