The collection is open for research.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Western Lunatic Asylum Collection, Ms2016-021, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Western Lunatic Asylum [Staunton, Virginia] Collection was purchased in three separate accession between August and November of 2016. Additional materials were acquired in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Additional letters may be received in the future.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Western Lunatic Asylum Collection was completed in December 2016. Additional arrangement and description was completed in April 2018. The 2018 and 2019 accessions were processed on a rolling basis and the finding aid was updated in June 2019 and July 2021.
Originally called the Western State Lunatic Asylum, the Western Lunatic Asylum was a hospital for the mentally ill in Staunton, Virginia, opening in 1828. In its early years, the institution was a resort-style asylum, directed under Dr. Francis T. Stribling. Dr. Stribling promoted a clean, healthy, and kind atmosphere that would aid in the healing process of his patients. While Dr. Stribling was the director of the hospital, patients were well cared for and treated with respect.
This model of care vanished in the 1900s, replaced by the overcrowding and the warehousing of patients. Techniques such as physical restraints and straitjackets were then used. After the passage of the Eugenical Sterilization Act of 1924 in Virginia, patients at the Western Lunatic Asylum were sterilized (sometimes forcibly) under the authorization of Joseph DeJarnette, a noted eugenicist. He was the director of the hospital from 1905 to 1943, implementing much stricter and harsher practices than his predecessor. Electroshock therapy and lobotomies were also practiced at the institution.
The hospital moved to its present site off of Interstate 81, and the property remained vacated until it was converted in the 1970s into the Staunton Correctional Center, a men's penitentiary. The prison closed in 2003, and the site was then left vacant again for several years. In 2005, the state of Virginia gave the property to the Staunton Industrial Authority, and the facility has now been converted into condominiums called The Villages at Staunton.
The Western Lunatic Asylum Collection includes correspondence written to the Western Lunatic Asylum in Staunton, Virginia, dating from 1840 to about 1870, as well as final year reports from 1862 and 1903. The correspondece relates to the Western Lunatic Asylum in Staunton, Virginia, and most of the letters are written to Dr. Francis T. Stribling, the director of the Western Lunatic Asylum, by family members of patients concerning their care.
The collection is arranged into two series, Correspondence and Annual reports, which are each arranged in chronological order.
The guide to the Western Lunatic Asylum [Staunton, Virginia] Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/).