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• Full Finding Aid
• Overview
• Arrangement
• Scope and Contents
• Related Material
• Other Finding Aids
• Access Restrictions
• Custodial History
• Access Terms

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New York State Department of Mental Hygiene Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital Patient Case Files

Some content may contain outdated and offensive terminology. See: New York State Archives Statement on Language in Descriptive Resources

Overview of the Records

Arrangement

Chronological

Scope and Content Note

This accretion consists of 22 bound volumes documenting patients admitted to Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital (later Middletown Psychiatric Center) between 1874 and 1898 and discharged through 1936. Case numbers range from 1 to 5258.

The amount, type, and format of information vary over time. Initial examinations are based upon a set of questions used by hospital staff during patient admissions; these questions can be found in the institution's published reports (Annual report of the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital., Middletown, N.Y. : The Hospital, 1871- (Albany : James B. Lyon)). Typically information on each patient includes name; place/ county of residence; date admitted; case number; class (public, private, county, or indigent); source of maintenance; sex; civil condition; number of children; occupation; education; religion; habits (temperate or intemperate); place of birth; insane relations; number of previous admissions; date of attack; number of attack; age at first attack; duration of present attack; form of attack (primary, intermediate, or terminal; suicidal or homicidal);

Also: physical condition on entrance (condition of tongue, eyes, pulse, heart, lungs, menstruation, masturbation or sexual excesses); cause of illness; correspondent (individual to contact). Narratives generally conclude with a summary description of symptoms, followed by weekly examination notes for duration of stay, treatment notes, discharge dates, whether the patient was recovered, improved, unimproved, or dead, cause of death, and autopsy report numbers. Later records include extensive physical information and medical histories.

From 1885 handwritten transcriptions of the admitting physician's commitment order precede summary descriptions. Starting in 1891, male and female patients are relegated to separate case books; also African-American patients are denoted as "colored" and patients admitted by criminal court proceedings as "criminal" in red pencil across the top of the page. Transferring institutions are noted at the top of the page.

Beginning in 1882, silver gelatin photos are frequently bound with case histories; photographs often show patients at different phases of treatment; in a few instances post-mortem photographs of patient brains are included. Other documents bound or tipped into the case records include correspondence to and from patients, and, in the case of patient death, to relatives or agencies; official typescript commitment orders; newspaper clippings; correspondence from institutions treating patient's children requesting a patient's records.

Related Material

This accretions forms part of Series 14231, Patient Case Files. The catalog record for the series provides a fuller description of case files and case books for all state psychiatric centers.

Other Finding Aids

Available at Repository

Volume list.

Each volume contains an alphabetical name index in the front.

This series is indexed by B1742, Patient Indexes.

Custodial History

This series was transferred to the State Archives from the Middletown Psychiatric Center in June 2000 and accessioned in January 2001.

Access Restrictions

Restricted in accordance with Mental Hygiene Law, Section 33.13, relating to confidentiality of clinical records. Access is permitted under certain conditions upon approval by the Office of Mental Health.

Access Terms