Research

Scope and Content Note

This series contains case files that document the commitment, diagnosis and treatment of inmates of the Matteawan and Dannemora State Hospitals for the Criminally Insane.

The bulk of the case files contain legal papers documenting the commitment process (i.e., certificate and/or petition of lunacy, court hearing orders and commitment orders); admission sheets; statistical data forms; ward admission records; physical examination reports; criminal identification forms furnished by both the FBI and the Department of Correction; inmates' photographs; laboratory reports (urine and blood analysis); psychiatric report (also contains periodic observational notes updating the inmate's file) and a transcript of psychiatrist's interview with the inmate. Some of the case files occasionally contain inmate correspondence, dental records, autopsy reports, fingerprint cards, Social Security eligibilty reports, reports regarding inmate's early life compiled by a parent, newspaper clippings describing the inmate's crime, correspondence, reports and various forms regarding commitment, admission, personal, physical and criminal history. Other files may contain only the court order transferring the person to Dannemora or Matteawan. By 1896 the State Commission in Lunacy began to issue a form which contained the physician's report, application for order to examine, certificate of lunacy, application for order of transfer, and the order of transfer.

This form provides data on inmates' criminal past; personal history (age, sex, color, occupation, residence and general physical condition); psychiatric history; date of transfer; and names and titles of officials involved in the commitment process.

The case files after 1900 become more unified in content. These usually contain: 1) an admission form providing inmate's name, identification number, inmate number, residence, date of admission, by whom admitted, date of discharge, place of transfer, date of commitment, names and addresses of doctors who presided over commitment, court and name of judge where sentencing occurred, crime, term, previous convictions, correspondents, and disposition of body in case of death; 2) a statistical data sheet providing biographical (name, sex, date and place of birth, citizenship status, names and birthplaces of parents, education, marital status, occupation, religion, residence, military service record, alcohol or drug habits, and economic condition) and admission information (same as above); 3) a ward admission record that describes the inmate in general physical terms and articles and clothing brought into the institution by the inmate; 4) a detailed physical examination report that describes inmate's general appearance and condition, thoracic, digestive and abdominal and genito-urinary organs, the nervous and "vegetative nervous" systems, and the endocrine glands; 5) reports from the FBI and the Department of Correction describing past crimes; 6) inmate's photograph (front and side views);

7) a form entitled "History Blank," a four page questionnaire providing information on the inmate's personal history, past mental troubles, present mental troubles, and biographical information on the inmate's parents; 8) laboratory reports regarding inmate's urine and blood samples; 9) clinical summary reports which are narratives providing basic biographical data, a personal history that is often an account of why the inmate committed the crime he or she was incarcerated for, a statement on the inmate's subsequent behavior, and brief statements describing the inmate's "physical system complex," "mental system complex," "differential diagnosis" and "final diagnosis;" 10) A mental status report describing the inmate's attitude and general behavior, stream of mental activity, emotional creation, affect and mood, mental trend or conduct of thought (in many instances this describes the inmate's frame of mind prior to the commission of the offense and shortly after commitment), and reading and writing skills (often a sample is included); a transcript of the initial interview between the psychiatrist and the inmate; and a series of periodic reports made during the inmate's incarceration updating his physical and mental condition; and 11) some type of legal form committing the inmate to Dannemora or Matteawan.