Research

Scope and Content Note

Records in this series document those admitted, discharged, and transferred at the New York State Asylum for Idiots (1851-1890), the Syracuse State Institution for Feeble-Minded Children (1891-1918), the Syracuse State School for Mental Defectives (1919-1925) and the Syracuse State School (from 1926). Information is also present in some volumes for death, parole, and escape (elopement). Records are arranged roughly according to admission date, with much chronological overlap, and considerable annotations (postdating admission dates) throughout. Record keeping changed considerably as the institution developed, and the information requirements and volume format vary accordingly.

Information in subseries 1 and 2 is descriptive and includes family history data gathered at application, as well as data from individual physiognomic and phrenological evaluations. A few rare photographs of applicants accompany the earliest descriptions. Entries in subseries 3, 4, and 5 are more statistical, with brief, often abbreviated information. Discharge information becomes a separate element in volumes of subseries 5, and is the primary listing in subseries 6 and 7. A more "modern" institutional format that combines admission, discharge, death, and transfer entries appears in subseries 8 and 9.