Monthly Archives: November 2011

Where does Radar Hill, the highest point on the asylum grounds, get its name? In the 1960′s and 70′s Ohio University’s Avionics Engineering Center maintained a facility there that included antennae and two brick buildings. Pictured here is Ralph Burhans, … Continue reading →

November at the asylum was not a family affair for patients in residence. Nevertheless, grocery lists in the nineteenth century annual reports suggest that a special meal was prepared. Here is a partial list from November 1881: 55 cans oysters, … Continue reading →

In its first years of operation the asylum categorized its patients into these general categories: mania (with and without epilepsy); monomania; paresis ; melancholia; dementia; imbecility; and not insane. Between 1874-81 three men and one woman were admitted to the … Continue reading →

Patients at the Athens asylum were inventive in finding ways to express themselves. They wrote notes and letters, drew pictures, and wrote poems about their keepers. Some, perhaps using a tool or utensil taken surreptitiously from dining or work room, … Continue reading →