Comments for asylum notes

Comment on About Dr. Katherine Ziff by katherine ziff

katherine ziff — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 05:52:09 +0000

Mona I hope you enjoy the book. If you would like to email me any particular memories or recollections or photographs I would be pleased to post them on the blog. katherineziff@aol.com

Comment on About Dr. Katherine Ziff by Mona Joyce

Mona Joyce — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 04:47:15 +0000

I can’t wait to read your book. I grew up in Athens and I used to play at the Richland Avenue Park at the bottom of the hill from the Mental Health Center. After I graduated from high school I had a summer job working at OU and we were assigned to paint the windows at The Ridges. It was in the summer of 1994, about the time OU took over the buildings. I spent a lot of time in the buildings, they are full of so much history. What fascinated me was the numbered graves in the cemetery and all of the medical records that had been abandoned. When we were painting we explored some off limits areas of the buildings.

Comment on spring on The Ridges by katherine ziff

katherine ziff — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:05:02 +0000

yes they are anarchists, especially in a neighborhood of lawns!

Comment on spring on The Ridges by Jill Trescott

Jill Trescott — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:05:20 +0000

I’m secretly fond
of spring’s first dandelions:
cheerful anarchists.

Comment on About the Athens Lunatic Asylum by Denise Hibsch Richmond

Denise Hibsch Richmond — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 05:32:55 +0000

Katherine, thank you for your ongoing interest in the Athens Asylum and posting updates related to it. My great-great grandmother was a patient there from 1881-1918 so I’m always interested in asylum news.

Comment on About the Athens Lunatic Asylum by katherine ziff

katherine ziff — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:23:04 +0000

No. The campus master plan calls for preservation of the buildings there that have been renovated plus two wings of the original Kirkbride structure.

Comment on About the Athens Lunatic Asylum by patri

patri — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:03:13 +0000

Is the entire asylum being demolished?

Comment on Rusk State Hospital by katherine ziff

katherine ziff — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 02:02:33 +0000

Kevin, thank you for clarifying. History is so often more complex than at first glance.

Comment on Rusk State Hospital by Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:47:59 +0000

The original desigantion of the Rusk State Hospital in 1917 was “The East Texas Hospital for the Negro Insane,” but prior to accepting the first patients, a delegation of Rusk citizens went to Austin to ask that the facility accept all races. Prior to receiving the first patients in 1919, the name was changed to the “East Texas Hospital for the Insane” in order to provide services for all races. From it’s opening, it was never a facility solely for African-Americans.

Comment on Building 26 by katherine ziff

katherine ziff — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 01:17:00 +0000

Janice it is a lovely spot overlooking the cemetery on one side and the river and Athens on the other, with stands of beautiful trees. At the foot of the hill is the stonework for the spring and waterfall.