MINIMUM MORAL RIGHTS: ALABAMA MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTIONS AND THE ROAD TO ...

196 Pages·2008·1.74 MB·English

MINIMUM MORAL RIGHTS: ALABAMA MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTIONS
AND THE ROAD TO FEDERAL INTERVENTION

Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work describe in this thesis is
my own or was one in collaboration with my advisory committee. This thesis does not
include proprietary or classified information.

____________________________
Deborah Jane Belcher

Certificate of Approval

___________________________ __________________________
Larry Gerber David Carter, Chair
Professor Emeritus Associate Professor
History History

___________________________ __________________________
Charles Israel George T. Flowers
Associate Professor Dean
History Graduate School
MINIMUM MORAL RIGHTS: ALABAMA MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTIONS
AND THE ROAD TO FEDERAL INTERVENTION

Deborah Jane Belcher

A Thesis

Submitted to
the Graduate Faculty of
Auburn University

in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the

Degree of

Masters of Arts

Auburn, Alabama
December 19, 2008
MINIMUM MORAL RIGHTS: ALABAMA MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTIONS
AND THE ROAD TO FEDERAL INTERVENTION

Deborah Jane Belcher

Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this thesis at its discretion,
upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all
publication rights

__________________________________
Signature of Author

___________________________________
Date of Graduation
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VITA

Deborah Jane Belcher was born in Mt. Clemons, Michigan. A graduate of
Marshall Lab School in Huntington, West Virginia, Deborah attended Marshall
University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Art and Speech Education.
After retiring from Delta Airlines, she enrolled at Auburn University to pursue a Masters
of Arts in Modern American History.

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THESIS ABSTRACT
MINIMUM MORAL RIGHTS: ALABAMA MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTIONS
AND THE ROAD TO FEDERAL INTERVENTION

Deborah Jane Belcher
Master of Arts, December 19, 2007
(B.S., Marshall University)

196 Typed Pages
Directed by David Carter

This thesis explores the history of the abuse to the patients in Alabama’s Mental
Health Hospitals from 1860 to 1970. It addresses the social norms that encouraged the
abuse, the legal aspects that endorsed the abuse, the political forces that compound the
abuse, and the medical and administrative policies of the superintendents and their staff
that executed the abuse. It concludes by relating the events that led to the landmark
federal ruling in the Wyatt v. Stickney case that ended the abuse and guaranteed the
patients their minimum moral rights. The significance of the case lies in the fact that it
ensured all mentally disabled citizens throughout the nation the right to adequate medical
treatment.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my committee, Drs. David Carter, Larry Gerber, and Charles
Israel. I would also like to thank Mrs. Joyce Hicks and Dr. Dwayne Cox of the Special
Collections and Archives Department of Auburn University and Dr. Norwood Kerr of the
Alabama Department of Archives and History for their assistance in researching this
project. A special thanks goes to Dr. Wayne Flynt for introducing me to the topic and for
his assistance and support throughout the writing of the thesis. Of course, without the
constant love, encouragement, and tenacity of my sister, Donna Robyn, I could have
never completed the project. Finally, I would like to dedicate the thesis to the memory of
my parents, Lucy Alice Jane (Hiser) and Henry Edison Belcher.
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Style manual used: Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers,
Theses, and Dissertations. 6th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Computer software used: Microsoft Word, 2003.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................1

CHAPTER II. SOCIAL ISSUES AND THE RIGHT TO “MORAL TREATMENT”
FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO WORLD WAR I ............................................................. 15

Introduction .......................................................................................................... 15
The Acts of 1852: The Establishment of the Alabama Insane Hospital .............. 20
Superintendent Peter Bryce: The Ethos of Moral Treatment ............................... 24
Plantation Labor as “Occupational Therapy” ...................................................... 34
“Separate but Equal” ............................................................................................ 39
Voice of the Inmates ............................................................................................ 42
Superintendent James Thomas Search: a Friend of
African-American Inmates ....................................................................... 52
Contagious Afflictions: Prevalent Among African-Americans ........................... 58
Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 63

CHAPTER III. LEGAL ISSUES IMPACT
THE RIGHT TO MORAL TREATMENT...................................................................... 64

Introduction .......................................................................................................... 64
“The Feebleminded”: “Idiots, Imbeciles and Morons”........................................ 67
Dr. William Dempsey Partlow: Eugenics as a Means of Cleansing
Alabama’s Society of Mental Retardation ............................................... 71
James Sidney Tarwarter: “Nothing Wrong … that Money Won’t Cure” ............ 85
“Chaplain, how long is soon?”............................................................................. 90
The Division of Mental Hygiene ......................................................................... 97

CHAPTER IV. THE INTERSECTION OF FEDERAL COURTS
AND MENTAL HEALTH ..............................................................................................104

Introduction ..........................................................................................................104
Marable v. Mental Health Board: Separate and Unequal ....................................109
Stonewall Boulet Stickney: Eradicating Past Moral Treatment Policies .............119
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New Administrative Decisions ............................................................................123
Request for Adequate Funds ................................................................................124
Wyatt v. Stickney .................................................................................................127
Minimum Moral Standards ..................................................................................143
Johnson’s Decree Appealed by the Governor ......................................................145
Three Alabamians: Johnson, Stickney and Wallace ............................................146

CONCLUSION. MINIMUM STANDARDS AND MINIMUM MORAL RIGHTS .....148

Introduction ..........................................................................................................148
The Long Road to Redemption ............................................................................150
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................153

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................156

APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................166

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Occupation of Patients Admitted from July 6, 1861
to October 1, 1870....................................................................................... 28

Table 2. Alleged Predisposing Cause of Insanity of Patients Admitted
from July 6, 1861, to October 1, 1870 ........................................................ 29

Table 3. Form of Insanity of Patients Admitted
from July 6, 1861, to October 1, 1870 ........................................................ 30

Table 4. States and Names of Asylums..................................................................... 33

Table 5. Total Number of Days’ Work Done by Patients
in the Several Departments ......................................................................... 36

Table 6. Bill of the Fare ............................................................................................ 46

Table 7. The Number Employed Each Day at Partlow ............................................ 75

Table 8. Annual Report of the Bryce Hospital from
October 1, 1951 through September 30, 1952 ............................................ 88

Table 9. Annual Report of the Searcy Hospital from
October 1, 1951, through September 30, 1952 ........................................... 89

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