Discovery of Artifacts
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and its archaeologists are in possession of 6,500 artifacts excavated from the grounds of Austin State Hospital during the construction of a 240-bed hospital building. Some of the items, such as porcelain buttons, sewing machines, and farming tools are available to view at the Bullock Texas State History Museum until October 2022.
Preserving the Past
The Austin State Hospital Archives Project is busy digitizing old hard-copy medical records. This effort is made possible with $260,000 in funding. The funds are awarded to the University of Texas at Austin from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. In compliance with new privacy laws, this will make the records permanently available to access online by families, researchers, and the public. The project will help tell the story of Texas’ care of its mentally ill. Included are high-resolution images of admission, treatment, discharge, budgets, personnel documents, photographs, and construction documents.
In 2020, the Hogg Foundation won the Texas Historical Records Advisory Board’s Advocacy for Archives Award. This made it possible for Austin State Hospital and the ASH Historic Preservation committee to work together.
Mental Health Reform
According to their website, the Hogg Foundation “invests in programs, policy analysis, research and education through grants, scholarships and fellowships to transform how communities promote mental health in everyday life.” We can lessen the stigma of mental illness and assist with policy reform by fostering a healthy environment in our communities where mental health is safely and openly discussed. The history of mental health should be factual and transparent, and this information should be available to everyone. The Hogg Foundation’s YouTube channel has plenty to watch such as the video, “The Shame of Texas”:
“This preservation project is building a bridge between the past and recognizing how our institutions handle care and recovery today.”
Elizabeth Stauber, Hogg Foundation archivist and records manager; Austin State Hospital Historic Preservation committee member.
Preserving the past is an important way to implement a positive change in society. History is interesting. We can learn so much from it. Whether it be past mistakes or great accomplishments, learning about history plays an important role in decision and policy making. It’s how positive change happens in the field of mental health care reform.
Brief History of the Hospital
The Texas State Lunatic Asylum was built by architect Charles Payne in 1857 and is still in operation. Patients worked on farms to create routine. Not only was the name changed to the Austin State Hospital in 1952 to reflect the public’s change of attitude toward mental health care, but now instead of manual labor, the patients play sports, work on crafts, and attend movie nights and religious services. In 1968, the population was at its highest and in 1990, the population was at its lowest. By 1993, the hospital was operated by the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.
To Learn More
If you would like to make a difference, sign this change.org petition or join the hospital’s volunteer services council. To learn more about preservation efforts, check out this Texas State Historical Association website. To get to know the hospital, the hours of operation and contact information are found here. The hospital’s cemetery has been indexed. Learn more about the cemetery in this article published by the Austin Chronicle.