Eastern State Hospital

W-40-b

Eastern State Hospital is the oldest psychiatric hospital in the United States. It was established on 12 Oct.1773, when Virginia was still a British colony, with the mission of treating and discharging the curable mentally ill. In 1841, under the leadership of John Minson Galt, the hospital initiated new reforms characterized as “moral management,” a self-directed form of rehabilitation that changed the social perception and treatment of mental illness in America. Beginning in 1935 and ending on 28 Jan. 1970, the entire institution gradually moved to Dunbar Farm.

Department of Historic Resources, 2009

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Colaizzi, Janet. The Unfortunates Committed to Our Care: The History of Eastern State Hospital, Williamsburg, Virginia from 1865. (Janet Colaizzi, Williamsburg, VA, 2004). Dain, Norman. Disordered Minds: The First Century of Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia 1766-1866. (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA, 1971). McCartney, Martha. James City County: Keystone of the Commonwealth. (The Downing Company Publishers, Virginia Beach, VA, 1997). Zwelling, Shomer S. Quest for a Cure: The Public Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia, 1773-1885. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA, 1985.