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Arkansas State Insane Asylum and Cemetery
Arkansas State Insane Asylum and Cemetery
by Mike Hood
Michael Hood, Civil Engineering Manager for the City of Little Rock, will present a program December 15th for the Heritage Seekers Club virtual lecture series on the history of the State Hospital and a real-life Halloween ghost story of the fate of the old State Hospital Cemetery.
The state insane asylum was first known as the Arkansas Lunatic Asylum in 1873. The asylum treated individuals suffering from mental illness, epilepsy, birth defects, learning disabilities, and the effects of old age. Many had committed criminal offenses. All were there through a judge’s order. In those days, the treatment of the mentally ill and handicapped persons was crude by modern standards. In most cases, sedation or electric shock therapy was the only medical treatment available. Most patients remained there for the rest of their lives and many were buried on state property.
Michael Hood has been a regular program participant for the Pulaski County Historical Society since 2010. Past presentations include In Search of the Little Rock Maumelle and Western Railroad; Westward from Little Rock, Early Roads and Places; Tour of Western Pulaski County, Halstead, Pleasant Grove and Walnut Grove; Historical Firsts for the Town of Little Rock; and a Tour of the Oakland and Fraternal Cemetery. (Stay tuned for an event with Mike at Oakland in the spring)
Meeting Files:
Zoom meeting chat text
Zoom meeting video:
0:09:12 Presentation
0:51:35 Questions and Answers
1:27:04 End