Name/Title
Stereograph of the Women's Lunatic Asylum (No. 61) - "Popular Series of Southern Views" SeriesEntry/Object ID
2016.5.1Description
Stereograph of the women's lunatic asylum, designed by architect Robert Mills, in Columbia. The obverse has two images side by side of the building and the reverse has the logo of local photographer W.A. Reckling with the handwritten title of stereograph near the top above the stamped logo.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
StereographSubject
Mills BuildingSubject Person or Organization
South Carolina State HospitalSubject Place
City
Columbia, South CarolinaContext
The South Caroline Lunatic Asylum was designed by architect Robert Mills (1781-1855). Through its erection, South Carolina became the second state to provide funds for the care of those living with mental illness. Although the cornerstone was laid in 1822, the entire structure wouldn't be completed until 1828.
In keeping with the “moral treatment movement,” which called for those living with mental illness to no longer be physically restrained or kept in total isolation, the asylum's building included south-facing patient rooms connected by a wide corridor that could be used for strolling during cold months. The roofs of both wings were also designed as promenades enclosed by parapet walls to keep the patients safe. Mills' design segregated male and female patients into separate wings, a treatment policy that would remain in place for the entirety of the campus’s history. The entire building was considered fireproof and heated by two furnaces in the basement with flues running up the wall.
Other design features reflected that this building functioned like a prison—and it essentially was, as most patients were committed “for their own safety” by family members and public officials. Patient rooms were referenced as cells, complete with hidden locks and iron bars that mimicked the window muttons designed to “secure them against any attempt to escape.” The four-acre campus, bounded by Elmwood, Bull, Calhoun, and Pickens, was also surrounded by a 10-foot-high brick wall.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
William A. RecklingRole
PhotographerDate made
circa 1888Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Robert Mills
