Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

There’s still a long way to go to cover the funding gap for Fergus Falls, and not much time to do so either — only a day or so left. I’m starting to sweat like Jerry Lewis at the end of a telethon…

If you’ve ever considered donating but put it off for later, please do it now.

If you can only afford to give $5 or $10, please do. Every little bit helps.

I apologize for the negativity, but I feel compelled to admit I’m depressed by the lack of response to this fundraiser. In spite of what seems to have been a pretty active campaign to get the word out, not much money has been donated. There’s been talk of the deadline being extended, but I don’t know how likely that is if there’s not a substantial amount donated by the end of the year. I don’t know what the current total is unfortunately, but judging by the GoFundMe page, it’s not very significant.

So please, donate now. Please share the GoFundMe link and ask others to donate now. Otherwise, get ready to say goodbye to yet another Kirkbride.

To those who have already donated, either online or by sending a check directly, and to those who have encouraged others to donate, to Historic Kirkbride LLC, and to Gene and Maxine and all the other Friends of the Kirkbride who have worked hard to get things to this point: THANK YOU! I sincerely wish there were more people like you.

I’m a little behind on this, sorry, but there’s a new book out about Northampton State Hospital. Co-authored by Anna Schuleit and J. Michael Moore, Northampton State Hospital is part of Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series and contains 128 pages full of historic images of the hospital—including many of its beautiful Kirkbride building. You can read a bit about the book’s backstory in this article: Northampton State Hospital’s History Shared in Images.

The Friends of the Kirkbride are trying to raise $700,000 to cover a funding for redevelopment of the Fergus Falls Kirkbride. Read more about the story here: Fergus Falls Citizens Group to Raise $700K to Save Kirkbride.

Please consider making a donation. Any amount you can afford will help. The full $700K must be raised by December 31st. There are two ways to donate…

Send a Check

Otter Tail County Historical Society
1110 W. Lincoln Ave.
Fergus Falls, MN 56537

Make checks payable to: Otter Tail County Historical Society
Memo: Kirkbride

Donate Online

Visit this GoFundMe page.

I had been hoping that when the University of Alabama took over the Bryce Hospital campus that they would preserve the entire Kirkbride building there. Unfortunately, they’re planning on tearing down at least one wing to make room for a new performing arts center. Read more about it here: University of Alabama to Build New State of the Art Performing Arts Center on Bryce Hospital Grounds

This news is especially depressing, coming as it does on the heels of the news that New Jersey is moving forward with demolishing the Greystone Kirkbride. Speaking of Greystone, please still consider supporting Preserve Greystone’s continuing efforts to save Greystone. While the Kirkbride is still standing, there is hope it can be saved. And if I learn of any ways to help prevent Bryce’s wing from being torn down, I will post about them here and on Facebook.

1000 unmarked graves have been discovered on the former grounds of Jackson State Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi according to the Clarion Ledger: Discovery of Graves Affects UMMC Parking Plan. The graves belong to deceased patients of the hospital.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center was planning to build a parking garage on the site, but changed its plans after discovering the graves and will build the garage elsewhere. It would be too expensive to move the bodies.

You can’t help but wonder how many other unmarked graves there are that nobody knows about on former asylum grounds around the country. I’m sure there are many, many thousands (and that’s not counting the thousands of marked graves either named or anonymous).

By the way, there’s a nice image of the Jackson Kirkbride about halfway through the video accompanying the Clarion Ledger’s article (embedded above).

There’s a special exhibit focusing on Northampton State Hospital at Historic Northampton in (where else?) Northampton, Massachusetts. “Vanished: the Hospital on the Hill” will run from February 8th till March 7th and features photographs by Stan Sherer and text by J. Michael Moore. More information can be found at the Historic Northampton website.

Even though the exhibit is already ongoing, the opening reception is this Friday, February 14 from 5 to 8 PM. The reception will feature a talk by Tom Riddell at 6 PM: “The Long March to Memorializing Northampton State Hospital.”

Read an interview with photographer Stan Sherer here: New exhibit tells story of Northampton State Hospital.