Separate and Unequl: Segregation in North Carolina's Asylum System 1856-1905

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Westpfahl, J. (2017). Separate and Unequl: Segregation in North Carolina's Asylum System 1856-1905. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

During its 1874-1875 session, the North Carolina General Assembly founded twonew public asylums to address overcrowding in its only mental health care facility inRaleigh (Dorothea Dix Hospital). The first, in Morganton (Broughton Hospital), wasintended to serve the white citizens of the state in addition to the Raleigh hospital. Thesecond new facility in Goldsboro (Cherry Hospital) was intended to serve all the AfricanAmerican mentally ill of the state. This thesis explores the creation of this asylum systemfrom the opening of the Raleigh facility in 1856 to the deaths of superintendents PatrickMurphy (Morganton), and J. F. Miller (Goldsboro). It examines the contradictions in thefounding and running of the Goldsboro asylum. North Carolina differed from southernstates such as South Carolina by creating a separate facility for African Americans, ashad been pioneered by Virginia and Tennessee. This thesis argues that while the NorthCarolina General Assembly passed the act that founded the asylum, the lack of supportand funding they provided prevented the asylum's ability to offer the same quality of careits white counterparts could provide to theirs. The General Assembly prioritized the allwhiteMorganton and Raleigh asylums over its only African American mental health carefacility from its beginnings because of the race and the triumph of Jim Crow.

Details
Author

Westpfahl, Jocelyn

Title

Separate and Unequl: Segregation in North Carolina's Asylum System 1856-1905

Physical Description

1 online resource (100 pages) : PDF

Date

2017

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

During its 1874-1875 session, the North Carolina General Assembly founded twonew public asylums to address overcrowding in its only mental health care facility inRaleigh (Dorothea Dix Hospital). The first, in Morganton (Broughton Hospital), wasintended to serve the white citizens of the state in addition to the Raleigh hospital. Thesecond new facility in Goldsboro (Cherry Hospital) was intended to serve all the AfricanAmerican mentally ill of the state. This thesis explores the creation of this asylum systemfrom the opening of the Raleigh facility in 1856 to the deaths of superintendents PatrickMurphy (Morganton), and J. F. Miller (Goldsboro). It examines the contradictions in thefounding and running of the Goldsboro asylum. North Carolina differed from southernstates such as South Carolina by creating a separate facility for African Americans, ashad been pioneered by Virginia and Tennessee. This thesis argues that while the NorthCarolina General Assembly passed the act that founded the asylum, the lack of supportand funding they provided prevented the asylum's ability to offer the same quality of careits white counterparts could provide to theirs. The General Assembly prioritized the allwhiteMorganton and Raleigh asylums over its only African American mental health carefacility from its beginnings because of the race and the triumph of Jim Crow.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Mental health
History
African Americans--Study and teaching

Subjects--Places

America

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Asylum History
Cherry Hospital
Goldsboro
Mental Health
Race
Segregation

Subject Area

History

Advisor(s)

Flint, Karen
Shapiro, Aaron

Committee Members

Mixon, Gregory

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2017.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Westpfahl_uncc_0694N_11596

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:214