The following excerpt is from University of Texas at Austin:
Newswise — AUSTIN, Texas – A century’s worth of historical records from Central State Hospital in Virginia – the world’s first black mental hospital – will soon be available online in a digital archive created by King Davis, director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis, and an interdisciplinary team of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin.
Established in 1868, Central State Hospital, formerly Central State Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, was created in response to the newly freed slaves after the Civil War. The mounds of forgotten materials offer a rare glimpse into what life was like for African Americans following the Civil War to the post-civil rights era. Without Davis’ intervention, the documents would have been shredded due to confusion over Virginia’s records retention laws.
Thanks to ResearchBuzz for the heads-up.
