Timeline / Defining Rights and Responsibilities / 1905: Oregon hospital gets contract to take Alaska’s mentally ill
1905: Oregon hospital gets contract to take Alaska’s mentally ill
The U.S. contracts with a private hospital in Portland, Oregon, to incarcerate the mentally ill from the Territory of Alaska. Alaska Natives are among those sent by court order to Morningside Hospital. Many live in the facility for the rest of their lives. In most cases, their families lose contact with them.
- Theme
- Federal-Tribal Relations
- Region
- Arctic, Northwest Coast, Subarctic
Patients' arms are restrained during a visit of inspectors to Morningside Hospital. From 1904 to the 1960s, Alaskans who needed mental health services were sent to Morningside Hospital in Portland, Oregon.
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration
Women patients doing needlework and making baskets in front of a women's cottage on the grounds of Morningside Hospital, 1915
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration