I have a lot of catchup to do on my fill-in-the-gaps project, so I thought I would share with you a link that Jose sent me of the Kalamazoo State Hospital.
I’ve written about the hospital a couple of times in the past. First there were my posts about my grandmother’s uncle Fred Waldeck. He was severely brain-injured in an accident and, subsequently, lived out the rest of his life at the State Hospital.
Waldeck Family Research with Fred’s Death Certificate
My research and writing on Fred Waldeck’s wife Caroline featured in Broad Street Magazine
Then more recently, I wrote about my great-great grandmother’s sister Annie Paak Verhulst. I discovered that she passed away at the State Hospital, and the best guess is that she went there as so many had because she was elderly with health issues and it was the only place that could take care of her. There were no nursing homes in those days.
So what did this place, the Kalamazoo State Hospital, look like? Here is the link Jose sent.
PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION OF KALAMAZOO STATE HOSPITAL
This is really an amazing project. Enjoy.
The Family Kalamazoo 
Wow – what a project. I’m thinking most state hospitals were similar to this…of course depending on funding.
I think so, too, although from what I’ve read maybe some others were worse about the care of the patients. I’ve read some horror stories about other places, but most accounts about this one seem to be more “moderate.”
Amazing the work that people do! This would be way out of my zone!
I agree about the amazing work. My 2nd cousin on my dad’s side has been working with some photos that I sent him, and he had people from Facebook helping identity exactly where something was in Chicago. He shared one long “essay” one woman wrote about the place, and the amount of knowledge and detail she put into her identification was phenomenal
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Wow – Jose found a land mine of a site, this is amazing!!!!!
Jose is great at finding wonderful stuff!!!!
Here’s a link for Jose in case anyone is looking for it!
I spent some time on the photographic reconstruction site. What a well-curated treasure trove!
It really is wonderful!
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