St. Elizabeths Asylum: Civil War Care at the Hospital for the Insane

Founded in 1852, St. Elizabeths was the nation’s first federally-funded psychiatric facility. The “Government Hospital for the Insane” in Washington, D.C. quickly transformed into a trauma center for wounded and convalescing soldiers when the Civil War broke-out a decade later. This lecture will analyze the reception of Union, Confederate, and African American troops, as well as their conditions upon admission. As the only federal mental health complex in the country during the Civil War, St. Elizabeths helped define treatment options for those afflicted with the modern diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Attendees will glimpse into the medical treatments of wartime Washington, connecting symptoms to battlefield experiences. Through an inclusion of primary sources and personal narratives, this lecture will explore the impact on psychiatric care in the postbellum years and reflect on the wave of mentally-ill veterans once the war concluded.

Madeline Feierstein is an Alexandria, VA historian specializing in the American Civil War’s hospitals and prisons, with an additional research interest in psychiatric institutions and asylums. A native of Washington, D.C., her work has been showcased across the Capital Region. As a historian for the Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, Madeline leads efforts to document the sick, injured, and imprisoned soldiers that passed through Civil War Alexandria. Additionally, she works at Gravestone Stories interpreting the burials in Alexandria’s historically-rich cemeteries and at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland. Madeline holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminology from George Mason University and a Master’s in American History from Southern New Hampshire University.

Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

Host or Publisher Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden