Patton State Hospital has a new museum. googleoff: allgoogleon: all
You can’t see it.googleoff: all
At least not yet. googleoff: all
Plans are to provide limited public access in June. googleoff: all
It will be worth the wait. googleoff: all
Filled with historic items from the mental hospital’s nearly 125-year history, the museum cracked its round wooden door briefly on Friday, April 17, as part of a grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. googleoff: all
The museum is the result of four years of work that started when Anthony Ortiz, a clinician at the hospital, was shown a room piled with odds and ends that had been stored over the decades. He’d heard about the collection and bugged a hospital official for a peek. For Ortiz, it was like finding lost treasure. googleoff: all
“I was amazed,” he said. And when he started to discover the names of former patients and employees on the items, he said, “I knew we had something special. I spent a whole summer organizing the artifacts.”googleoff: all
His biggest find came late one night when he ran across some long metal probes.googleoff: all
“I knew right away they were lobotomy probes,” Ortiz said.googleoff: all
One struck him in particular. It was etched with the name “Freeman” across the handle. Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman was the primary promoter of the lobotomy in the United States. Freeman performed the procedure more than 2,500 times. googleoff: all
“Not only to find the (probe), but to see Dr. Freeman’s name stamped on it,” Ortiz said, “I was amazed. It was around 10 o’clock at night and I called my mom.”googleoff: all
As he uncovered such items, he periodically gave them to the public affairs director to take to meetings and share them with administrators. He set up small displays in the 1912 cottage, where the items had been stored. googleoff: all
“The staff would come in and see these small exhibits,” Ortiz said, “and the staff would really connect with the artifacts.”googleoff: all
A little over a year ago, officials decided to use one of the former staff houses on the grounds as museum space. Display cases were built, wall-mounted text panels were created, walls were painted and the artifacts were arranged.