1919 to October, 1920

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

financial, mental health, bryce hospital

In 1840, female activist Dorothea Dix set out on a misson to create more mental health hospitals for the mentally ill.  During this time in America, there were only 8 hospitals for the mentally ill, but Dorothea fought for the creation of at least 32, so the people who have been injustly imprisioned for mental health reasons may be transferred from jail to the hospital instead. Bryce Hospital, a hospital...

1910 to March 5, 1920

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

mental health, madness, bryce hospital

Andrew Moore Sheffield was a woman born with a man’s name.  Her father, James Sheffield was a former slaveholder and one of the Alabamian men who signed the state’s ordinance of secession before the time of America’s civil war.  James Sheffield, along with his son who was a probate judge at the time, had long believed Andrew was insane, and one day in 1890, when the opportunity presented itself,...