Endowments; Neurology--Research; Epileptics--Institutional care; Montgomery (N.J. : Township); New Jersey Neuro-Psychiatric Institute; Paton, Stewart, 1865-1942
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
[between 1886 and 1919?]
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 80
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
See also grants to Paton, Stewart
In 1911, Governor Woodrow Wilson appointed Paton to the visiting staff of the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics at Skillman. He also served from 1912 to 1917 as a member of the Board of Managers of the New Jersey State Hospital at Trenton. His b eneficent influence there was recognized by the naming of the Paton Psychopathic Building in his honor (1921)... ...Trustee of the Carnegie Institution and of the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, he was also a member of the American Philosophical Society, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Harvey Society..." [SOURCE: Rogers, Fred B. "Stewart Paton (1865-1942): Mental Hygienist." American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, Vol. 55, No. 5, May 1965, pp. 655, doi: 10.2105/AJPH.55.5.654. Accessed 27 Sep. 2018.] "The facility came into existence in 1898 after former Governor Foster M. Voorhees signed a bill into law that established the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics. Intended to subvert the admittance of epileptic patients into insane asylums and other unnecessarily harsh environments, the State Village for Epileptics offered this group a much more supportive and decent atmosphere in which they could thrive. The State Village was designed to be a completely autonomous community; within its boundaries were educational and medical facilities, a theater, a fully functional farm, a firehouse, a water treatment facility, an on-site landfill, housing, and even a power plant. The institution was considered to be an exemplary and progressive facility targeted at the treatment of epileptics. In later years, namely throughout the Great Depression and World War II, the State Village suffered from financial cutbacks, which resulted in understaffing and overcrowding of the facilities. The dismal state of the institution during these times earned it the popular name, 'The Snake Pit of New Jersey'. With the advent of new prescription medications during the late 1940s, the State Village for Epileptics became obsolete by the early 1950s. With the aid of these new medications, many of the residents of the institution were able to function more efficiently within normal society, and were ultimately able to reintegrate themselves into the mainstream population. In 1953, the facility was turned into the New Jersey Neuro-Psychiatric Institute. This new institution focused on treatment and research of alcoholics, drug-addicts, people with cerebral palsy, and emotionally disturbed children. The State of New Jersey closed down the facility in 1995, with the very last of the patients being removed in 1998. By this time, the facility had been designated as the North Princeton Developmental Center." [SOURCE: "North Princeton Developmental Center." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Princeton_Developmental_Center. Accessed 27 Sep. 2018.]