Look at George Dowdall's *The Eclipse of the State Mental Hospital:  Policy, Stigma, and Organization* (Albany:  SUNY Press, 1996), which centers upon Buffalo State Hospital.

Look also at G.W. Dowdall and J.L. Golden's "Photographs as Text:  An Analysis of Images from a Mental Hospital," *Qualitative Sociology* 12 (1989):  183-213.

To the best of my knowledge, these are the best scholarly studies concerning Buffalo State Hospital during this period.

More information can be found in the published annual reports of Buffalo State Hospital and the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene and in several records series held by the New York State Archives.





Bonita L. Weddle
Documentary Heritage Services
New York State Archives
9C71 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
(518)473-4258
[log in to unmask]
www.archives.nysed.gov

>>> [log in to unmask] 01/19/01 12:34PM >>>
Can anyone direct me to a source that describes what it was
like to be an "attendant" at the Buffalo State Hospital
(formerly Asylum for the Insane) in the 1930s?  I have been
unsuccessful in trying to locate a history of the
institution that covers that time period.  Thank you!
David Matthews
[log in to unmask]
Scottsdale, AZ