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• - Browse neighboring items by call number.
• Collection: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

• Title: St. Elizabeths Hospital West Campus, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC
• Creator(s): Historic American Landscapes Survey, creator
• Related Names:
     Dix, Dorothea L.
     Nichols, Charles H.
     Walter, Thomas Ustick
     Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
     Richardson, Alonzo
     Olmsted, Frederick Law, Jr.
     Schwartz, Leslie , photographer
     Bryant, Tod , photographer
     O'Donnell, Patricia M. , historian
     Viteretto, Peter , historian
     De Vries, Gregory Wade , historian
     Stach, Glenn , historian
     Cody, Sarah K. , historian
     Helmkamp, Thomas , historian
     Graulty, Sarah L. , historian
     Mardorf, Carrie Ann , historian
     Orlow, Tamara , historian
     U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) , sponsor
     Heritage Landscapes, LLC , delineator
• Date Created/Published: Documentation compiled after 2000
• Medium: Photo(s): 51
  Measured Drawing(s): 7
  Data Page(s): 140
  Photo Caption Page(s): 6
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. (http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html)
  
• Call Number: HALS DC-11
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
• Notes:
  • Significance: Advocated for as early as the 1830s and initially developed in the 1850s, the West Campus of St. Elizabeths Hospital is a nationally and perhaps internationally significant historic resource that documents in physical form the evolution of medical treatment for mental health patients in the United States. Positioned on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, this approximately 176-acre property commands an impressive panorama. The site selection, site planning for the buildings, and development of the hospital grounds integrate the landscape with the medical treatment of patients. This was a remarkable innovation in this type of institution marking a shift away from incarceration treatment toward active therapeutic treatment of mental illness. The historic significance of St. Elizabeths Hospital is nationally recognized by incorporation on national and local historic district registers. The campus including the cultural landscape is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The campus was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991, and received District of Columbia Historic District Designation in May of 2005. The St. Elizabeths Hospital West Campus cultural landscape incorporates historic significance to varying degrees in all four National Register criteria. The cultural landscape of the hospital is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of United States history. The historic campus remains a largely intact testament to the history of the social reform movement and the history of mental health care in the United States. The West Campus is also associated with the lives of persons significant in the past including social reformer Dorothea Lynde Dix, mental health advocate Dr. Charles H. Nichols and architect of the Capitol Thomas U. Walter. The origin of the first national mental health institution lies in the lobbying efforts of Dorothea Dix and in the planning and design of the initial grounds and buildings by first Superintendent Charles Nichols and Thomas Walter. Important asylum planners including psychiatrist Dr. Thomas S. Kirkbride and landscape architect Andrew J. Downing inspired Dr. Charles Nichols and Thomas Walter. In addition, the southern expansion of the West Campus under Superintendent Alonzo Richardson was carried out by architects Shepley Rutan and Coolidge and influenced by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and the Olmsted Brothers. The cultural landscape of the hospital continues to embody the distinctive characteristics of a type and period of construction. The West Campus exists as one of the few surviving nineteenth-century hospitals where the therapeutic use of the grounds was designed as an essential component of the health and healing of patients. The St. Elizabeths Hospital landscape bears evidence of the evolution of hospital design from its origin in the 1850s to its complete development in the early 1940s.
  • Survey number: HALS DC-11
  • Building/structure dates: 1853- ca. 1855 Initial Construction
  • National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101
• Subjects:
  • asylums
  • mental institutions
  • campus
  • reform
  • health care
• Place:
  • District of Columbia--District of Columbia--Washington
• Latitude/Longitude: 38.856074, -76.99604
• Collections:
  • Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
• Part of: Historic American Landscapes Survey (Library of Congress)
• Bookmark This Record:
     https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/dc1042/

The Library of Congress generally does not own rights to material in its collections and, therefore, cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. For further rights information, see "Rights Information" below and the Rights and Restrictions Information page ( https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/rights.html ).

• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Call Number: HALS DC-11
• Medium: Photo(s): 51
  Measured Drawing(s): 7
  Data Page(s): 140
  Photo Caption Page(s): 6

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• Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
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In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

• Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
• P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
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• Call Number: HALS DC-11
• Medium: Photo(s): 51
  Measured Drawing(s): 7
  Data Page(s): 140
  Photo Caption Page(s): 6

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

   • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.

     As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)

   • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

   • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.

   • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.

3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.