Glore Psychiatric Museum Paints a Vivid Picture
of Past Mental Health Practices

by Marilyn Jones

I am getting married; Don’t cry baby; I watching you; Bring along the knife, we going to cut; September in the rain; Would you like napkins, yes I would like napkins, thank you; Wait for me, I am lonely.

These phrases are not snatches of overheard conversation, but rather the thoughts of a St. Joseph, Missouri State Hospital schizophrenia patient who embroidered them into an elaborate design. The large, framed art piece is part of an artwork display at the Glore Psychiatric Museum and, like the other exhibits, will leave you with a lasting image of the men and women who lived their days in the confines of a state mental institution.

The displays and historic exhibits are all part of the 130-year history of what was once known as the State Lunatic Asylum No. 2 and the vision of George Glore — a lifetime employee of the Missouri mental health system — who wanted to illustrate the history of the treatment of mental illness.

He had been collecting historical psychiatric treatment devices as well as interesting items made by the patients of the hospital for more than 40 years. The museum started as an exhibit for Mental Health Awareness Week and featured full size replicas of 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century treatment devices — many resembling torture apparatus used during the same period. Glore was encouraged by his superiors to expand the exhibit. More mental illness treatment items were soon added and the museum began.

In 1968 the Glore Psychiatric Museum was housed in an abandoned ward of the St. Joseph State Hospital and later moved to a building once used as a clinic when the original hospital was turned into a prison.

The collection now fills four floors and includes the more recent treatments alongside the bizarre and torturous from centuries past including witch burning and devil stomping, a gallows-like platform that dumped a patient into icy water, and a patient treadmill that looks like a giant hamster wheel where patients were locked and forced to walk off their excess energy.

Another horrendous look into the past is the lunatic box, sometimes called the English booth, the coffin or the clock case. It was used during the 18th and 19th centuries. The victim was placed in the device and had to remain in a standing or laying position until they became calm. A wooden piece could be dropped over the opening of the face leaving the patient in complete darkness.

The mid-20th century exhibits include lobotomy instruments, electroconvulsive treatments and a fever-cabinet used for heating syphilis victims.

One display shows the 1,446 items swallowed by a patient and removed from her intestines and stomach. She died during surgery from bleeding caused by the nails, screws and safety pins she swallowed. Other items included salt shaker tops, buttons and thimbles.

Another patient collected 100,000 cigarette packs under the delusion that the cigarette companies would redeem them for a new wheelchair for his ward. Hospital staff bought a new wheelchair and thanked the man for his efforts in helping the hospital.

One patient stuffed 525 rambling notes into a working television set. Found by a repairman, many of the writings appeared to be answers to questions the patient had been asked by a psychiatrist.

Even when school groups tour the museum, it’s quiet as you walk from exhibit to exhibit. The only sign of visitors are foot falls, hushed conversations and gasps of disbelief at how mental patients were treated until relatively recent history. And there are the store mannequins suited up to represent the scores of patients who lived the nightmare. It all adds to the experience you’re not likely to forget anytime soon.

If you go:

The museum is located one mile west of I-29 (exit 47) at 3406 Frederick Boulevard and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission: adults $5, seniors (60 and above) $4, students (ages 7-18) $3, children (under 6) free, group rate (20 or more) $4.50.

For more information call 816-232-8471 or check the website at http://www.stjosephmuseum.org/.