Early to Mid-20th Century
SELKIRK
1904 – Accommodations fail to keep up with the demand and patients are placed on beds in hallways and the attic.
1930s – New research is published arguing that insulin shock therapy is successful in treating schizophrenic patients.
1940s – Start of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and leucotomies, more commonly known as lobotomies.
1950s – A total 258 leucotomies are performed at Selkirk.
BRANDON
1919 – The institution is renamed Brandon Hospital for Mental Diseases.
1925 – Consisting of three main buildings linked by corridors, the new facility is opened in January, designed to accommodate new patients.
1931-1932 – A third dormitory is built.
Between 1950-1960 – New expansion takes place.
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE
1918 – A report written by two doctors stated:
“The name Home for Incurables is misleading as the institution has become a treatment center for all sorts of ailments… Apparently, all Manitoba families who had a troublesome family member, old or young, would send them to the Home for Incurables. This went on until the institution was made up of an unfortunate conglomerate of idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, lunatics, seniles and normal people who suffered from incurable diseases.”
1924 – The Home for Incurable is renamed the Home for the Aged and Infirm.
1930 – The Home for the Aged and Infirm is renamed the Manitoba School for Mental Defectives.
Sources
Manitoba Asylum – Selkirk Museum
[https://selkirkmuseum.ca/places/the-manitoba-asylum/]
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Brandon Mental Health Centre (First Street, Brandon) (mhs.mb.ca)
[http://mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/brandonmentalhealthcentre.shtml]
Manitoba History: The Brandon Asylum Fire of 1910 (mhs.mb.ca)
[http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/21/brandonasylumfire.shtml]
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Home for Incurables / Home for the Aged and Infirm / Manitoba School for Mental Defectives / Manitoba School for Retardates / Manitoba Development Centre (3rd Street NE, Portage la Prairie) (mhs.mb.ca)
[https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/homeforincurables.shtml]
Photo Credits
Selkirk Mental Hospital 34 – Hydro-therapy unit (disappeared c1955)
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital, hydro therapy unit P1215
Selkirk – Mental Hospital 36 – Post mortem room, 1954
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital 36, post mortem room P1215
Nurses preparing a patient for leucotomia, 1887-1905
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital, P1215
Selkirk – Mental Hospital 39 – ward in building B, 1954
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital, P1215
Selkirk – Mental Hospital 37 – operating room, 1954
Minor Operating Room
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital,1887-1955, P1215
Selkirk – Mental Hospital 53 c1887. lunatic asylum
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital 41-53,1887-1955, P1215
Selkirk – Mental Hospital 3 – Main Building
Selkirk – Mental Hospital 19 – Infirmary
Selkirk – Mental Hospital 5 – Reception Building, c1920
Asylum for the insane, Selkirk, n.d.
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital,1887-1955, P1215
The newer annex of Selkirk Mental Hospital, 1978
Archives of Manitoba, Government photographs, 78-11836 to 78-11888 The newer annex of Selkirk Mental Hospital, ZZ 8-1-6-2 78
Interior of new wing at Hospital for Mental Diseases – 1969
Archives of Manitoba, Government photographs, 69-3084 to 69-3091 Selkirk, Interior of new wing at Hospital for Mental Diseases, ZZ 11-2-3-3
Leucotomy Being Performed in the Operating Room of the Infirmary Building 1950s.
[https://selkirkmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Selkirk-Museum-Folder-Leucotomy-Being-Performed-in-the-Operating-Room-of-the-Infirmary-Building-1950s.jpg]
Community Facilities – Selkirk Mental Hospital, visitors entrance 1972
Community Facilities – Selkirk Mental Hospital, 1972
Community Facilities – Selkirk Mental Hospital, 1972, Administration Building Medical Superintendent, Hospital Administrator, Director of Nursing
Archives of Manitoba, FRED/ARDA administration photographs and slides, Community Facilities – Selkirk Mental Hospital, 1972, ZZ 07-02-03-01
Addition to the Asylum for the insane, Brandon, 1902
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, 1969-1, addition to main building, P1132
Destruction of Brandon asylum by fire, nov 1910
After destruction of Brandon asylum by fire, nov 1910
Patients walking in winter time to another building, n.d.
View of the new hospital for the insane, Brandon, n.d
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Brandon – Buildings – Provincial – Brandon Mental Health Centre, 1906-1946, P1132
Brandon hospital aerial view, n.d.
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, 1969-1, ZZ 11-2-3-4