The Mental Health Records of Progressivism from the Oregon State Hospital

My active internship experience this Spring Term 2018 was with medical patients’ records from the 20th century Progressive era through to the Depression of the 1930s accessed from the Oregon State Archives. The records help to illuminate the existence of Progressive ideals to rehabilitate patients through institutionalization and rehabilitation and the new science of psychiatry. The sources and records show that the ideals of the Progressive reformers in Oregon fell short of the realities of the Oregon State Hospital. Using a Jane Doe file from the Oregon State Archives committed in 1921 and discharged in 1924 I use her personal experiences, through correspondence and nurses notes, to enlighten upon Progressive themes. Jane Doe’s file specifically illuminates where human rights were disregarded in the pursuit of Progressive attempts. My research also shows the pervasive terminologies and social ideologies, towards mental illness and healthy mating, that developed and still exist from the Progressive era