Health and Medicine | Page 3

Patients at Willmar State Hospital

Patients at Willmar State Hospital, 1940.

Library in Willmar State Hospital

The library in Willmar State Hospital, ca. 1940.

Men playing cards at Willmar State Hospital

Men playing cards at Willmar State Hospital, ca. 1940.

Beauty shop at Willmar State Hospital

Beauty shop at Willmar State Hospital, ca. 1940.

Bird’s-eye view of Willmar State Hospital, 1937

Bird’s-eye view of Willmar State Hospital, 1937.

Women’s building at Willmar State Asylum

Women’s building at Willmar State Asylum, ca. 1920.

Main building at Willmar State Asylum

Main building at Willmar State Asylum, ca, 1920.

Bird’s-eye view of Willmar State Hospital, 1962

Bird’s-eye view of Willmar State Hospital, 1962.

Originally structured as a small farm for the treatment of alcoholism, Willmar State Hospital expanded its client base and operations as conditions declined through the first half of the twentieth century. Following reforms in the 1950s, it introduced innovative treatments for alcohol and drug dependency, the “open-door” model of psychiatric care, and the physical rehabilitation of disabled people.

Gale Family Library