Recommendation 4:
Sharing the History of ASH

• Strategy 1: Share the history of ASH with the community.

• Strategy 2: Create a space for collection management
  and interpretation.

• Strategy 3: Preserve environmental aspects of the campus.

Connecting the Continuums

Construction of the State Lunatic Asylum (now known as the Austin State Hospital) began in 1857, and the first patients were admitted in 1861 into what is now called ‘Old Main’. Old Main is the only building on campus recognized on the historic register and will remain intact on the ASH campus with the new hospital (Figure 12).

The early years of ASH followed the Kirkbride design method of Moral Treatment on 395 acres on what was then outside of Central Austin (Yanni, 2007). The campus was self-sustaining and cared for up to 3,000 people at times. In 1925, the hospital changed its name to the Austin State Hospital (ASH). Throughout the life of the ASH campus, buildings have been built and removed, and the number of people served has fluctuated with changes in mental health care. There is a unique opportunity at ASH to build upon the original land and transform the campus to a world-class brain health treatment platform, while providing education and connection to the past through sharing the history of the campus.

Within this redesign phase, a group focused their efforts to identify ways to build upon existing HHSC efforts to preserve the story of ASH and develop meaningful ways to share the evolving and diverse story of the campus and mental health care in Texas. Dedicated archeologists, from Baer Engineering and Environmental Consulting, Inc., investigated areas impacted by the new building, and they gathered more than 3,000 artifacts from the campus, all of which will be categorized and preserved in a curation facility. The artifacts found include building debris, silverware, clothing, several keys, and buttons to name a few. All items found are small in size. The archeologists will also prepare a report of their findings for the Texas Historical Commission, and they are working jointly with HHSC to develop a website showcasing their findings and report. The website will share an in-depth review of ASH’s history, including periods of racial segregation and the continued efforts since then to create health equity at ASH. Throughout this discovery phase, the project’s design team, Page/, identified a meaningful representation of previous building foundations that will be displayed at the garden of the retention pond near the entrance to the new hospital. Through Page/’s research as described in Appendix 11, the foundations come from the 1883 women’s ward and the operating rooms.

Along with artifacts currently being discovered, HHSC and ASH have worked to preserve collections throughout the years. The collections range from paper records and photographs to medical equipment and furnishings. HHSC is working to create a space on campus where these collections can be shared with the community to offer opportunities to learn from the history of ASH. To build upon this work, the History of ASH Work Group established four recommendations to support the preservation of the story of ASH as provided below and detailed in Appendix 12.

History of ASH Work Group Recommendations:

1. Hire a project manager to oversee implementation of the preservation,
   collection management, and interpretation of historical artifacts. 

2. Complete a review of the collections, their current environments, and determine how best to preserve the items.

3. Share ASH collections and campus history through a phased historic
   interpretation plan based on the Standards and Practices for Interpretive Planning of the National Association for Interpretation and other resources and guides. 

4. Identify potential funding options to support sharing the history of the ASH campus with the greater public.

With adoption of these recommendations, combined with current efforts, HHSC will preserve the story of ASH for future visitors to learn from and experience.

Environmental Preservation

The ASH campus is unique in location being close to the center of the city and tucked among historical neighborhoods. Many people use the ASH campus to walk through and enjoy the outdoor space. The campus has several pecan tree groves some of which had to be removed to allow room for the new hospital. To honor the heritage of the campus, pecan trees that grew within the footprint of the new hospital are being preserved, and the wood of the trees will be cured then used within the design of the front lobby desk and the care desks on the units. Figure 13, is a rendering of such a care desk within the patient unit.

The fences of the ASH campus are trimmed with Drift rose bushes that have been on campus for years. As part of the environmental preservation efforts, some of these cherished rose bushes on the Lamar street fence – where construction of the new hospital building is occurring – were transplanted to the Guadalupe Street fence by volunteers from the design and construction teams and ASH staff. The campus will continue to remain open to the public and offer space for nature and connection to the history of ASH. The ASH Redesign will continue to develop meaningful ways to share the ASH campus with the community as it grows into a brain health campus.