1803
Pennsylvania Hospital establishes a "lying-in," or
maternity, department, the first recognized specialty at the
hospital.
1804
Construction of the third wing, the Center section, is completed,
joining the previously separated East and West wings. Completion
of the Center section allows for the opening of the surgical
amphitheatre, made famous largely by the operations performed
and lectures given there by Dr. Physick.
1817
The American artist Benjamin West donates the painting "Christ
Healing the Sick in the Temple" to the hospital. A special "Picture
House" is built to house it. In the first 12 months that
the canvas is on display, 30,000 visitors ride or walk to the
hospital to see it. $15,000 is raised for the hospital by charging
admission to see the painting.
1832
A resolution is passed in 1832: "Resolved...a separate
Asylum be provided for our Insane patients with ample space for
their proper seclusion, classification and employment."
1841
By the early 1800s, insane patients at Pennsylvania Hospital
outnumber those with a physical diagnosis by two to one. A large
farm at what is now 44th and Market Streets is purchased by the
hospital and is called the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane.
It later (1959) becomes known as The
Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital.
Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride becomes
the Superintendent of the new Department for the Insane and moves
to the new grounds with his family. He spends the rest of his
life devoted to the creation of a new, more humane world for
the mentally disabled.
1844
Dr. Kirkbride is one of the original founders of the Association
of Medical Superintendents of Institutions for the Insane, now
the American Psychiatric Association.
1847
The American Medical Association designates Pennsylvania
Hospital's Medical Library as the first as well as the largest
and most important in the United States. It continues to serve
today as a repository for the historic book and journal collection
and the meeting place for the Board of Managers. The collection
includes many significant works dating from 1483 to 1930.
Continue to 1851-1900
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