Three or 4 years ago, after a 10+ year and multi-state search for a sister of my grandmother's who had been institutionalized in the early 1900s (the old story of hidden away and forgotten as an embarassment) a search of the 1920 Illinois soundex lead me to the Lincoln Development Center. Their very wonderful staff quickly found my great aunt's record who had been a resident there from 1902 to 1945 at which time she died and was buried on the grounds of the center. They provided me with a copy of her death record and searched for any possible remaining medical records but due to the time lapse, none remained. This was a very exciting find for me and my family to bring this great aunt to life with a history and "bring her back to the family" in memory. I hope this inspires someone else to give this source a try and that they will meet with equal sucess. >From: [email protected] >Reply-To: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Subject: [ILSTANNE] State Mental Institution Records >Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 16:21:32 EST > >A long time ago the group had corresponded about getting records from State >hospitals....especially Kankakee and Manteno. Found this today: > >RECORD GROUP 258.000 - KANKAKEE DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER > >In 1877 the General Assembly established the Illinois Eastern Hospital for >the Insane and empowered the Governor to appoint a seven-member commission >to >select a site within northeastern Illinois on which to locate the >institution. After selection of a site in Kankakee, three trustees were >appointed by the Governor to supervise planning and construction, choose a >superintendent, and operate the hospital, subject to inspection by the >Board >of State Commissioners of Public Charities (L. 1877, p. 21). The hospital >opened on September 4, 1879 and began to operate a training school for >nurses >in 1886. The board of trustees and the Board of State Commissioners of >Public >Charities were abolished in 1909 when control of all state charitable >institutions passed to the newly created Board of Administration. As part >of >this reorganization the institution became Kankakee State Hospital (L. >1909, >p. 102). In 1917 the Department of Public Welfare assumed responsibility >for >Kankakee State Hospital and retained control until the creation of the >Department of Mental Health in 1961 (L. 1961, p. 2666). In 1975 the >institution became a center for the care and treatment of the >developmentally >disabled only. All other patients were transferred to other mental health >facilities and the institution became Kankakee Mental Health Center (P.A. >79-581, p. 1895). Access to some these records is restricted according to >the >provisions of the Mental Health Code and the State Records Act of 1957 as >amended. > >http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/toc.htm > >State Institutions > > <A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/251__002.htm#A1">251.000 >– Illinois School for the Deaf</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/252__002.htm#A1"> > > 252.000 – Jacksonville Mental Health and Developmental Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/254__002.htm#A1"> > > 254.000 – Lincoln Developmental Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/255__002.htm#A1"> > > 255.000 – Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/256__002.htm#A1"> > > 256.000 – Elgin Mental Health Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/258__002.htm#A1"> > > 258.000 – Kankakee Developmental Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/259__002.htm#A1"> > > 259.000 – Illinois Veterans' Home</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/260__002.htm#A1"> > > 260.000 – Illinois Soldiers' Widows' Home</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/261__002.htm#A1"> > > 261.000 – Peoria State Hospital</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/262__002.htm#A1"> > > 262.000 – East Moline Mental Health Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/263__002.htm#A1"> > > 263.000 – Alton Mental Health Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/264__002.htm#A1"> > > 264.000 – Chicago State Hospital</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/265__002.htm#A1"> > > 265.000 – Dixon Developmental Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/266__002.htm#A1"> > > 266.000 – Institute for Juvenile Research</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/267__002.htm#A1"> > > 267.000 – Galesburg Mental Health Center</A><A >HREF="http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/di/268__002.htm#A1"> > > 268.000 – Herrick House Children's Center</A> > >Some of these records are available from the Illinois State Archives - >Check >individual Hosp link. > >Audrey Peters > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >==== ILSTANNE Mailing List ==== >Please tell your fellow St. Anne area researchers about this list. To >join, an interested person should send an eMail to >[email protected] with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line >or message box. > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_smartspamprotection_3mf