Neuropsychiatric or NP. Downey was an NP faciltity and the countries largest VA Hospital at 1800 beds. It was located about 35 miles north of Chicago adjacent to Great Lakes naval training center. It was constructed right after WWII and designed to provide a lifetime of care via institutionalization for people with chronic mental illness. There was even a full scale medical hospital with ORs and critical care units with strange names (critical care units were called GPUs or General Purpose Units) The OR was always called EOR or emergency OR. God forbid anyone should mistake them for a "real" medical surgical hospital. That is the only rationale I could deduce for the funny names.
It was really a self contained city with it's own zip code, 60064. There was a movie theater, bowling alley, golf course, swimming pool, and various work areas for the patients such as the spoon factory where patients spent the day tossing plastic spoons into plastic bags. There was a greenhouse where the most common activity seemed to be digging compost and also a metal and wood shop. All the buildings were connected by underground tunnels which always reminded me of catacombs, with poor lighting and spooky dead ends. Staff moved from building to building topside whenever possible.
Patients were housed in multiple 2 story brick buildings with 2 wards on the first floor and 2 on the second with total census of 104 patients n each building. Windows were covered with vertical iron bars. There were no elevators and the stairwells had imposing walls of cyclone fencing through the middle core to prevent patients from jumping. Radiators provided heat and there was no air conditioning. The buildings were like brick ovens in the summer. Open windows had no screens and various birds and flying insects entered the buildings. Electricity was delivered by underground lines which were not very reliable. Building 66 where I worked was once without power for 3 days. We used flashlights and battery operated lanterns as a backup. The patients barely noticed, but there was definitely a Halloween atmosphere with bizarre shadows and spookiness throughout. The souls of over 100 schizophrenics all in one poorly lit area. Yikes, get me out of here!
Almost every patient had the same diagnosis (SCU) or schizophrenia, chronic undifferentiated. About 2% of the population was bipolar and added some spice to the mix. All patients smoked constantly while in the dayroom producing a dense ever present haze. Smoke Eater machines mounted on the ceiling did little to clear the air. A typical ward included the day room with connecting hallway to the dorm which was just a huge open room with beds. Just off the hallway was a restraint room with four heavy beds bolted to the floor. The beds were usually all occupied. My claim to fame at Downey was teaching a couple of very violent patients a self restraint technique. I got them to the point when they felt like slugging someone to come to me and ask to be put in restraints. I readily complied with their request and let them decide when they should be released. It worked like a charm for a couple of patients and I always thought I should have received some kind of performance bonus for my idea. The VA was always handing out bone head awards of one type or another, but I got passed over.
In the mid 1970's things began to change at Downey. When liberals and conservatives have common objectives, things happen in a hurry. I really hate political labels and politics in general, but the liberals thought chronic psych patients needed to be freed from the chains of custodial care and some thinkers like R. D. Laing even questioned the whole concept of mental illness. According to R.D. "Insanity was a rational adjustment to an insane world." The conservatives did not like to spend tons of tax dollars on what seemed like a lost cause. Downey began to change. Long term patients were discharged with terrible end results. Patients wreaked havoc in the community by strolling into restaurants and failing to pay. Camping in city parks and the homelessness we still witness today.
The "Downey" name was first changed to "North Chicago VA" then "Great Lakes VA." The Chicago Medical School built a huge campus smack dab in the middle of the golf course. Today Downey is gone for good replaced by the James Lovell Federal Health Center. Real medical stuff without EORs or GPUs. I tried Googling Downey and nothing even came up. I guess some things really are best forgotten.
My aunt worked at Downey in the 1950's. She was a Korean "conflict" Navy nurse and when her husband (who remained in the Navy) was posted as an engineering instructor at Great Lakes, my aunt went to work at Downey. My mom was a psych nurse at the VA in Milwaukee, WI (Wood) and the two would talk about work and their hospitals when we went to visit them at Great Lakes or they came to see us in Milwaukee. I was pretty young and didn't understand much of what they were talking about but your post filled in some of the gaps. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteKevin, I was wrong about the number of beds at Downey. The correct total was 2400 beds. This place was really huge. It really boggles my mind how such a physically big place can disappear by morphing into something else. The only other facility that even resembled Downey VA was the Tomah VA in rural Wisconsin. It was built in the same era as Downey, but on a much smaller scale. I still have program notes form a Token Economy treatment modality at Downey and was thinking of doing a future post about it. I appreciate hearing from you as I thought no one would even know what Downey was. I am certain all of the fine people I worked with at Downey have gone on to their great reward. I was 22 years old when I started working there and most everyone else much older.
ReplyDeleteI knew Downey was a big hospital but didn't know it was that big. The whole VA system began to change in the mid-1970's and I'm sure Downey's morph into something else was a result of the politics of that time.
ReplyDeleteMy parents both worked at the VA in Tomah after they got married in 1948 (both were WW 2 vets-mom in Army Nurse Corps in India and dad in Army Ambulance Corps in Persia and Europe). Sometime before I arrived in 1950 they moved to the VA in Marion, IN, and I was born when they worked there. After I arrived they wanted to be closer to their parents and moved to the VA in Milwaukee (Wood). Both of my parents and Aunt Betty have gone on to their "great reward" but I still remember their conversations about work and hospitals.
I really enjoy your posts about nursing "in the old days". I started nursing school in 1975 but was offered a job in television and never finished clinical. I tried again a few years ago at the local tech college but once again life's events got in the way. I do volunteer as an EMT with the city's EMS service and that's always interesting. Thanks again for the blog posts.
I am amazed that I found this blog. I was just going through boxes and boxes of old family memorabilia trying to find out anything I could about a great uncle who I understand lived in a VA hospital around Chicago. I found one handwritten note from him to his sister who was my great aunt. It was not dated but is very old. From other family papers it looks like he joined the army at the beginning of or during WWII for about 2 years and then discharged due to stress. The names of "Downey VA" and "Hines VA" as an alternative were mentioned in this note. The reason I am so interested in him is because his brother (my grandfather) and sister (my great aunt) NEVER told us he even existed until after his death in 1975. They were all brought up in the days (early 1900's) that it was shameful during their time to admit to having anyone with mental illness in the family. Yet they sent him all the news of their children (my mom and her brother) and his great neices and nephews ( my sister, my cousins, and me). So, so sad and maddening that he was kept hidden from his own family! I am wondering if there would be any old records that would still exist that would give me any clues about him and his illness. I feel a wish to give him the acknowledgment he deserves, despite the fact he is no longer alive.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering who started this blog and what your connection is? I hope to see a response soon as I am trying so hard to find information. Any info or help of direction you could offer would be so appreciated!
Hello again - I just found your profile below so now I know the origin of your blog! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about my post😊
DeleteIn the early 1950s I was a young child, and still today vividly recall visiting locked wards at Downey. Those visits continued until our relative began going to Hines, probably in the late 1960s or 70s. My memory differs in that I recall an elevator in at least one of the buildings. I remember because the adult I was with didn't want to use it one particular day fearing it would "stop and get stuck," trapping us with unpredictable patients. I insisted, and yes, we did get stuck. Thankfully, not for long and the experience was without incident. Still, I do have some graphic memories of patients, wrapped in iced-wet sheets, prone on gurneys, lining the hallway, moaning and screaming. And, yes, the visiting rooms and hallways were thick with smoke, often churned by the pacing of patients.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous- I have checked this blog off and on since I posted in 2015 and have been disappointed not to see any further entries. I was pleasantly surprised to see yours of June 2018 - I was born in 1954 so It sounds like we are fairly close in age - I am pretty sure your relative may have been there the same time as my great uncle. He lived there until he passed in in the early to mid 1970’s. I don’t have any detailed information about him except his name and he was there because he “couldn’t cope”. We never found out what his specific diagnosis was. I just googled “Hines” and found their website. I’m thinking of contacting them to see if they have any old records. I’m not optimistic but it doesn’t hurst to try. How long did your relative live there?
ReplyDeleteMy Father was @ Downey for 12 years on a court order, he died there in 1980.Everything said on this blog is true, he was a paranoid schizo and was warehoused in bldg: 51 which still stands today empty. I saw it recently with its outside porch enclosed with iron rails, he always said it was like being in jail with its locked wards. He was a pacer and smoked like a chimney, I visted him often with Grandma and only one time did a socialworker get him a trainpass to come home in all that time. I recall there were some suicides, Amen.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your Father. Downey was a sad place but I think in some ways it was an improvement over the way mentally ill folks are treated today. I think it speaks for itself that the largest provider of care for the mentally ill today is the prison system. Downey was a cruel place at times but many of the staff did their best they could to help the patients.
ReplyDeleteMy "thing" was to get patients outside and off the smoke filled wards when the weather was good. I organized a softball tournament-the ballfield was directly behind building 66.
It was kind of you to visit your Dad. Downey was not very visitor friendly and most patients, sadly, had few or no visitors. I'm sure your visits meant the world to him.
Thank you so much for writing this! It has helped me so much in my current research. What years did you work there? I'm wondering if you could help me. My Father used to live at Downey - his father was a psychiatrist that worked there in the 1950s. I'm actually about to embark on a Pilgrimage to many places he used to live that he told me stories about before he died in 2016. One of them was about his time in Chicago at the VA and the friends he met there and attempted to travel to California with. Here's a post I just wrote an hour ago on Facebook asking for help finding someone who used to work there. Perhaps you can help?
ReplyDeleteHello my friends who live in Chicago (or have connections in Chicago)! I am in need of your help & suggestions. I will be traveling to Chicago & Waukegan, IL as part of my pilgrimage - following my father’s stories - and I need your help finding someone.
One of the big stories Dad told me was about how he & two of his African-American friends who worked/lived at Downey Veteran's Hospital(there were barracks some employees lived in), set out from Waukegan to drive across country to seek their fortunes in California. This was in 1956. My dad was 17 and had just been kicked out of the house (he & his father did not get along). When he told me this story he could no longer remember the name of one of his companions but remembered the older of the two went by the nickname “Chicken.” It’s unclear whether my dad ever knew what this gentleman’s given name was. Anyway, I know it’s a long shot, but I have this dream of finding Chicken or his descendants/family members/friends. According to the story, Chicken was having marital troubles at the time & left his wife to go on this adventure. It was Chicken’s car that they drove until it broke down in Watertown, SD. The inhabitants at that time had never seen an African-American in person and apparently the guys were getting hit on left and right by all these white women - which terrified them as fraternizing with white women often equaled lynching or some form of loss of life or limb. They could not find jobs that paid enough to both keep them alive & fix the car. So, one by one, they found a way to leave. The younger man joined the armed forces. Chicken eventually called his wife & she got him a bus ticket home. My dad stayed until winter but eventually caved and asked his mom for help. She scrimped & saved and bought him a bus ticket home.
I feel like this story is memorable on multiple levels and might have been something Chicken spoke about to his friends and/or loved ones as well. I would love it if I could find him or someone who remembers him telling his version of the story. I was wondering if you’d be willing to share this post with your networks in Chicago/Waukegan to see if we can find Chicken or his family? Also, if you have suggestions of publications - paper or digital -to post in, or communities to reach out to with this I’d greatly appreciate it.
I was working at Downey quite a bit later (1974-1976.) Downey did offer housing for employees on station. The physicians actually lived in fairly nice single family homes with other employees housed in "quarters." These accommodations involved tidy single rooms with a shared bathroom. Folks that had recently left military service often commented that living and working at Downey was the exact same experience as being on activity in the military. Best of luck in learning more about your family.
DeleteThank you!
DeleteGrandfather was a retriever for Downey, retired 1969, Grandmother was one of the head psyche nurses, retired 1972 both had started there in early 50's
ReplyDeleteI am working on my family’s genealogy. One of our ancestors served in WWI. His draft registration records that he has “bad blood.” I’m aware that this may be interpreted as syphilis or, perhaps, as mental illness. In spite of this, he served in the Navy from 1918 to 1919. I can’t find him in the 1920 Census, but in 1930 he is listed as a “patient” at “US Veterans’ Hospital 105” in Shield’s Township, Lake County, Illinois.” “Reservation” is handwritten near the hospital’s name. He lives in Dwelling 12 with Family 22. He has no occupation. His Code is 65. In the 1940 Census he is again housed in the US Veterans’ Hospital in Shield’s Township, Lake County, Illinois. Also noted is that this is an “Unincorporated Place: Downey, Illinois.” In 1940, “hospital” is crossed out and “Administration Facility” is written near the hospital’s name. He is now described as an “inmate.” In the column which refers to being employed for pay, is the abbreviation “Inst,” which I assume means “institutionalized.” In the column labelled “occupation,” he and one other resident have the word “duplicated.” I assume this means that their information is recorded elsewhere—although Ancestry does not have another record. That column is blank for the other residents. This young man was one of 15 children of a German immigrant laborer. His father raped his older sister repeatedly and “drank” the family’s grocery money. In spite of this, the children who survived to adulthood worked and married and had children of their own. Some remained in the greater Chicago area and others moved to Minnesota. The family with which I was acquainted was loving and happy. I have a newspaper article which recounts this young man accompanying his brother to Minnesota for a family reunion in 1937. He tugs at my heartstrings. So, is Downey Veteran Administration Hospital the same as Veterans’ Hospital 105? Can you shed any light on hospital 105 and on his time there? On whether his disability was the result of syphilis or of his experiences in WWI? He died in 1972 and is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Libertyville. I’m grateful for any insight you can give. Thank You.
ReplyDeleteThe VA has an affinity for assigning three digit codes to just about everything. Each service has a code and nursing was 118. I would be almost certain that "Veterans Hospital 105" referred to Downey in the time frame you mention.
DeleteThe older buildings at Downey were constructed in the early 1930s and pre date the VA. The agency was known as the Veteran's Bureau. Downey VA was named after the farmer who worked the land before selling to the government.
WWI veterans were labeled as having bad blood for any number of reasons. Blood born illnesses like Malaria and hepatitis were quite common. I don't think the term referred directly to mental illness.
I don't recognize the reference to "dwelling 12," but I was told that when the post WWII building boom occurred a number of "cottage" like residences were demolished.
I worked at Downey from 1974-1976 so I am not all that familiar with the very early years, but it's reasonable to conclude your family member lived there based on your information. The VA did contract with private cemeteries so maybe that's why your family member is in Lakeside. The name of the cemetery refers to the fact that it is overlooking Butler Lake in Libertyville. It's a picturesque small cemetery.
I wish I could be of more help to you and best of luck in your endeavors to learn about your ancestors.
I've been hoping to find something on the life my grandfather Peter Moran lived after WWI . This is quite a revealing blog. He was there approx 1924 until his death in 1964. I am happy to know my grandmother, her daughters, and some friends did visit him on most weekends. I visited once or twice. The pictures I have of him show him dressed well in a suit. I've never heard gruesome stories as these but perhaps things got worse after the 50's or we just never knew what was going on. I'm happy so happy to have found this blog
ReplyDeleteHis diagnoses as I know it was "shell shock". The horrible events of the war were just too much for many people to handle. Peter was a gentle soul. God bless him and all those who died or continue to suffer for our country and for the sake of freedom.
I am sorry to hear of the suffering experienced by your grandfather. He was there long before my employment. Downey did have nice domiciliary housing for veterans who were more independent and capable of self-care. Perhaps Peter was in this type of housing.
DeleteFor the less acute veterans, Downey had a 9 hole golf course, bowling alley, swimming pool, dance hall, and even a movie theater. Even though Downey had a few rough edges, but most of the staff was committed to providing good care and really tried to help the vets. I think how people with chronic mental illness were treated decades ago was better than the current situation where jails are the default provider of psychiatric care.
All the best to you.
Wow. I googled Downey Veterans Hospital and this popped up. So interesting! My mom was in the Cadet Nursing Corps, graduating in 1947, and she worked at Downey back in the day. She told stories about some of the patients, and we knew that foul language didn't shock her. She just didn't like it; she'd heard so much of it then and associated it with mental illness. (My dad associated swearing with the Navy, also not the best time of his life.) Her training at St. Luke's had been accelerated and tough. I think she was a good nurse, but she didn't stick with it long. She and Dad moved to the DC area and she quit active nursing when her first child was born in 1951. She went back to it briefly later on but then changed careers and became a medical editor. She volunteered once a week at a mobile clinic for the poor, though, and took blood pressures at the senior center. Her nursing background stood her in good stead in publishing, though. When people were running around with their hair on fire because they might miss a deadline, her attitude was "Is someone going to die because of this screw up? No? Okay. Settle down." I'm working on her obituary now, and this blog is a nice distraction. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteYour mom was a very special person and was wise to find other career options outside of nursing. I spent way too many decades standing at my Mayo stand in the OR and have the arthritic knees and varicose veins to prove it. I started nursing school when I was just 18 and somehow never had the notion that I could do anything other than bedside care,
DeleteLobotomies were in their heyday when your mom worked at Downey. Walter Freeman, the inventor of the procedure visited Downey several times to ply his trade. Believe it or not he actually received the Nobel Prize for his work while Freud went without this recognition.
I worked at Downey 1974-76 and some of the lobotomy patients were still there in body, but not in spirit.
St. Luke's was in the heart of the medical center area in Chicago and I think later merged with Rush and Presby. The other two famous or infamous (depending on if you were a student) nursing programs were Cook County and Illinois Masonic on the North side.
Thanks for taking the time to comment and I'm so sorry for your loss.
I lived on the hospital grounds from 1960 thro 1964. My father was a supply officer. We lived across from Halsey Village. Wish there were pictures of the hospital then. We were our own little village with our friends being transferred to other hospitals on a regular basis. Lots of memories.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is so interesting as our family consisting of my Mom, dad and us very young kids ages 1 to 7 lived at the Great Lakes Naval Center in this barracks-type building. My dad, William R. Watson II worked at the Downey Hospital there for a spell in the early 60's as a psychiatrist, not sure how long, maybe several years. My dad had a serious car accident in the area and, sad to say, he had a drinking problem and passed away due to suicide in 1969 in Colorado. I remember being bused to school, cold snows and ice; listening to very early Beatles on my Mom's car radio at a Piggly Wiggly store; being in Kindergarten with many African-American kids one of whom taught me how to play drums on a desk! Thanks Old Fool Rn for this blog as it brought back memories. I love your wit and knowledge. I try to exemplify these tendencies in my life too!
DeleteI'm so sorry about your dad's passing. He worked there before my time. Your mention of Piggly Wiggly grocery stores brought back lots of wonderful memories. My dad did commercial refrigeration installation and maintenance for the Piggly Wiggly stores in northern Illinois. I worked as a produce boy at the Mundelein IL store. I made $1.60 an hour and felt like a rich person.
DeleteThe 1960s were hey days for Downey. I worked with lots of older nurses from this era. Insulin shock therapy was in vogue during this time frame. A crude, dangerous, and ineffective treatment for mental illness.
ReplyDeleteHello Oldfoolrn, I'm so glad that I came across your blog. I'd been trying for quite awhile to find information about the Downey VA but never did until just now. Looks like we were there at the same time. I was there in 1974 for 9 months doing a Music Therapy Internship which was tied in w/ the Recreational Therapy Unit = both part of the SRS Social Rehabilitative Services (I recall the names of several staff... and wonder if you knew them... not sure if it's ok to post here... so I wont).... How I remember the locked wards, the smoke, the very heavily medicated patients, ... it was quite an experience working and living there. I lived on the hospital grounds -in the nurses quarters, no car, and didnt know anyone... definitely a time in my life like no other...:) . I was from Kansas City, attended the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory of Music.... was in the first graduating class of Music Therapists... which meant I couldnt find any place in K.C. to do my internship as none had yet been established.... In searching around, I found out about the Music Therapy unit at Downey VA.=that's how I landed there. Thank you Old Fool RN for this blog... It's nice to read your postings and the comments from others... nice to feel a part of a piece of history that had seemed to of not existed until this remembrance. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving your comment. I should have replied sooner, but sometimes I overlook old posts. I worked mainly evenings and nights in Building 66 at Downey and don't remember working with music therapists. Our psychiatrists were Dr. Elihu Howland and Helen Carlson. I also knew Drs Greenberg and Goldberg our psychologists. Dan Switchkow was our social worker.
DeleteI heard mixed reviews from nurses who lived on Downey grounds in the quarters. Almost everyone who served in the military said that the vibe living in quarters made them feel like they never left the service. I guess that could be good or bad depending on your experiences.
Thank you for your vivid description of Downey. My mom's uncle, a veteran of WWI, returned from France in 1920 but lived a good part of the rest of his life at Downey. She remembers visiting him there and he was, as she remembers it, catatonic as he walked up and down the hallway as if on post. I think they called it "shell-shocked" back then. Now perhaps PTSD? He died in 1954. It makes me sad to think he went off to fight the "war to end all wars" and never really came back. I wonder if there are records extant of his time there?
ReplyDeleteIs there any way to get medical records from Downey for WW2 vets
ReplyDeleteand out patient records for veterans from 1974?
I really don't know. Sometimes the record keeping at Downey was on the skimpy side. Inpatients did not even have a chart per se, just a paper folder.
DeleteI need help finding more info on a long list family member. Here is a news article I found.
ReplyDeleteFuneral services for Jean Baptiste BearBow. 45. Of Downey.
Mr. BearBow died Saturday morning of a gunshot wound while visiting Downey. He was born May 5 1930 in Oklahoma and was employed at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Downey.
WOMAN FREED IN SHOOTING
A woman who was questioned in the connection with the shooting death of a 45-year old Illinois man yesterday was released by Mansfield police.
The death of JBB who was a resident of a veterans hospital in Downey, Illinois. Is still under investigation.
JBB was felled by a single shot from a .32 caliber revolver at 330 Abbeyfeale Rd. Yesterday shortly before noon. Police say BearBow came to Mansfield to visit the woman who was listed as a close friend of the dead man.
WWII ARMY ENLISTMENT RECORDS
Enlistment Date: 05/20/1946
Released from Army Feb 25 1949
Private
Transportation Corps
Enlistment for Hawaiian Department
Term of enlistment 3
Enlisted man, regular army, after 3 months of discharge
Component of Army: 1.Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
Mae; I worked at Downey from October 1974 thru May 1976. I don't remember anything about the unfortunate incident involving your family member and I'm sorry for your loss. I wish I could be of some assistance to you. Best wishes for a wonderful New Year!
DeleteI grew up in the 60's visiting Downey because my dad (Larry Ventura) worked in the theatre, showing movies, presenting stage shows and music from Chicago. He worked with residents and tried to help them.
DeleteIt was a city with a golf course and swimming pool. I learned to golf there and almost drowned in the pool because my dad wanted me to swim one more lap. It was a sad and a happy place.
Your description of Downey hits the mark; a sad and happy place. Patients really enjoyed the movie theater and when working evenings,I always managed to round up a group of guys to see the movie. I was somewhat concerned when One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest was screened, but the patients were delighted that someone made a movie about them. I always felt that view was funny/sad in it's own special way. The movie scenes certainly resembled Downey.
DeleteI don't remember your dad, but the recreational therapists often went to special measures for the patients providing frequent parties regardless of the situation.
Georgie Jessel was a frequent entertainer at Downey and he even took time to visit patients on the ward. he was a special man.
I am a graduate of the University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical Center, 1978-1980. The College was on the site of Downey VA Hospital in one of out buildings. A majority of the students enrolled in the Health Sciences were female. We had to be careful when some of the patients would leave the confines of the hospital and venture over to the Health Sciences building. After a while they had to hire security for us because so many male patients would came to visit. A group of us would play volleyball in the gym at the hospital, and were told we must walk as a group. A majority of the patients at the time were Vietnam Vets, not much older than myself. I remember hearing the noises from the recruits practicing at firing range from the Naval base a couple times a day. I am sure that did not benefit the treatment of the Vets suffering from PTSD. I drove around the campus for the first time in 40 years, but could not remember which building was the Health Sciences College. I am thinking of calling Rosalind Franklin Alumni for information on which building. I took a couple photos, but all the old red brick federalist style buildings look the same. Thank you for your blog. It brought back many memories of my time in College and visiting Downey Hospital.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you enjoyed my foolishness. I worked at Downey just prior to the arrival of the medical school. There was always a good bit of noise audible from the nearby Great Lakes Naval Training Center-gunshots and lots of hollering and yelling. Most of the patients were indoors so they were sheltered somewhat from the noise.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone heard that there was a working farm on site at Downey and the veterans engaged in a sort of farm therapy program? Or at least they picked fruit etc...
ReplyDeleteDowney VA Hospital has it's DNA in agricultural endeavors. The place was actually named after the farmer who sold the government his land to build the facility. The greenhouse was the only remaining reminder of Downey's agricultural past when I worked there in the early 1970s. Hot house tomatoes and flowers were grown in the green house.
DeleteAt one time there was a lovely orchard consisting of apple, pear, and peach trees where the Chicago Medical School now stands. A nearby cannery behind Building 66 put up a variety of jams and preserves.
The patients were involved with tending the orchard and canning. anything to get the men out of those dreary, smoke infested buildings was a good thing!
Thank you for this blog! So many memories from a young naive fresh out of North Chicago H.S.! Went through the CNA training there and mainly worked in the geriatric building! I recall the starched dress uniforms that were given us, and the wad of keys I had to keep in my pocket for all the doors, as I would be pulled to a few of the psych wards when needed. I sure got an education working there, and eventually transferred over to the Navy hospital. This was all between 1969 and 1972. Those tunnels creeped me out for sure! I don’t regret working there and it really helped me grow up quickly! 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog! So many memories from a young naive fresh out of North Chicago H.S.! Went through the CNA training there and mainly worked in the geriatric building! I recall the starched dress uniforms that were given us, and the wad of keys I had to keep in my pocket for all the doors, as I would be pulled to a few of the psych wards when needed. I sure got an education working there, and eventually transferred over to the Navy hospital. This was all between 1969 and 1972. Those tunnels creeped me out for sure! I don’t regret working there and it really helped me grow up quickly! 😊
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words. The set of keys we had to carry at Downey was indeed a hand full. I still have the half dollar (remember those?) sized brass medallion that was on every set of keys with an ID number. I carry it with my car keys so Downey is never far away. Downey was indeed a great learning experience and everyday I gave thanks that I was not afflicted with such a disabling illness as the poor souls at Downey.
DeleteI just stumbled across this article and I want to thank you for answering a question from my childhood. I had always wondered what happened to Downey, Il. We lived there, I believe at the corner of Lewis and what is now Martin Luther King, for nearly two years, leaving early in 1960. The VA was across the road to the east and the Great Lakes Naval Base was across the road to the south. My father was the assistant chief of engineering at the VA and we left for another VA in Broadview Heights, Ohio, which is also defunct. When that hospital was closing, we moved on to the VA in New Orleans, where he was chief of the engineering dept.
ReplyDeletethe engineering department at Downey had their hands full.The building I worked in (66) was one of the first patient wards constructed in 1928 when the VA was still known as the Veterans Bureau. We had no AC to worry about but keeping the steam heat going in the cold midwest winters was a challenge.
ReplyDeleteUnderground lines supplied electricity and finding wiring faults could take some time with lots of digging. We went without power for several days and made do with battery powered lanterns.
Thanks for perusing my foolishness and leaving a comment. Downey is frequently on my mind and I often wish I could have done more for the poor souls there.
Hello. I work at present day Downey. Its amazing to read your blog and see how much has changed. I am curious though. Would the county or NC Historic society have more info about Downey? Also, as a history buff and frequent night shifter, have you had anything or know of anything unusual that would go bump in the night? I’ve had several “weird” experiences since working nights here.
ReplyDeleteHi...Downey was an entity unto itself with little interaction with surrounding communities, so I doubt the local historical societies have much info.
DeleteNights at Downey were indeed a spooky experience, and I'm not the superstitious type. I worked mainly in building 66 which was in the very rear of the Downey complex. We had no elevator but the neighboring building 65 did. Sometimes at night the elevator would ascend all on it's own without any command.
Most of the lobotomies (a bit before my time ) were performed in the treatment room in building 66 and
I always suspected there were angry spirits in the air after being so savagely separated form their rightful possessors.
I think that any building that housed thousands of schizophrenics over the years is going to have some of their ether in the air. It's just a feeling that would come to me late at night. Downey was the spookiest place I have ever worked.
I'm curious if building 66 is still standing. It a was one of the oldest structures and was a red brick building 2 stories high at the far back.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Downey has never left my soul all these decades later1
Dear Oldfoolrn,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this blog. I have such internal warmth reading all the posts.
My father was offered the Chief of Staff role in the late 50's but declined as it required we live in one the superintendent homes on the grounds. He said he didn't want to raise the family on the grounds preferring a neighborhood with kids and friends for mom.
Instead, he served as a consultant to building 7 (TB ward then) and was actively involved teaching in the residency program.
You may have crossed paths. I can give you a hint, he was the one teaching Adler's Individual Psychology theory. His first book regarded psychodynamic understanding and psychotherapy with patients suffering schizophrenia from the Adlerian point of view. He was actively teaching at Downey at the time of its writing.
As another noted, I also learned to play golf at Downey - at like, 8 or 9 years old. Summer Saturday afternoons began with lunch at 5 Points, the burger stand followed our family of five playing nine holes with virtually no one else on the course. I had a pretty bad slice then and lost more than a few balls in the pond on the fifth hole dogleg to the right.
A number of years later, I did my own medical school training where the 7th fairway used to be and most of my clinical clerkships at the renamed North Chicago VA. I wonder if we crossed paths then - mid 1980's? I was mostly in Bldg 133 and some in 131.
Times have changed. But I've always considered it a great honor to care for veterans. Downey has a special place in my heart. I almost came back in 2019 to be chief of psychiatry. I felt there was some sort of symmetry to that. But the chair of my program announced his resignation just before I announced my intentions so I felt I had to stay put and step into that role. Now, my son is a therapist in the specialized program we run for veterans with PTSD. So, there's some symmetry there, non?
Thank you for allowing me to contribute my memories. Downey had its shortcomings as did all large institutions caring for a population with such difficult illnesses. I believe the spirit to do good things was always there even if the knowledge and understanding of how to do it was lacking at times. If nothing else, I feel blessed in my relationship with Downey with its place in my youth, my father's role in educating and mentoring a generation of psychiatrists and my own medical training experiences there. It is, indeed, a special place.
Best regards to you and all Downey connected folks.
Cheers
I really appreciate your detailed comments. Reading them made my day! I worked in Building 65 and 66 which was termed "acute Psychiatry," but we had quite a variety of patients. Dr. Elihu Howland and Helen Carlsen were our psychiatrists and both were really dedicated to the patients despite having long tenure at Downey. It was an easy place to get burned out. Dr. Stadahauer (Sp?) was the chief of staff while I was at Downey and I never had the opportunity to meet him. Minnie Hartsfield was the chief nurse and visited the wards quite frequently. She also had an open door policy which was unusual for the VA.
DeleteThe rear of Bldg 66 faced the golf course and I always marveled at how meticulously the volunteer patients maintained it. The Chicago Medical School was breaking ground on the golf course for their new facility as I was leaving Downey to go back to school.
Downey was indeed special, when I turned in my keys as I resigned , I asked if I could keep the bronzed tag identifying them as property of Downey VA. The station police said "sure" and I've carried it on my car keys ever since as a memento.
I spent a few days in Chicago last week and yesterday I thought to myself, I wonder where Downey was in relation to the places I visited. So I googled it and found your blog. My dad was a patient there from 1959-1961. I remember visiting him there but only remember the park like grounds and brick buildings. I have a cache of letters he wrote to my mom along with business correspondence detailing release information, commitment orders etc. Her pack rat tendencies were a treasure trove of information for me! After reading this blog I read through those letters from Downey. I’m going to throw out some names mentioned and buildings in the event relatives would read this. His diagnosis was paranoid schizophrenic and he was very much “a danger to others”. He received electro shock treatments and insulin shock treatments along with anti-psychotic medications, he mentioned Milltown and stelazine in his letters. One of his psychiatrists was Dr. Hackman in 1961. He also mentioned a social worker by the name of Amos Moore and a registrar by the name of RJ Fink. He moved to various buildings, 66, 51, 65. 65 must have been bad because he mentioned his new building being much better. There were only 28 residents there. He talks about going to the movies and making a wallet of leather. He also talked about O.T. I think that was occupational therapy but who knows! When I see the many homeless mentally ill people on our streets and in our jails I am grateful for the VA system of hospitals that my dad was able to access. He was never able to live independently, he lived in assisted living after 1964, with a few hospitalizations through the years. He remained in regular contact with my mom (though they were divorced) myself and family until he died in 2013.
ReplyDeleteHope this is of interest to someone out there.
Thanks so much for your amazing comment. Downey was definitely crude but so much better than homelessness. Most of the staff genuinely cared for the patients although at times, it seemed there was little we could do to help them.
ReplyDeleteMuch thanks for your post on Downey VA Hospital - I, on a weed him, looked up Downey and found your post and really enjoyed it. I grew up in Lake Bluff and my Mom ( Catherine Schroeder) worked at Downey as a Dietitian from 1970 through 1986. She toured myself and my brothers multiple times, we golfed the golf course, but I have to admit that when I was in high school it did feel somewhat depressing for the patients. Mom did enjoy her work at Downey and took it in stride.
ReplyDeleteMuch thanks,
John S
Hi John.
ReplyDeleteI was working at Downey at the same time as your Mom. The dining room at Downey was an impressive sight because of it's size. The patients would toss their silverware into coffee cups to cool it off! Quite a sight to behold!
I am thrilled to find this site. My grandmother used to talk about working down at the VA… after she died, I discovered my memory was close- there were papers about working at Downey VA. I wish I knew more about her history there. Her residence on her marriage certificate lists Downey as her residence. My grandfather was in the Navy so they likely met there but I wish I knew more. Thank you for this resource!
ReplyDeleteThere were a good number of Downey employees who lived on station (the VA vernacular for living in residences on hospital grounds.) The accommodations ranged from very nice single homes with fancy stained glass and windows and columned front porches for the big shot administrators to barracks style buildings for the rest of us. The ex-military folks often related that living in the communal barracks and paying to dine in the hospital cafeteria was an identical replication of military life which some folks (not me) really cherished. I'm so glad you enjoyed my Downey memories. Despite the bleak surroundings most all of the staff was truly dedicated to helping the poor souls who wound up there. I worked mainly with Vietnam era veterans and it was a truly sad population..
DeleteSo excited to find this blog, was searching for information about Downey because I lived on the grounds as a child with my family. My father, Dr. Alex Harvey, was a staff psychiatrist till about 1962 when he transferred to the VA in Murfreesboro, TN. I don't remember a golf course but I remember running all over the grounds with my siblings and other children of staff, patients cutting our grass, a garden out back and the superintendent's house next door whose electricity could somehow be turned off in our basement. These are all fond memories, was too young to realize what was happening with the patients. Would love to drive around the place now to see if anything is left. Wonder if they would let me.
DeleteThere have been lots of changes made in the property Downey VA once occupied. The Chicago Medical School built a huge complex on the golf course around 1980 and changed the usage of many of the buildings. It was a combined VA and DOD center decades later as some of the duties of nearby Great Lakes Medical Center were comingled with the VA.The final change came with the entire complex designated as the James Lovell Federal Facility. I doubt much of anything we remember as Downey remains. I really appreciate your comment and readership!
DeleteThank you for this blog entry. I just saw a 1950 census for my uncle who was a fairly young patient by comparison to others. He enlisted in 1946 so in 1950 he was only a few years into his unfortunate condition. It says he was in V31. I recall him eventually winding up as a much older man in a very small facility in Gary Indiana. We're most the patients relatively happy at Downey or was it a sad existence?
ReplyDeleteOverall, Downey was a melancholy sort of place. The drab buildings and overall hopelessness could burrow deep into your soul. There were a few silver linings. Little things that most of us take for granted were deeply appreciated by the patients. Once a week I would purchase a few cartons of ice cream and make cones for the patients right after evening medications. The delight and happiness of the patients did far more for my spirit than for the patients. I would silently glow on the inside when patients called me The Good Humor Man!
DeleteMy mother was a patient at Downey, we were from a farm in downstate Illinois. She’d return for check ups and id go along with mom and dad for the ride. It was an all day thing and as a little girl that part was tedious. I knew what it was all about and was cautious of the patients. My mother was indeed schizophrenic. I knew the ins and outs out 4 different facilities by the time Illinois turned most of the patients into homeless castoffs/prisoners.
ReplyDelete