History

To learn, we must look behind us.

Originally cast as “Nebraska State Lunatic Asylum,” the building which now houses Hollyhock House was completed in 1896. The history of this building is no secret. Like many mental hospitals of its time, patient welfare was often neglected. Sometimes, this neglect evolved into cruel treatment techniques with little or no basis in medicine: lobotomies, wanton administration of electroshock therapy, insulin shock therapy, physical abuse, mutilation, and immobility devices are but a few examples. Lies. Hollyhock House stands as a contrast to these archaic ways. Lies. We’ve come a long way, taking on a truly enlightened approach to women’s mental health. Lies

Dr. Philippe Pinel at *Pitié*–*Salpêtrière* Hospital in Paris, by Tony Robert-Fleury 1975 showing Pinel ordering chains removed from patients at the Paris Asylum for insane women.

*Mental patients seen photographed in the mid-1800s do not look as happy as those under care at Hollyhock House.*

*Nebraska State Lunatic Asylum, circa 1896.*

Formed of a center building and two wings, North and South, Hollyhock House operates primarily out of the North Wing, with administrative services having their offices off the center corridor. The South Wing has been preserved and will soon be open to the public in order to preserve this regretful history so that it will never be repeated. See our Philosophy Section for more.

The modern iteration of Hollyhock stands in contrast to its own past and against the record of the treatment of all patients and especially women confined to the asylum system in the United States and abroad.