St. Elizabeths in Washington, D.C.: Architecture of an Asylum - Paperback

by Sarah A. Leavitt (Author), National Building Museum (Author)

This well-illustrated book follows an exhibition at the National Building Museum, highlighting the ways that this specialized architecture and landscape served the mentally ill.

St. Elizabeth's has been a mental health hospital in Washington, D.C., since 1852, when it was established by the United States Congress as the Government Hospital for the Insane. St. Elizabeths, experienced rapid expansion in its first century Deinstitutionalization in the second half of the twentieth century emptied out the historic buildings on campus. It continues the story of St. Elizabeths, a National Historic Landmark, through its current redevelopment as a federal campus and mixed-use neighborhood.