Photo: "The Wheelchair"

Western State Hospital, Tennessee

Oh blue hour. You quietly tease us with a 15 minute dance twice a day. I wish you could stay a little bit longer. You make the peeling paint even more glorious, bask a historic building so beautifully in a blue glow and make everything seem more peaceful...

Photo: "Seclusion Doors"

 
 

These seclusion rooms are located on the first floor, basement level, of the Polk Building, or K Building, at the Western State Hospital in Tennessee. These rooms contained two doors, the first has an open window with a metal covering. The second is a solid wood door with a glass window. This allowed nurses to check on patients but kept the noise to a minimum.  

Photo: "K Building"

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The Polk Building, or K Building, at the Western State Hospital in Tennessee, formerly known as the West Tennessee Hospital for the Insane, was constructed in 1932 as a psychopathic facility with 400 beds for patients.

(Print - http://smu.gs/1iHWfHu )

Photo: "Therapy Tubs"

I'm heading out of town for the holidays today, but I experienced a burst of photographic inspiration and dug into the albums from my May 2013 trip to the South this morning.

Here's a shot from inside the Polk building at the former West Tennessee Hospital, designed for psychopathic use and constructed in 1932 to aid in overcrowding. These tubs were part of a hydrotherapy program for patients, which involved covering the tubs with heavy fabric (you can see the securing points on the side of the tubs) to trap steam, only allowing the person's head to be outside the tub. 

(Print - http://smu.gs/1jtXi1R)