The DeJarnette Sanitorium: A History

This is the law of Mendel,

And often he maken it plain,

Defectives will breed defectives,

And the insane breed insane.

Oh why do we allow these people

To breed back to the monkey's nest,

To increase our country's burdens

When we should only breed the best?

-Joseph Spencer DeJarnette

    Mendel’s Law: A Plea for a Better Race of Men

The poem which you have just read is the writing of Dr. Joseph Spencer DeJarnette, who served as the director of the Western State Hospital (in Staunton, Virginia) from 1905 to 1943. DeJarnette, as you can probably guess by his poem, was a firm promoter of eugenics, the belief that it is necessary to improve the human race by controlling which people are allowed to become parents, particularly compulsory sterilization of those considered mentally ill or unfit. While in today’s society we have made great achievements in the understanding of mental health and stability, it was not the same in DeJarnette’s day.

Marty Seibel, the owner and founder of Ghosts of Staunton, and organization that strives to educate, enlighten, and entertain visitors about the history and hauntings of the area, added to this picture of DeJarnette by saying, “His beliefs went further than that though and included many [people] deemed unproductive to society.  At this time, this would include interracial people, people who may be poor, alcoholics, drug addicts; this list goes on and on.”

Retrieved from http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2012/09/19/two-faces-the-personal-files-of-dr-joseph-s-dejarnette/

Procedures practiced by DeJarnette, along with most physicians during this time, included many that would today be considered harsh, cruel, and extreme. Amongst these are Insulin Coma Therapy (ICT), Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and Hydro Shock Therapy (HST).   Lobotomies were also common practice. 

The DeJarnette Sanitorium, later renamed the DeJarnette Center for Human Development, named in honor of Dr. Joseph DeJarnette in 1932. The facility served as an extension of the existing Western State Lunatic Asylum, later renamed the Western State Hospital, which had been founded in 1828 (both facilities located in Staunton, Virginia).

Siebel commented on the association between the doctor and the facility by saying, “Yes, the Sanatorium was named in his honor, but he, to the best of our knowledge, never operated out of the sanatorium.  There is much speculation that sterilizations were performed there and we strongly believe such, but again, there is no documented proof of such.  We do state that on the tours because a big misconception is that sterilizations were performed at DeJarnette Sanatorium, while we do believe there were - no such records to back that up.”

“During these times, mental illness was often frowned upon from society.  Many individuals were kept there to as a way to keep them hidden from society and forgotten about,” Siebel added.

The facility later became operated by the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services and came to be known as The Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents. This center officially closed in 1996.

Since then, the property had been abandoned and is considered by many locals to be an eyesore or an uncomfortable reminder of the past. Plans to demolish the original DeJarnette center and put up a shopping mall were made in 2004; however, the project fell through because the proposed mall did not acquire enough tenants. For now, DeJarnette will continue to sit on the Staunton hillside, a cold and grim reminder of the past.