DC's LGBTQ+ History: Howard Hall at Saint Elizabeths Hospital
When homosexuality was considered a crime, this hospital dealt horrible treatments to those convicted.
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In 1852, Congress chartered Saint Elizabeths Hospital as the Government Hospital for the Insane, with a mission of providing “the most humane care and enlightened curative treatment” for patients from the Army, Navy, and District of Columbia. The hospital opened in 1855, and shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, it became a general hospital for sick and wounded combatants. It was these wartime patients who originated the use of the name Saint Elizabeths, after the property’s 17th-century land patent, out of reluctance to use the hospital’s formal name. Congress officially renamed the institution in 1916.
In 1887, administrators commissioned the construction of Howard Hall, a building specifically created for the treatment of the "criminally insane," and mentally ill offenders. As one of the earliest institutions to serve individuals with this diagnosis, Saint Elizabeths acted as a pioneer in the psychiatric field. Positive developments included hydrotherapy, the therapeutic use of animals, and patient gardening programs.
Negative developments, however, centered on those confirmed as "unnatural," including those with differing sexual identities. Historically, those in the medical community viewed homosexuality as a mental illness that could be cured through treatment. During the majority of American history, the federal government criminalized homosexuality and deliberately ousted members of the LGBTQ+ from government positions and the military.
In Washington, DC, many of those individuals were sent to Saint Elizabeths as "mentally ill criminals." Treatments for homosexuals at the time included insulin-induced comas, electric shock therapy, aversion therapy, and lobotomies. According to archival research by Mattachine Society members Charles Frances and Pate Felts, the number of LGBTQ+ individuals "treated" at Saint Elizabeths could stretch into the thousands.
Over 150 years, the hospital treated perhaps 125,000 patients, and at its mid-20th-century peak, it housed 7,000 patients with a staff of 4,000. Additional research must be conducted in order to fully comprehend the experiences of individuals who were essentially imprisoned on the hospital's property and subjected to acts which would be considered torturous today. In the 1960s, Howard Hall was demolished.
The historic district encompasses both a West and East Campus, and includes more than 30 contributing buildings, dating from 1853 through the mid-20th century.
The General Services Administration has announced public tours for 2024. Please click here for more information.
DC Inventory: May 26, 2005
National Register: April 26, 1979
National Historic Landmark: December 14, 1990
This is a stop on the DC’s LGBTQ+ History Tour.
For more information about DC's LGBTQ History, please see the Historic Context Statement for Washington’s LGBTQ Resources.
