New York State Commission in Lunacy Annual Reports

The series consists of published copies of selected annual reports prepared by the commission to summarize its work and make recommendations. Chapter 545 of the Laws of 1896 (the "Insanity Law") required the commission to annually report its acts and proceedings for the preceding year to the legislature.

Typically the reports include general information on the state system, and early reports may include the licensed private institution systems, and the general hospital system. Reports also give a summary of recommendations, general statistics, and the annual reports made by the board of managers of each of the state hospitals to the commission. Information is both narrative and statistical.

Summaries on the state system may include remarks on general operations (numbers of committed insane, receipts/expenditures for the support of state hospitals, average number of patients held and discharged, and percentages of recoveries and deaths); appropriations; maintenance costs (for patient care and treatment as well as supply purchases); salary and wages of officials and employees; patient diet; costs for alien and non-resident patients; results of treatment of the insane; and recommended legislation.

Of special note is information on the Pathological Institute of New York State, which was created to acquire knowledge on the nature of insanity. At least one annual report of the institute is appended to a commission annual report.

B1432-07: This accretion contains an appraisal of State Hospitals for the Insane completed by the State Commission in Lunacy on January 1, 1912.

A0283Series A0283, Monthly Reports and Minutes of Board of Managers of State Institutions, contains copies of reports submitted to the governor by boards of managers as required by the Insanity and State Charities laws of 1896.

These volumes originated from the library of the Willard Psychiatric Center. They were transferred to the State Archives when the center closed in 1995.

B1432-07: This accretion resulted from a project by Archives staff in 2007 to accession or integrate estrayed or unidentified records.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.