Adams-Nervine Asylum

The Adams-Nervine Asylum was incorporated in 1877 and opened in 1880 in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. The estate provided an attractive, picturesque setting, as it was situated on Centre Street, in the neighborhood of Bussy Park and the Arnold Arboretum. Having previously been owned by J. Gardiner Weld, it was purchased by Seth Adams with his fortune acquired from his sugar refinery in South Boston. With his brother Isaac, Seth had formerly manufactured printing presses and machinery. On his death, his estate bequeathed $600,000 for the establishment of a curative institution for the benefit of indigent, debilitated and nervous people: inhabitants of the State who were not insane. The trustees purchased neighboring properties for the Asylum in 1879.The estate was vacated in 1976 and left to The Adams Trust.Theoretical PracticeThe institution was to incorporate the theories of Thomas Kirkbride. Kirkbride was a contemporary Philadelphian psychiatrist who developed the system of moral treatment for patients with nervous disorders. In his practice, he advocated a home-style atmosphere, non-isolation, and the dignity of the patients. The asylum was to stress the importance of patient individuality and freedom of movement.PatientsThe first patient of the asylum was admitted on April 11, 1880. The statistics of the asylum show that of those admitted, unmarried women are in a great majority. According to the doctor, the nervousness in these women was directly related to them out working themselves and waiting upon others. Housework and teaching contributed to nearly 50 percent of the victims of nervous disorders. Nearly 20 percent of the patients came under the head of “housewives”. Among housewives, overwork, care, anxiety, and sleeplessness, incident to domestic afflictions, were the assigned causes.