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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4089-8659
Date of Graduation
5-14-2026
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of History
First Advisor
Jonathan Jones
Abstract
The Public Hospital in the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area is a reconstruction of the first psychiatric hospital in America. It is intended to interpret the psychiatric history of colonial Virginia to museum-goers, but with no dedicated staff or interpreters, the site is open for less than two hours a week at most. This project seeks to expand the accessibility of the site and the conversation surrounding the history of mental health among visitors to one of the largest living history museums in the country. This was accomplished by working with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to publish a self-guided tour of the Historic Area discussing the significance of the Hospital in the community and how Williamsburg came together to build it. Accessibility is further expanded by a virtual tour which provides more extensive information and resources for in-person and off-site visitors. These two sections of the project work in concert to contextualize one of the most significant buildings in the colonial capital of Virginia.
Included in
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Public History Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons
