St. Elizabeths Hospital, Atkins Hall, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast, 518-542 Redwood Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

For an overview of the Detached Group, see HABS DC-349-BX

Significance: Atkins Hall (Building 31) is significant for its association with the treatment of mental illness on the St. Elizabeths campus. Atkins Hall was the first white patient ward constructed separately from the Center Building group, as part of a building program in the 1870s and 1880s to relieve overcrowding in the original buildings. Its free-standing design represented an architectural shift in the standard treatment philosophy. Starting

with Atkins Hall, new patient ward buildings were constructed as detached cottages, clustered in small groups, rather than as large ward buildings. Each building group was designed and designated for a specialized patient type. The architecture of the cottages allowed for the separation of patients and maintained the peaceful family atmosphere of the ward units but without the constraints or limitations of a single large building.

Atkins Hall formed an integral part of the function and use of St. Elizabeths for the treatment of mental illness and related disabilities. Atkins Hall is also significant for its architectural design, with its open ward plan, use of red brick masonry with painted accents, divided-light windows, slate-covered hip roof, and wood-framed open porch. The design of Atkins Hall established the pattern

for other detached ward buildings constructed on campus in the 1870s and 1880s.

Survey number: HABS DC-349-T

Building/structure dates: 1878 Initial Construction

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101

hospitals washington city elizabeths hospital elizabeths hospital atkins atkins hall martin luther martin luther redwood redwood street washington dc district of columbia medicine health care health care facilities institutional care mental institutions latin cross buildings hip roofs brick buildings roofing slate andrew burian mike ford william godding government hospital for the insane historic american buildings survey kenneth itle mirka mancini tim penich leslie schwartz deborah slaton us department of health and human services education us department of health us department of the interior us federal security agency us general services administration us national institute of mental health photo building plans architectural drawings library of congress national register of historic places historic landmarks

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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