Morningside Hospital » Patient Photos

Katharine Hodikoff

Ellen — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:21:49 +0000

Katharine Hodikoff was admitted to Morningside Hospital from the Aleutian Islands on October 6, 1913. Her diagnosis was, “acute mania, irritable, resentful, improved, inclined to suicide, industrious, fair physical condition.” She apparently improved over time, so much so that she was discharged in August 1916.

A few days before she left Morningside, Dr. Henry Coe, the president of the Sanitarium Company, informed the Department of the Interior of her release. In the letter, he described her as, “strong, vigorous, active, cleanly, and the most capable Eskimo woman I ever saw.” He goes on to say that she will be leaving with a baby named Mary McLoshkin (apparently born at Morningside?) who she adopted. You can read the discharge letter (27) here.

Coe notes that Katharine was in a photo with him and a Department of the Interior inspector (above, from the Library of Congress). He also wrote that she made fine baskets. I believe that this is a photo of one of her baskets. The caption under the 1916 photo (from the National Archives II) reads, “Made by an Alaska Native who was returned by Morningside to the island of Attu, 4000 miles distant.”

Dr. Coe ends the letter with, “I am going to write up her story, one of these days. It is stranger than fiction.” I wish he had. I’ve checked many sources but can find nothing on Katharine after her discharge from Morningside. Please leave a comment if you know more about her or her family.

Clara Simpson

Ellen — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:52:50 +0000

Tom Ralphs contacted the blog wondering if we had any records indicating that his grandfather, Tom Shea, was at Morningside. When I wrote back that I didn’t find anything, he mentioned that his grandmother, Clara Simpson, was sent there in the 1940’s, and he had information on her life that he was willing to share. Here’s Clara’s story…

Clara Halferty was born in March 1887 in Brighton, Iowa. She married Tom Shea in 1907 and they adopted a daughter, Myrtle. In 1915, the family moved to Alaska where Tom took a job working on the construction of the Alaska Railroad. Clara immediately fell in love with Alaska.

(Photo Right: Clara and Tom Shea, circa 1907)

Tom and Clara divorced in 1916 and, over the next 20 years, she worked as a prospector and mail carrier, and she married three more times (including once more to Tom Shea). In May 1929, she visited family in Iowa and regaled family and friends with stories about her life in Alaska. A story about her in The Newton Daily News illustrates her adventurous spirit and self-reliance:

“My first experience driving a dog team turned out badly. I hitched 7 dogs to a sled. A quarter of a mile later, the dogs, sled and myself rolled 150 feet off the side hill. I attempted to straighten the tangled harness when the dogs broke loose and headed to camp.”

(Photo Left: Clara with Humpback Grizzly, Alaska)

“At one time I was out on a prospecting trip which took seven months five of which I spent alone. I saw few men and no women during these months. One always finds gold. Sometimes it is a paying prospect but more often not. The largest nugget I ever found was worth $42.”

(Photo Right: Clara’s Cache and Cabin, 1917)

Clara married a man named Simpson in the 1930’s and was sent to Morningside Hospital in December 1941. I found two records relating to her:

1943 List of Patients with No Assets:
“1958 (the patient number) Simpson, Clara. Aged 54. Fairbanks. U.S. White. Comm. 12-5-41 at Fairbanks. No property listed. Myrtle Ralphs, 130 N. Olive St., Glendale, Cal. (D)” (I think D stands for divorced)

1948 March Quarterly Report:
“1958 SIMPSON, Clara – Admitted Jan.8, 1942. Fairbanks. White. Female. Age 54. American born. Resident of Alaska. Separated. Laundress. Moderately alcoholic. Committed for delusions. Positive blood and spinal Wasserman. Confused, delusional. Diagnosis: General Paresis, advanced. Receiving tryparsamide, malaria. Prognosis: guarded.

It’s interesting that her age is listed as 54 in both documents, even though they are five years apart. She was actually 61 in 1948. She had a positive Wasserman test indicating that she had syphilis, which can cause mental illness when not treated. Clara died at Morningside Hospital on June 17, 1949 due to bronchopneumonia, cerebral sortening and general peresis.

Lubova Pontelaief

Ellen — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:01:57 +0000

Aleksandr Hazanov, who lives in Finland, contacted us wondering if we had information about his mother’s cousin, Lubova Pontelaief. She was the daughter of Aleksandr Pontelaief, a Russian Orthodox priest who brought his family from Russia to Unalaska in the early 1900s. The photo to the right is believed to be the Pontelaief family in Unalaska when Lubova was a child. The Pontelaiefs later moved to Sitka where he served as the Bishop of Alaska from 1934 to 1944.

Lubova Pontelaief was born in 1907 and was admitted to Morningside Hospital from Sitka on June 24, 1934. A hospital quarterly report from 1935 included this information about her:

1550 (Patient Number) Lubova Pontelaiev: admitted June 24, 1934 White. Russian. Alaska born. Female, Single. Age 27. No occupation. Dementia precox, hebephrinic form. History indicates mental disorder existed for about 10 years. Pc. (Physical Condition) fair.

Her name appears in a list of patients from 1955, but from there all we know is that she acquired a Social Security Number in Alaska in 1965 and died in October, 1977. At the time of her death, she was living in area code 97217, the Bridgeton neighborhood in Portland. She’s buried in the Portland’s Rose City Cemetery.

Aleksandr wants to know what happened to her after Morningside and who buried her. Please contact the blog if you have any information about Lubova or ideas for information sources we should pursue.

Christmas at Morningside Hospital

Ellen — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:42:36 +0000

Among the few pictures of Morningside are a two taken at Christmas celebrations in the 1920s. The US Department of the Interior records included correspondence from Wayne Coe about the 1922 Morningside Hospital Christmas party and an accounting of the party and patient gift expenses.

These two photos, which are from the Oregon Historical Society, were not dated but appear to be from the 1920s.

The caption on the photo above is an account of the Christmas Festivities at Morningside from a Portland newspaper. “Morningside Hospital provided three Christmas trees for the inmates. Natives helped to provide the entertainment which was held in the Assembly room of the new Parole House. Gifts were provided for all the patients in the institution by Dr. Coe, the Chief Officer. After the exercises in the main hall the women retired to their own buildings where trees awaited them, while the men had their remembrances in the assembly room.”

The founder of Morningside Hospital, Dr. Henry Waldo Coe, is standing to the right of the Christmas tree.

The photo above appears to be from the early to mid-1920s. Children were first admitted to Morningside at the end of 1922 or early 1923.

The “Program of Entertainment” for the 1922 Christmas Party included:

Overture by the Orchestra
Song by Mrs. Larsen, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Carter
Address by Mr. Henry Ray
Jig and Monologue by Mr. Nathan Swarthout
Vocal Solo by Mr. Carter, Supported by the Orchestra
A Response by Mr. Wayne W. Coe, Speaking for the Management
A Waltz – Men Employees Dancing with Women Patients and Men Patients Dancing with Women Patients
A March by the Orchestra while participants and other file out
Distribution of Presents to Men at Main Building
Distribution of Presents to Women Patients and Employees at the Women’s Cottage
Mr. Earl Dowd Acting as Santa Claus

The menu for the Christmas Dinner was:

Oyster Stew
Celery and Olives
Roast Turkey and Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Hot Rolls
Cranberry Jelly
Mince Pie – Fruit cake
Coffee, Tea, Milk
Oranges, Apples, Nuts and Candy

Patient Photos: Children 1923

Ellen — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:43:35 +0000

Here are more pictures of children at Morningside Hospital in 1923. Children were sent to Morningside because they had mental and physical disabilities, many of which we would call developmental disabilities today. This is the diagnosis for a child from Anchorage:

“Adrnitted November 7,1925. Anchorage. A native child of four years. Speaks no English. Physical examination affords no information aside from partial deafness. Physical condition good,”

The caption on the first photo below is, ” Orphans of the Far North – Alaska defectives happily housed in the mild climate at Morningside.”

Record Group 126, Records of the Office of the Territories, National Archives II, College Park, MD

Children at Morningside Hospital

Ellen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:50:52 +0000

It was never clear to me when Morningside Hospital started admitting children. The patient lists during the early years seemed to be populated by miners, gamblers and other who came North to seek their fortunes. By the time Alaska assumed responsibility for providing mental health services to its citizens in 1956, a significant percentage of patients at Morningside were children with developmental disabilities. Some admitted soon after birth.

Record Group 126, Records of the Office of the Territories, National Archives II, College Park, MD

The National Archives II provided the following information from the Department of the Interior files:

On November 9, 1922, Scott C. Bone, the Governor of Alaska, sent a telegram to the Secretary of the Interior asking, “Can mentally defective children of Alaska be committed to Morningside under existing contract stop Institution is now equipped to handle such cases.”

The next day, Assistant Secretary of the Interior F. M. Goodwin responded, “Replying your telegram November ninth. Unless mentally defective children of Alaska are legally adjudged to be insane they cannot be cared for at Morningside Hospital under the contract with Sanitarium Company.”

The decision to commit children to Morningside in the same way adults were handled apparently came swiftly. Children were taken before a jury of six men and adjudicated “insane”. The photo above is from 1923.

Patient Photos: 1935 Investigation

Ellen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Over the years, the Department of the Interior conducted a number of investigations of Morningside Hospital. The photographs taken as part of these investigations are one of the few sources of images of patients that we’ve found. Here are a few from the 1935 investigation.

One of the Men's Wards

Women Patients Doing Needlepoint

One of the Women's Wards