{"id":1371,"date":"2013-09-23T04:01:43","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T04:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1371"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:32:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:32:58","slug":"hard-times-at-mayview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/23\/hard-times-at-mayview\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard times at Mayview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mayview, <\/a>
Mayview, in an undated photograph. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Occupational <\/a>
Occupational therapy included lawn moving in 1958. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Massive <\/a>
Massive laundry operation at Mayview in 1970. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"New <\/a>
New operating room at Mayview in 1963. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Undated <\/a>
Undated image of the quarters for men. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Overcrowded <\/a>
Overcrowded conditions at Mayview on April 22, 1934. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Life was rough for a lot of folks in 1934 \u2014 the fourth year of a worldwide economic depression \u2014 but for the mentally ill, the outcast and those seen as merely odd, it could be truly miserable.<\/p>\n

At the institution then known as the City Home and Hospital at Mayview, living conditions were appalling. That\u2019s what a committee of volunteers reported to Pittsburgh City Council.<\/p>\n

Were the charges true? To find out, editors at The Pittsburgh Press dispatched a reporter and photographer to the Mayview campus. The hospital was located in a rural, bucolic setting in South Fayette, and from a distance its grounds and massive brick buildings appeared orderly, well-groomed and grand.<\/p>\n

Up close, the view was somewhat different.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is held cheaply at Mayview,\u201d the reporter wrote in a story published April 22, 1934.<\/p>\n

Mental patients were seen \u201csquatting in their wards, stretched out on the floor like bags of sand on hard cement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The facility, built to house and treat 2,500, was jammed with twice that many. Insides its walls were the poor, the insane, people suffering from tuberculosis, the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, even unwed mothers.<\/p>\n

Beds and cots were \u00a0piled \u201cpell-mell\u201d into wards, corridors, day rooms and cottages. In rickety shacks built to house tuberculosis patients, cats scurried across cold wooden floors with boards \u201cso far apart a steady draft swirls through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patients were housed in every available structure, including a barn and a squat building that once served as a garage.<\/p>\n

A handful of underpaid nurses and doctors were responsible for too many patients. In the female infirmary, one \u201csolitary, harassed nurse\u201d cared for 300. Where regulations called for 15 physicians, Mayview had four.<\/p>\n

Even nutritious food was in scarce supply. Said one doctor, \u201cWe give them enough food to keep body together. No fresh fruit. Too little milk, of course. But where is the money for more?\u201d<\/p>\n

The reporter asked a nurse: \u201cWhy stay here?\u201d Her answer echoes the sentiment of those who have always looked after people whose mere presence often troubles the rest of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone must take care of them,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n

Read the Post-Gazette\u2019s special report, \u00a0\u2018After Mayview.\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the institution then known as the City Home and Hospital at Mayview, living conditions were appalling.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesHard times at Mayview<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[945],"tags":[1268,1046],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_mtfsr1VtmN1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C985&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7468,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/04\/13\/she-was-so-so-ill-and-i-didnt-know-what-to-do-for-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":1371,"position":0},"title":"“She was so, so ill … and I didn’t know what to do for her”","date":"April 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Tragedy inspired Rachel Poole to take a groundbreaking path.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/RachelPool003a.jpg?fit=1200%2C873&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7198,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/02\/06\/i-think-it-safe-to-say-that-hard-work-killed-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":1371,"position":1},"title":"“I think it safe to say that hard work killed her”","date":"February 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Katherine Soffel spent the last years of her life trying to atone for her \"one rash act.\"","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Digs.Biddle002.jpg?fit=1200%2C751&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1792,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/05\/13\/frank-lloyd-wright-the-organic-architect\/","url_meta":{"origin":1371,"position":2},"title":"Frank Lloyd Wright, the organic architect","date":"May 13, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In 1991, the American Institute of Architects recognized Frank Lloyd Wright as \u201cthe greatest American architect of all time.\u201d","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/tumblr_mmlua8GMQH1rr5swxo7_1280.jpg?fit=768%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7218,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/02\/10\/dance-slippers-pumpkins-and-lost-cufflinks-a-history-of-the-cinderella-ball\/","url_meta":{"origin":1371,"position":3},"title":"Dance slippers, pumpkins and lost cufflinks: A history of the Cinderella Ball","date":"February 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Pittsburgh's debutante ball has the second-longest run of any such event in the country","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/20170210_DigsCinderella002.jpg?fit=1200%2C898&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6042,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/10\/28\/bruno-sammartino-on-the-mend\/","url_meta":{"origin":1371,"position":4},"title":"Bruno Sammartino, on the mend","date":"October 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Bruno Sammartino was a fighter -- nothing fake about it. 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