A Case of Hysteria Main Menu The Altogether Shocking History of Women’s Mental Health The Anatomy of Insanity The Wandering Womb Theater Of The Hysterics Father Freud Knows Best This Place Will Make You Crazy The Water Cure Hysterical Paroxysm This Lobotomy Won't Hurt A Bit She Must Be Mad Shock The Pain Away Just A Touch Of Electricity A Home For Inebriates And The Insane The Inmates Aren't Running The Asylum Stories From The Sanatorium The Ladies of Rockhaven Baby Blues Maybe She's Born With It Stay Subservient! The Cost of Going Crazy in California Till Commitment Do We Part Additional Artifacts from Patton State Hospital, ca. 1930-1950 Anne-Marie Maxwell

Agnes Richards

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Rockhaven Sanitarium was founded in Glendale in 1923 by registered nurse Agnes Richards as a respite for female patients. A former head nurse at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino, Richards was troubled by the comparative lack of mental health resources available to women. Male family members could forcibly admit wives or daughters to an asylum, where they could be preyed upon by staff members or other inmates. At Rockhaven, Richards sought to create a more compassionate and healing atmosphere for those needing treatment. Rather than being confined inside, the “ladies” were free to roam the beautiful grounds. The facility gradually expanded to include patient bungalows, a dining hall, and hospital. Famous residents included Marilyn Monroe’s mother, actress Billie Burke, and Clark Gable’s first wife, Josephine Dillon. The Friends of Rockhaven preserve the now-closed institution’s legacy and offer monthly walking tours of the property.

This page has paths:

  1. A Case of Hysteria? Curtis Fletcher

Contents of this path:

  1. Elisa Jordan, Rockhaven Sanitarium: The Legacy of Agnes Richards (Charleston: The History Press, 2018)
  2. Portrait of Agnes Richards, ca. 1950
  3. Rest at Rockhaven brochure. On loan from the Friends of Rockhaven
  4. Rockhaven Thank You card. On loan from the Friends of Rockhaven
  5. Rockhaven Dining Room. On loan from the Friends of Rockhaven
  6. Rockhaven Main Building. On loan from the Friends of Rockhaven
  7. Rockhaven Private Cottage Bedroom. On loan from the Friends of Rockhaven