American Homeopathy, Neuropathological Research and Reform Aspirations at the End of the 19th Century: The Case of Westborough State Hospital (MA)

Abstract

The United States’ second homeopathic asylum, Westborough State Hospital (MA), opened its doors to the public in 1886. It soon became a space of dialogue between the unconventional movement of homeopathy, innovative research in neuropathology and aspirations toward reform. In Westborough, homeopaths promoted not only alternative therapeutics based on mild medicines and patientcentred care, but also a wide range of therapies borrowed from conventional medicine. They also developed extensive laboratory research to better understand mental illnesses and provided training and job opportunities for people from marginalised groups. It was in this context that Solomon Carter Fuller (1872-1953), the first African American psychiatrist and leading authority on Alzheimer’s disease, trained and worked.