Hospital Records
These record collections cover government, private and religious institutions, treating various types of illnesses and patients. In New Orleans, the City Insane Asylum, the Coroner’s Office, the Department of Police and Public Buildings, the Civil Sheriff and the civil courts all assumed responsibility of some sort for people judged to be insane. Researchers should be aware that 19th- and 20th-century definitions of insanity differed markedly from current definitions. Alcoholics, the mentally disabled, or those suffering from various physical disorders were routinely committed to asylums during the period covered by these records.
Admission Books, 1829-1899.
Records name, age, dates of admission, discharge or death, occupation, marital status, length of time in New Orleans, last place lived in, and birth place, often listing the town or country as well as the country of origin. Some enslaved persons are included in the antebellum admissions to Charity. Most volumes are indexed. The earliest volumes are labeled “Register” and appear to overlap the Admission books for several years.
- Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf GS36-31 to GS36-71.
Death Records, 1835-1904
Records patient’s name, number of ward, date of admission, nativity, occupation, residence, place last from, age, color, residence in New Orleans, marital status, date of death, malady, and by whom buried. Indexed.
- Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf GS36-72 to GS36-77.
Patient Registers, 1858-1900
The registers include some or all of the following information: name, place of birth, “reference” (often an address, or name, presumably, of the person to be contacted), dates of admission and discharge, date of death (if appropriate), and diagnosis. A partial index (letters K-W) is filmed at the front of the volume. Ante-bellum records include entries for enslaved persons.
- Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf GS36-309.
Record of Patients, 1874-1879
The City Physician was authorized by ordinance to inspect the City Smallpox Hospital daily, as well as any other hospitals where smallpox patients were confined, and to keep a record of all smallpox victims. He was also authorized to order their discharge from quarantine once they had been cured.
This volume, arranged chronologically, lists the name, date of death or discharge, occupation, place of birth, age, last place or residence before coming to New Orleans, length of time in the city, length of illness, diagnosis, and date admitted. Many of those listed are patients transferred from Charity Hospital; a number were transferred from the Workhouse or the House of Refuge.
- Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf FNS410
The Golden Book of Life, 1885-1935
This volume records memorials to the dead, made by those who contributed to Touro and the Hebrew Benevolent Association. The entries include name and (usually) date of death, along with the name of the contributor and the amount of money contributed.
Record of Patients in the Touro Infirmary of New Orleans, 1869-1891
Provides for each patient, name, age, conjugal relation, place of birth, occupation, and information about the patient’s condition. Dates of death are given, if appropriate.
Record of Deaths, Touro Infirmary, 1869-1916
Provides the name of the patient, date of admission, place of birth, occupation, place last from, age, color, length of residence in New Orleans, marital status, date of death, diagnosis, and by whom or where buried.
Admission Book of Touro Infirmary, 1855-1860
Provides name, place of birth, occupation, last place from, residence in New Orleans, time and date of admission, date of death or discharge, age, and additional information about the patient’s condition and the cost of treatment.
Records of the Touro Infirmary are available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf GS36-214
Record of Entries and Releases, 1858-1882
In 1854, the New Orleans City Council established a “temporary asylum for the indigent insane” and gave Recorders of the various districts the power to commit patients to this facility “until provision can be made for their admission into the State asylum at Jackson.” Although apparently intended as a stop-gap measure, the New Orleans Insane Asylum continued to admit patients until 1883, when it was closed and the remaining patients were transferred to Jackson.
Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf FM410
Monthly Register of Patients, 1866-1882
Monthly record of all patients in the asylum, including the patient’s name and number, date of release (or death), and, for patients entering that month, the name of the person who committed the patient, and the date of entry.
- Volume 1 (April 1866-August 1872)
- Volume 2 (September 1872-December 1878)
- Volume 3 (December 1878-August 1882)
Available on microfilm in the City Archives, Call number: FML430 1888-1912; volumes 2 and 3 are filed under call number II LM430 1836-1842.
Record of Next of Kin, 1875-1877
Includes the patient’s name and the name and address of the person to be referred to – i.e., the next of kin. The volume is in very poor condition, with many pages either cut or torn out. Most of the entries are overwritten with “died,” “removed,” “released,” etc.
Record of Patients, 1882-1884;1888
This volume contains information on insane patients visited by the City Physician and recommended for commitment to the State Asylum. For each patient, the record includes name, race, sex, age, place of birth, type of insanity, and sometimes a description of the patient’s behavior. An index is included at the end of the volume.
- Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf FK850
- This volume has been transcribed and is available to view digitally.
Register of Indigent Insane, 1888-1912
Grouped together by first letter of surname, the entries include date received, date discharged, and remarks. The remarks include references to transfers to other institutions, deaths (sometimes with date), and, in at least one instance, elopement of an inmate. Most, if not all, of the entries appear to be for persons delivered by personnel of the Department to the Louisiana Retreat (later De Paul Hospital).
- Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: FML430
- These volumes have been transcribed in full and are available to view digitally.
Register of Patients Transported to State Insane Asylum, 1882- 1917
The Civil Sheriff was responsible for transporting to the State Insane Asylum at Jackson persons judged by the Civil District Court to be insane. In these records the Sheriff recorded the number of the suit record ordering the patient to be sent to Jackson, the date that he took the patient into custody, the patient’s name, age, sex, color, address, nativity, occupation, marital status, disease, duration and cause of insanity, and remarks. Remarks usually are limited to certifications of delivery of a patient or group of patients to the asylum at Jackson, including the date of delivery.
Starting in about 1906 the Sheriff began to enter names of victims of leprosy in addition to insane persons. Those individuals were received by the Sheriff on court order for eventual delivery to the newly opened camp for lepers at Indian Village in Iberville Parish, which later evolved into the Gillis Long Hansens Disease Center at Carville, La.
- Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf VF350i
Available on microfilm in the City Archives, call number: mf TH855
Description and Record of Insane Persons, 1900-1918
Information includes name, sex, age, color (also color of hair, beard, and eyes), occupation, marital status, residence, place of birth, and descriptive details of the manifestations of insanity exhibited by each patient.
- This volume has not been microfilmed.
- Available to registered researchers by appointment; call number: TH427
Additional records from the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office include autopsy reports, day books, journals, inquests and views.
