The Garden Room

Walking out of the Superintendent's office through the door in the center of the glass cases, one enters a small room with French doors that look out onto the hospital grounds. This room is currently used as a museum office area. It has had a variety of uses over the years, including that of an office for the Medical Director and a waiting room for the Superintendent's office. Some of the furnishings came from the superintendent's residence, which is visible to the right, outside the French doors. From the 1890's to the 1950's all of the superintendents lived in this residence. The building is now called the Annie G. McDonald House to honor Ms. McDonald, Director of Nursing at the Hospital of over 40 years before she died of cancer. The building is awaiting restoration.

On the wall to our right is an aerial view of the hospital grounds used by the architects and planners of these facilities. Drawn in the 1930's it has every building labeled and numbered. The building housing the museum is building No. 1. At one time the grounds were surrounded by a wall or were inter-connected, as were most institutions of this kind in the late 1800's and early 1900's A labyrinth of underground tunnels also connected the buildings.

In this room is also found an exhibit honoring Dr. Philip W. Johnston, a national leader in developing programs to test children for auditory and visual problems.