|
| Title | Dr. Walter Freeman performing a lobotomy at Western State Hospital, Steilacoom, July 7, 1949 |
| Photographer | Harris, Ken
Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Date | 1949 |
| Caption | Dr. Walter Freeman, professor of neurology at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., demonstrated a new surgical technique on several patients suffering from mental disturbances at Western State Hospital in Steilacoom. His procedure, called a transorbital lobotomy, entailed inserting a sharp instrument under the upper eyelid, driving it about two inches through the roof of the eye socket and severing the nerve connections between the centers for imagination in the front part of the brain and the centers for the emotions in the center of the brain. This procedure was simpler and required less training than the older prefrontal lobotomy.
Dr. Freeman visited the hospital at Steilacoom twice to demonstrate this procedure, in 1948 and 1949. |
| Notes | Western State Hospital formerly known as the Western Washington Hospital for the Insane [note from the Library of Congress Authority File].
Handwritten on sleeve: Freeman, Walter, Dr.
Caption information source: P-I research files.
Date photograph was published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: July 8, 1949. |
| Subjects | Psychiatry--Washington (State)--Steilacoom; Surgery--Washington (State)--Steilacoom; Operating rooms--Washington (State)--Steilacoom; Medical students--Washington (State)--Steilacoom; Nurses--Washington (State)--Steilacoom; Western State Hospital |
| Personal Names | Freeman, Walter, 1895-1972 |
| Places | United States--Washington (State)--Steilacoom |
| Digital Collection | Museum of History & Industry Photograph Collection |
| Image Number | 1986.5.25616 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@mohai.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph. |
| Credit Line | Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle; All Rights Reserved |
| Repository | Museum of History & Industry, Seattle (MOHAI) |
| Repository Collection | Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection |
| Type | Image |
| Physical Description | 1 acetate negative: b&w; 4 x 5 in. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original negative as a 3000 pixel TIFF image in 8-bit grayscale, resized to 640 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop 6.0 and its JPEG quality measurement 3. |
