Foxborough Historical Society,
Foxborough Mass, USA
The Foxborough Historial Society is a non profit corporation that promotes the History of Foxborough. Monthly meetings are free and open to the public in the Boyden Public Library. You may contact the society at PO Box 450, Foxborough, MA 02035. The Foxborough Historical Society normally meets monthly, on the fourth Tuesday of each month, except during the summer months of June thru August. Regular meetings are held at 7:30 pm, in the Fuller Room, lower level, Boyden Library. Foxborough Historical Society programs can be viewed locally on Foxboro Cable TV on channel 8 every other Wednesday and Thursday at 4:00 PM EST.
The September meeting is the first meeting of the 2005 - 2006 season. Your attendance is encouraged.
Programs 2004 - 2005
Current Program
Tuesday, September 27, 2005, at 7:30 pm.
Boyden Library, Bird Street, lower level
Town historian, Jack Authelet, will discuss the now-closed Foxboro State Hospital and its predecessor, the Massachusetts Hospital for Inebriates and Dipsomaniacs.
Jack has discovered considerable new material and will set the hospital initiative into the broader context of more than a century of public interest legislation and programming during the Commonwealth's social engineering initiative.
Most interesting - fascinating, actually - the legislative "hook" that enabled the state to do so much good based on an obscure bit of legislation with an entirely different intent. Jack will share the experiences of some in the wards, the first bold initiative to treat alcoholism as a disease, why it failed and how it got restarted. Also, a most revealing comment by the last superintendent as he left the building and turned the key in the door for the last time.
Jack has discovered "a ton of info on the rise and fall of the
institution." By the time of our September meeting, he will have
up-to-the-minute info on the reutilization effort and the portions of the
original facility that will be saved.
In spite of the voluminous material, the program will move quickly as there are ample illustrations on which to hang the various segments.
The buildings of the former Foxborough State Hospital will be in the news over the next few years as many of the empty, deteriorating brick structures will be demolished while others will be painstakingly restored to former gradeur. Town Historian Jack Authelet will bring the historical significance of the complex to life in a profusely illustrated presentation at the September meeting of theFoxborough Historical Society.
"The original Massachusetts Hospital for Dipsomanias and Inebriates, built in 1891, was the first recognition of alcoholism as a treatable disease," noted Authelet. "The problem had been identified as everything it wasn't: a mental defect, a moral failing or a crime. They came to realize it could be cured in some patients while the severity of symptoms could be reduced in others and every state in the nation was observing the Massachusetts experience."
The layout of buildings did not support treatment of this new type of patient, and ultimately a new hospital was created for that purpose in Pondville (now Norfolk). The facility on Chestnut Street was then devoted to treatment of the mentally ill and grew to include more than 1,000 patients at peak capacity.
"This was cutting edge treatment," said Authelet, "and a psychiatric
nursing training school was established in 1931. The American Medical
Association also approved a residency in psychiatry and in 1940 the 
hospital was approved by the American College of Surgeons.
The historical presentation will include the closing of the hospital in the early 1970s and its impact on the in-patient and out-patient population. An update on efforts to restore the former Superintendent's home as well as the buildings of the original hospital along Chestnut Street will be included.
THE THREE COTTAGES for patients and the original dining hall of the Massachusetts Hospital for Dipsomaniacs and Inebriates (later the Foxborough State Hospital) are seen here shortly after noted landscape architect Joseph H. Curtis was engaged to improve the grounds, roadways and walks. The exterior of these buildings will be restored under the reutilization plan. A TREATMENT ROOM in the original Massachusetts Hospital for Dipsomaniacs and Inebriates, which later became the Foxborough State Hospital.Refreshments will be served. All are welcome.
Future Programs Programs are still being arranged by the New Program director Patrick Lyons for the 2005 - 2006 season. Thanks to Penny Ingram for her past years of great service.Previous 2004 - 2005 Programs
March 2005 - "The Great Molasses Flood in Boston"
February 2005 - "Ames Shovel Industry"
January 2005 - "Making Cooking Easy with Old Colony Stoves" (illustrated talk by Jane Emack-Cambra)
December 2004 - "Dr. Joseph Warren (Reinactment)
Annual Foxborough Historical Society Scholarship
Evelyn Thomas Memorial Scholarship
Foxboro Historical Society annual scholarship (Evelyn Thomas memorial Scholarship)
This annual award is intended to assist with a student's college sophomore year expenses and is renewable for the junior and senior years based on continued acceptable academic performance.
The student should be a history major or have a significant emphasis in history.
Application forms for the 2005 scholarship are available at the Boyden Library and at Foxboro Town Hall on South Street. To be eligible for consideration, completed application forms must be submitted to the Foxboro Historical Society, Inc., P.O. Box 450, Foxboro, Mass. 02035, by June 15, 2005. Please include copies of the applicant's freshman year grades.
In 2004, the Foxboro Historical Society awarded its first yearly scholarship of $2,000 to a resident of Foxboro who had completed her college freshman year in an accredited degree program and was pursuing a degree with a major in history.
Prospective applicants may call Patrick Lyons at 508-543-3728 for further information.