The Jemison family settled near Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the 1830s and became one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the state. Robert Jemison Jr. was a Confederate senator, businessman, and entrepreneur. His business empire grew to encompass toll roads and bridges, a grist mill, a sawmill, livery stables, a hotel, and six plantations totaling over 10,000 acres. Jemison was one of the leaders who built support for the Alabama State Hospital for the Insane, later renamed Bryce Hospital, which opened in 1861 in Tuscaloosa.
After his death in 1871, Jemison’s largest plantation, known as Cherokee Place, was bequeathed to the State of Alabama Board of Mental Health. During the Segregation Era, a separate facility was established for African-American patients. The building known as the Jemison Center was constructed a short drive from the main campus in Northport on what was once Cherokee Place and named for Jemison’s generosity. Before the Jemison Center was built, African-American patients were housed in the lofts of the barn at Bryce Hospital.
The approach to treatment at Bryce followed the concept that patient work was an important component of mental healthcare. Patients housed at the Jemison Center would tend the fields around the property. This was a part of the self-sustainability of Bryce as well as a way to feed a large number of patients with limited state funding.
However, by the 1960s, the concept of patients remaining in the hospital for long periods of time, while at the same time working productively, became a subject of public concern. Many citizens felt that the hospital retained patients as a source of free labor.
In 1970, the Jemison Center made headlines after a journalist from the Tuscaloosa News visited the facility and reported on the abhorrent conditions. “Human feces were caked on the toilets and walls; urine-soaked aging floors; many beds lacked linens; patients were sleeping on the floor. One small shower served 131 male patients; the 75 female patients only had one shower too. Most of the patients at Jemison were highly tranquilized and appeared to have not bathed in days. All appeared to lack any semblance of treatment. The stench was almost unbearable.”
Conditions at the Jemison Center and at Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa led to a landmark lawsuit – Wyatt v. Stickney. At that time, Bryce Hospital had over 5,000 patients living in intolerable conditions that the Montgomery Advertiser compared to a ‘concentration camp.’ Wyatt and his aunt testified about the improper treatment designed to only make patients more manageable.
In 1971, the lawsuit was expanded to include patients at Alabama’s other inpatient mental health facilities. The resulting court-ordered agreements formed the basis for federal minimum standards for the care of people with mental illness who reside in institutional settings known as the Wyatt Standards. The standards are founded on four criteria for evaluation of care: humane psychological and physical environment, qualified and sufficient staff for administration of treatment, individualized treatment plans, and minimum restriction of patient freedom.
After 33 years, the case of Wyatt v. Stickney came to a conclusion. Through a tenure of nine Alabama governors and fourteen state mental health commissioners, the case was the longest mental health case in national history. The State of Alabama estimates its litigation expenses at over $15 million.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your support. Please share the blog with your friends.
You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. For more amazing abandoned places from across Alabama, check out my books Abandoned Alabama: Exploring the Heart of Dixie and Abandoned Birmingham.
If you would like to receive the Abandoned Southeast blog in your email, you can sign up below or on the main page.
Abandoned Southeast 
Another great piece of history exemplified by these old buildings and abandoned hospitals. Keep up the great historical journalism. This is just fascinating and always refreshing reads.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember going to see my uncle, in the late 50s must have been spring dogwood trees lined the long drive in bloom. My dad said we had to stay in the car with my mom. Dad was in the hospital for a while. When he came out he cranked the car, and drove off telling my mom my uncle said that the orderlies were going to beat him because he told how bad it was, when my dad left. We drove out of the drive, and turned around went back. Dad had something in the door where it would not lock. He went in caught the orderlies beating my uncle. Dad was a tuff guy, Dad and my uncle took care of the orderlies. few minutes my dad and uncle came out. My uncle came home with us. Never heard anything from it.
LikeLike
I didn’t see pictures of the Crematorium out back. Not THAT’S creepy!
LikeLike
The history of this place is shrouded in mystery, I’ve spent hours searching through UA’s database and there’s almost no documentation on this place available. If I’m able to find anything it only repeats this article or describes it as a good place until the courts did not allow the patients to work; but that does not seem likely. Terrible stuff happened here and a good bit of effort has been put in to hide it which really sparks my curiosity. The best way to understand this place is discussing with people that had actually experienced it like Ronnie Glenn’s comment above.
LikeLike