Central Islip State Hospital Records

Accessing Central Islip State Hospital Records

9/10/2019

My grandfather was dropped off at a police on Christmas Eve of 1922 and never saw his mother again. The story has stuck with me for my entire life. As a kid, I couldn't imagine never seeing my mom again, and as a mom, I cannot imagine parting with my children. The extenuating circumstances must have been extreme, but they're remained a mystery nearly 100 years later. What we do know is that my great grandmother ended up at Central Islip State Hospital, and presumably died there, though no death certificate has been located.

I've been trying to dig and uncover a bit more of the mystery- which sent me looking for her hospital records from Central Islip State Hospital. The hospital was originally opened in 1889 under the name New York City Farm for the Insane, and later became Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, which is still in operation today.

Image from Abandon Online- click to see more pictures of Central Islip Psychiatric Center

All of Central Islip State Hospital records are located in the New York State Archives, series 20200. But, they are locked and sealed due to the New York State Mental Hygiene Law. In order to be granted access, one must write to a letter requesting disclosure to the Office of Mental Health (OMH) at:

Health Information Management Unit
Pilgrim Psychiatric Center
NYS Office of Mental Health
998 Crooked Hill Rd
West Brentwood, NY 11717-1087

In the letter, I’ll be including the probable admission time, why we believe she was a patient there, and proof that I am indeed her descendant. These types of records are incredibly personal in nature, even 100 years later, so if they are not able to disclose them, I am asking for a copy of a photo (if available) her place of residents, employment information, next of kin, and any visitor information that might be slightly less confidential.

What do you think about the confidentiality and mental health laws as they pertain to genealogical research? Should records be freely available after 100 years? Or kept under lock and key? Tell me your thoughts in the comment section!

9 Comments

Ali

11/21/2019 02:25:15 pm

Many of my ancestors worked at CI Hospital. My great grandparents did and their parents did! My great x2 aunt came to the US from Ireland in 1892 to work at CI as a nurse. She saved up and wrote to her sisters. Two arrived as a nurse and a seamstress in 1911. The sister that was a seamstress became the supervisor of the sewing room. In 1913, they saved up enough for my great x2 grandmother and her daughter to come work there. Her daughter would meet her husband there. Employees lived on the grounds and in the early days were not allowed to leave except for a few days a month.

If you have an ancestry account you can view many census records from the 1910, 1915, 1920, etc records which have lists of those who were inmates at CI! I hope you can uncover more about her!

Alexandra Kulick link

12/18/2019 06:10:37 am

Ali, that's fascinating! It sounds like they would have been there at the same time as my g. Grandmother. I've looked on ancestry, but I'm guessing she's not in the census because she was there for a short time and died, or there's a case of unrecognizable spelling. I hope to take a trip to CI, it seems they have a museum these days!

Kristin Walker

2/20/2020 04:27:11 pm

This is almost exactly the situation I am in and I have been looking for years to find anything I can about my great grandmother because it haunted my grandmother her whole life that her mom was taken away and then died before she was to come home from Central Islip.

Pie

12/15/2019 04:54:03 pm

There is a big connection between the hospital and the MKUltra Program in the 50s. Records might be locked for privacy of the individuals - as far as I know only the person can request their own files - but there is a historical of bad practices happened inside this institution that should be unveiled to everyone. I think medical records should be private but when we talk about state institutions experimenting during the dark years they definitely should be released for research and critical purposes.

12/18/2019 06:01:51 am

Hi Pie! I wasn't familiar with the connection to the MKUltra Program. It bothers me that my g.grandmother was placed there, and never heard from again. But, I still haven't gained permission to access any information from the state archives, so I guess that mystery will remained locked up in Albany!

Hanna Denmark

2/1/2020 06:31:04 pm

did you ever hear back from them? My great-grandmother was there for years, and I'm trying to find out if she died there.

Alexandra link

2/22/2020 04:58:37 am

Hi Hannah,

Unfortunately, I did not hear back from them. It seems like they wont grant record access for genealogical purposes. If you're looking for a death certificate, it's possible that the Suffolk County, NY clerk's office would have that record! I hope you're able to find out what happened to her!

Robin

2/22/2020 01:21:59 am

Hi Alexandra,
Your grandfather's story is sad and somewhat similar to my grandfather's in that his mother was sent to a Psychiatric Center in New York as well. My mother was told that her grandmother was in a movie theater and a chandelier fell on her head and she went crazy and was sent to a psychiatrist hospital. My mother never met her grandmother nor as far as she knew were they allowed to visit; my grandmother would take my mother to the Brooklyn post office every month and mail a box of candy to that psychiatric center. My grandfather would never talk about his mother, most likely the chandelier story was a cover up because mental health illness was taboo in those days.
My mother didn't know the name of the hospital but I found my great grandmother's name in the 1940 census and it said she was in Islip so I thought she was at CI. But thanks to Ali I looked her up in Ancestry and she was actually at Pilgrim State Hospital! She died there in 1951. G-d knows what they did to patients there; when I was in my 20's I saw Jack Nicholson get a lobotomy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and always feared that happened to my Great Grandmother. The one positive takeaway was that she had six children that were all very successful.
Thanks for posting, I've never come across anyone with such a similar background!

Andrea Pernikoff

3/1/2020 12:12:05 pm

I'm so glad I found this! My great grandfather was housed there as well. He was later transferred to another hospital in upstate NY. Our family didn't know where he ended up until my son, doing some research, discovered he was there. Family theories included committing suicide due to the depression, leaving for another woman, being killed during a strike, etc. It was a big surprise finding out the truth and no one knew anything (or at least didn't want to discuss it). Am planning to request at least his death record from the Town of Dover.

Accessing Central Islip State Hospital Records

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