Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Treatment for Veterans

Alcoholism and drug addiction were all-too-common maladies among Confederate veterans. (Some attribute that to untreated PTSD.) When Dr. J. A. D. Hite opened his sanitarium in Nashville in 1916, he aimed much of his advertising at veterans and their families.

"Morphine, Other Drug, Whiskey and Tobacco Addictions, Permanently Cured," Hite promised.

Dr. Hite's sanitarium operated in a home atmosphere; the patients were treated like guests at a bed and breakfast inn. While taking the cure his patients ate three meals a days, exercised, and were allowed to commune with other patients. "Our patients are not incapacitated in the least," his ad says. The sanitarium, a large residence north of downtown Nashville, adjoined the doctor's own home and office.

The guest building is gone, but Dr. Hite's old home office is now a modest residence at 949 Russell Street in Nashville. A photo from Confederate Veteran magazine, November 1916, is an almost perfect match for the Google Maps "Streetview" of that address.

1 comment:

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