The Albert M. Barrett papers comprise 3 linear feet, and have been divided into five series: Correspondence; Topical Files; Lectures and Publications; Photographs; and Casework.
Albert Moore Barrett was hired by the University of Michigan in 1906 to organize the first university hospital and clinic in the United States specifically devoted to the treatment of mental diseases. Barrett was born in Austin, Illinois on July 15, 1871, and earned Bachelor of Arts and Medical degrees from the State University of Iowa in 1893 and 1895, respectively. He received postgraduate training in psychiatry at Heidelberg University, Germany, in 1901 and 1902.
Before working at the University of Michigan, Barrett was a pathologist at the Independence, Iowa State Hospital for the Insane from 1895 to 1897 and 1898 to 1901; assistant physician at the Worcester, Massachusetts State Hospital for the Insane, 1897-1898; pathologist at the Danvers, Massachusetts State Hospital for the Insane between 1902 and 1905; and assistant professor of neuropathology at Harvard University during the 1905-1906 academic year.
Barrett was part of a movement in the treatment of mentally ill people which viewed mental illnesses as potentially treatable problems, and which discouraged incarcerating the mentally ill in asylums or penal institutions if at all possible. His work as director of the State Psychopathic Hospital in Ann Arbor was path-breaking in several respects, particularly in the treatment of less severe cases on an outpatient or short-term basis. Barrett saw his model of a psychopathic hospital as a supplement to the existing system of state hospitals for the insane, and believed that a system of mental health centers affiliated with local hospitals would be more effective than the existing, highly centralized, arrangements in each state; it would allow for cooperation with local courts and welfare agencies, and would let patients remain close to home whenever possible.
One of Barrett's main goals was to create a training center for psychiatric workers; making sure that mental patients were treated by properly trained professionals was part of the general trend toward creating a more positive therapeutic environment for the mentally ill. The affiliation of the State Psychopathic Hospital with the University of Michigan was especially useful, because it allowed observation and research along with treatment of patients. Barrett's ideas and work provided the template for future psychiatric education programs at the University of Michigan. He died suddenly on April 2, 1936.
