One is pleased to see in your report the extent to which organized occupations are developed at Bloomingdale—­a pleasure not unmixed with envy at seeing the picture of the men’s occupational pavilion, and the prospective erection of a similar building for women.

In the early days of the Retreat large numbers of visitors came from all parts of the world.  There is a gap in the Visitors’ Book between 1800-1815, and the list of visitors is not complete.

We have copied out the names of the American Visitors, together with an entry by John W. Francis, M.D., in 1815.  It is interesting to note that an American woman Friend, Hannah Field, was accompanied to the Retreat by Elizabeth Fry.  In 1818 a party of North American Indians visited the Retreat and signed the Visitors’ Book with pictorial representations of their names.  These we have had photographed and I send the prints herewith.

May I congratulate you on the centenary of your Hospital and also congratulate you and the Governors on its remarkable development and progress.  Here at the Retreat we carry on using the original buildings still, striving to give our patients modern treatment in premises now almost ancient, but which do not appear so out of date in this City of York.  York congratulates New York upon its wonderful prosperity, and we gladly recognize its development in the practice of psychiatry fully corresponds with its development in other directions.

I remain,

Yours sincerely,

BEDFORD PIERCE.

EXTRACT FROM MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE RETREAT

The Retreat, York

Meeting of Directors held on April the 30th, 1921

Copy of Minute No. 8

At this Meeting of the Directors and Agents of York Retreat we hear with pleasure that the Bloomingdale Hospital, the section of the Society of the New York Hospital devoted to the Treatment of Mental Diseases, is to celebrate next month the centenary of its foundation.  The facsimile reproduction of the letter of Thomas Eddy which has been presented to the Retreat Library is specially interesting to us as it acknowledges the pioneer work at the Retreat and specially refers to correspondence with Samuel Tuke.  We have pleasure in sending to the Governors of the Bloomingdale Hospital a copy of Samuel Tuke’s classical work “The Description of the Retreat” in the belief that the principles therein set forth are of lasting importance.  We send our hearty congratulations to the Bloomingdale Hospital on its century of good work and wish it every success in the future.

Signed,

CHARLES WEOMANS, Chairman.

OSCAR F. RUMLEN, Treasurer.

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TRANSCRIPT FROM THE VISITORS BOOK OF THE RETREAT

EARLY AMERICAN VISITORS