In 1941, the patient overload continued and led to a high staff turnover. Not only did employees resign from exhaustion, but because World War II demanded their services elsewhere. Advertisements for summer jobs were placed in the local papers—in the hope that younger people would fill the empty personnel slots. The introduction of Electric Shock Therapy to Fairfield’s repertoire also looked promising.

But in November of that year, the first hints of darkness emerged.

The sudden death of a patient prompted an autopsy, which revealed that the man had been severely beaten to death. Five employees were fired. Two of the attendants were convicted of manslaughter, and one of assault.

Related: The Wailing Elm of Peoria State Hospital

Patient abuse was suddenly in the spotlight. So too was the notion that employees were prone to bouts of drunkenness. Dr. Moore worried that such abuse would tarnish the hospital’s image; at the same time, the community worried that patients would make attempts to escape. As a result, the remaining staff decreased so radically that Dr. Moore was granted permission to hire conscientious objectors and their wives.

The 1940s brought waves of influenza and bronco-pneumonia to Fairfield. In just one month, December 1944, 41 patients died. On May 25, 1946, Dr. Bernard S. Brody started performing frontal lobotomies on patients with a destructive history. Within a year’s time, 107 patients had been lobotomized. 35% were discharged as “slightly improved,” 26% had not improved, and 4% died due to post-operative complications. These numbers left 35% of the patients unaccounted for.

Whispers of Fairfield State Hospital

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