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Peter Bryce (March 5, 1834 – August 14, 1892) was a pioneering figure in the field of mental health. Practicing in the post-Civil War era, he championed more humane therapeutic treatments for the mentally ill. He held important offices in both state and national organizations relating to the health professions and was the first superintendent of the state mental hospital that now bears his name.

Bryce was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to Peter and Martha Smith Bryce. He graduated with distinction from The Citadel in 1855 and in 1859 from New York’s Medical College (now New York University School of Medicine). Upon receipt of his M.D. degree, he traveled in Europe, where his developing interest in mental health was enhanced by visits to psychiatric hospitals. Upon his return to the United States, he accepted positions in psychiatric hospitals, first in New Jersey and later in South Carolina.

In late 1859, Dorothea Dix, a nationally renowned advocate for the mentally ill, had communicated in person with the Alabama legislature much earlier about the need for a psychiatric hospital in the state. Through efforts by the state medical association, in 1852 the legislature enacted a bill establishing a hospital and selected Tuscaloosa as the location for that institution. As a result of a variety of interferences, the hospital was under construction for most of a decade. When construction was nearing completion, the trustees began a search for a superintendent. Miss Dix brought the name of Dr. Bryce to their attention. At that time, most mental hospital superintendents were not physicians. Despite his youth, Bryce’s training and southern roots were viewed favorably by the trustees, and in July 1860 they selected him to be the hospital’s first superintendent, stipulating that he must be married by the time he assumed his duties.

Bryce accepted the position, married Ellen Clarkson, also of Columbia, and they moved into the hospital, where they lived until his death in 1892. The childless couple would devote all of their attention to the AIH for the next 30 years. Immediately, Bryce began work on institutional policies and procedures by which the hospital would be governed. As a public institution, the hospital’s finances would depend greatly on state funding. However, in the Civil War and post-Civil War era, the state’s economy was in trouble, and, as a result, state contribution to the hospital left it seriously underfunded. This condition lasted throughout the tenure of Dr. Bryce.

Like many of his contemporaries, Bryce believed insanity to be caused by the interplay of genetics and environmental and social factors, and that effective treatment should seek to filter out these external factors and give the mind time to heal. This therapeutic approach, known as moral treatment (so called for its supposed ability to lead patients to an understanding and acceptance of “right” behavior) consisted of creating a normalized environment characterized by kind treatment, absence of physical restraints, and regular activity by all patients who were physically able. Moral treatment became popular after the Civil War, and some hospital superintendents reported extraordinary successes. When it was determined that the cure statistics had been achieved by some patients being “cured” more than once a year, many superintendents abandoned moral treatment. Dr. Bryce’s commitment to moral treatment was unwavering, however, as he remained convinced that it was vastly superior to the forced idleness that had previously characterized mental healthcare.

The work component of moral treatment served more than a therapeutic value, as the work provided by patients also provided additional income for the hospital and also prevented the expenses of purchasing food, clothing, etc. A further economic problem that the hospital had to face was the fact that throughout the period of Dr. Bryce’s superintendency, the patient population consisted of 85 percent indigents. As a result, income from “paying” patients could hardly offset any shortfall in state support.

As superintendent for 32 years, Bryce served in his position longer than most of his contemporaries, and during that period he garnered recognition and held several important offices in professional organizations. He was elected president of the predecessor to the American Psychiatric Association, president of the State Medical Association, and president of the State Historical Association. At the same time, however, he became the focus of national criticism by practitioners who disliked Bryce’s strong advocacy of non-restraint of patients. While the treatment approach used by Bryce was received positively in Alabama, it is ironic that his policy of patient labor, when employed by later superintendents of the hospital, resulted in the hospital becoming the focus of court decisions in the 1970’s that led to outright release of many patients and removal of others to less restricted environments.

Bryce’s life was so intricately entwined with the AIH that at his death in 1892, he was buried on the hospital grounds, as was his wife later. Ultimately, the AIH was renamed Bryce Hospital.

For Further Reading:

Thomas M. Owen, “Peter Bryce,” in History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, 4 vols., Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1921.

Bill Weaver, “Establishing and Organizing the Alabama Insane Hospital, 1846-1861,” Alabama Review, 47 (July 1995), 219-232.

Robert O. Mellown, “Mental Health and Moral Architecture,” Alabama Heritage, 32 (Spring 1994)

Bill Weaver, “Survival at the Alabama Insane Hospital, 1861-1892,” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 51 (January 1996), 5-28.