MATTIE BAKER, Worcester Hospital Needlework, MA, 1857

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Wool needlework depicting the area surrounding the Worcester Hospital in 1857. Mattie Kenny was born in Belknap, NH. She married Washington Baker, a wheelwright, in 1846. Her first child, Herbert was born in 1851. Mattie created this pictorial needlework in 1957 before the birth of her second child. Worcester Hospital was one of the first state institutions in the U.S. created for the care and treatment of the mentally ill. The hospital would have been about 1/2 a days travel from Enfield, NH. Hard to know what condition led her there. Most patients were working class, that could not afford private consultations in their home. "The institution was dependent on patients’ labor. Female patients were responsible for making bedding and clothes, operating the laundry, and housekeeping and food service. Physicians considered a patient’s ability to labor a measure of sanity." Was the needlework labor or therapy as part of her recovery?


"Unlike earlier asylums, the hospital was intended to provide therapeutic treatment that would restore so-called “lunatics” to sanity. It was located on Summer Street, in what was at the time a relatively rural and peaceful area of the town. During the tenure of its first superintendent, Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, the Worcester State Hospital enjoyed a glowing reputation. However, by the 1850s, the institution had become overcrowded and its physical plant was deteriorating."


Unique depiction of the surrounding architecture Perforated paper, perforated cardboard, punched paper, Bristol board. 20 holes per inch.


Mattie A. Kenney Baker



Birth: 11 Feb 1825, Center Harbor, Belknap, NH

Father: Dudley Kenney, 17 Mar 1794 - 26 Mar 1868, #94636611

Mother: Sally Flanders Cass, 1794 - 9 Feb 1874, m. 17 Dec 1819

Spouse: Washington M. Baker. 29 Nov 1821 - , #133356176

Marriage: 26 May 1846

Death: 3 Sep 1899, Wilmot, Merrimack, NH

Burial: Oak Grove Cemetery, Enfield, Grafton, NH

Memorial ID: 133319661


Children:


Herbert L Baker: 15 Jul 1851 - 23 Nov 1910

Bell R. Baker: 1859 - 


Siblings:  


George W. Kenney: 1821 - 1852

Lavinia S. Kenney: 1823 - 1861

Lewis Cass Kenney: 26 Apr 1828 - 12 Mar 1829

Arabella Kenney: 1829 -

Lewis Cass Kenney: 5 Sep 1839 - 10 Mar 1841



1850: Washington listed as a wheelwright. shows Mattie and Washington with 9 year old George Parker living with them.


1860: living in Enfield


1870 census does not list Bell, who would have been age 11


DATE:

1857


SIZE:

9" x 7"


CONDITION:

Loss of color. Small loss to paper around edges.

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