The Indiana Village for Epileptics, 1907-1952: The Van Nuys Years

Abstract

At the turn of the twentieth century, the movement to improve care of those afflicted with epilepsy reached Indiana. In 1905, the Indiana legislature passed an act creating the Indiana Village for Epileptics, thus beginning the segregation of epileptics from the rest of the state's population. Placing epileptics in colonies was considered a progressive solution to a centuries old medical ailment. This thesis will examine the Indiana Village for Epileptics from its inception until the retirement of the first superintendent, Dr. Walter C. Van Nuys. Van Nuys' tenure was so long-he stepped down in 1952-that the Village had become an outdated and unnecessary institution because of advances in medical treatments for the disease. The age of segregation had ended and epileptics were no longer seen as a menace to society.