About

Disclaimer

While every effort has been in order to ensure the accuracy of the information presented on this web site, no responsibility is assumed with regard to its content.

 

Contact

Please send all questions, comments, and various other inquiries to agatha.barc@utoronto.ca. Please note: I express no interest in ghosts or other supernatural phenomena, nor will I answer any questions pertaining to them. Please consult Haunted? instead. Please allow up to forty-eight hours for a reply due to the volume of messages I occasionally receive. If you would like to use any of my research, pictures or anything else, please e-mail me beforehand. 

 

Why?

The idea of building a web site first dawned on me when as a resident of New Toronto and student of the Lakeshore Collegiate Institute. I became frustrated with the fact that there wasn't enough reliable and relevant information about the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital on the Internet. All that was out there was only concerned with the supposed haunting of the institution... but what of the people who lived, worked and were treated there? After all, they were the reason the asylum was built in the first place - therefore, what kind of care did they receive? How were they treated, where did they come from? 

Dedication

Asylum by the Lake is dedicated to the 1511 patients resting at Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital Cemetery, and all of the former patients and the psychiatric survivors of the former Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital.

Since the vast majority of this project has been inspired by Prof. Geoffrey Reaume's book, "Remembrance of Patients Past: Patient Life in Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1870-1940", this web site is also dedicated in honour of the author and his work. 

In addition, this project is also dedicated to Edward Janiszewski, John Court, and other persons actively preserving the history and the former patients and of the former Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thanks go to Mr. Edward Janiszewski of Lakeshore Asylum Cemetery Project, who has maintained contact with me and who patiently and promptly responded to all of my questions.

I must acknowledge Mr. John Court, the archivist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for all the assistance with the research.

Mr. Ian Smith of Humber College kindly allowed me to see the former cottages and the underground tunnels, while Mr. Peter Maybury guided me through the buildings and supplied me with additional information about the present state of the buildings. I must also acknowledge him for his honesty.

Prof. Geoffrey Reaume's book, Remembrance of Patients Past: Patient Life in Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1870-1940, has provided a lot of valuable insight and inspiration for the project. In my opinion, Prof. Reaume has accomplished something truly wonderful in documenting and, most important of all, honouring the lives of the former patients.

Thanks also go to all the countless individuals, who sent their suggestions and made kind comments about this web site. 

 

Credits

Built with Microsoft® Office FrontPage® 4.2. Web page hosting by AtSpace. Domain name hosting by Siber Name. All images created and edited with IrfanView 4.0. First published online May 28, 2005. As of April 2010, all content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. All other content reproduced with a prior permission from their respective owners. 

Donation Information

I don't accept (or need for that matter) monetary donations. Please donate your money to the Lakeshore Asylum Cemetery Project or to The Gatehouse instead. Thank you for visiting Asylum by the Lake.