Carville was the last leprosarium in the United States. Major events at this U.S. Public Health Service Hospital were a “cure” for Hansen's disease, quarantine law enforcement, and a world renowned medical research, treatment, and rehabilitation center. Because of the quarantine law enforcement, patients confined to Carville were forced to utilize available recreational activities or invent their own. A complete written history of Carville's recreational activities or a history of the institution does not exist, but a museum, patient interviews, summaries, and a documentary film exists. The purpose of the investigations was to document the history of recreational activities of Hansen's Disease patients at Carville, La. from 1894 to the closure in 1999.
Method
Non-experimental methods were used based on Garraghan's historical method. Primary archival references were retrieved from Carville's Museum and university libraries. Each recreational event was validated with 3 resources. Each source was analyzed using Garraghan's historical method on a 1-5 scale (5= the highest score) for each of the 3 historical method analyses of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. Each recreational activity validated and analyzed was rank ordered. Recreational activities with scores of 15-9 were included in the history.
Analysis/Results
Carville was a self-contained community because of the quarantine law. Carville had a recreational building that housed a theater, reading room, library, and canteen. Dominoes, pool, bingo, and cards were played here. Profits from the canteen paid for sports and entertainment. Sporting activities included: fishing, boating, paddle boating, playing miniature and nine hole golf, softball, a softball league, riding bicycles and motor scooters, dances, musical events, and a band. Mardi Gras Balls with parades and dances were held. Activities for daily life included vegetable and flower gardening. Farming was done for dairy feed and dairy farming for milk. There was a movie theater and plays. Arts and crafts were constructed by patients. These included: baskets, floral arrangements, jewelry, belts, rugs, pottery, knitting, woodworks, pictures of different media, and model airplane building. The results were a tribute to the patients because of the diversity and the willingness to participate in sporting, recreational, crafting, and other activities.
Conclusions
Many patients had debilitating injuries that made some activities difficult, especially using fine motor skills. The result was a permanent historical record of participation in recreational activities for Hansen's disease patients at Carville throughout it's over 100 year history.
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