From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Teenage Patients/Prisoners at the Narcotic Farm in Lexington, KY
TEENAGE PATIENTS/PRISONERSThe result of racial disparity in drug arrests was very much present at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Lexington, KY, from 1935-1974. When the teenagers at the hospital were enumerated in the 1950 U.S. Census, three-fourths of the teens were African Americans. Much of what was written about the teenagers will be found in newspapers, especially Kentucky newspapers. The articles do not mention the race of the teens, who for the most part were not from Kentucky.
A 14-year-old boy from Chicago, IL, was placed in the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in 1950. The child's name was not given in the newspapers that reported him to be the youngest narcotic addict ever admitted to the facility, per Dr. Victor H. Vogel, medical officer in charge of the hospital. A few weeks after the child's arrival, Dr. Harris Isbell, Director of Research at the Lexington facility, gave a report about the outbreak of heroin addiction among teenagers as young as 14 years old. The report was given at the 25th Annual Congress of Anesthetists in Miami, Fl. Sources: "Boy, 14, treated as drug addict," The Lexington Leader, 10/18/1950, p.20; "Heroin addiction reported on rise among youths," The Courier-Journal, 10/31/1950, p.17.
The following year, in 1951, it was reported that there were three 14 year olds and a 13-year-old addict at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Lexington. The three 14 year olds were among the 161 teen addicts less than 21 years old who were treated at the hospital. The 13-year-old had been treated and released. Only one of the teens, a 19-year-old, was from Kentucky. His home was in Louisville. The hospital in Lexington was said to be the best of the three options available to teenage addicts who were arrested in the United States. Option 1 was jails and houses of dentention where the teen will go through withdrawal cold turkey. Option 2 was to send the teen back home with part time supervision. Option 3 was to place the teen in the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Lexington. Not everyone agreed that teenagers who were addicted to drugs needed to be sent to the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital. Source: "Teen-age 'doping' fans out alarmingly," The Courier-Journal, 02/04/1951, Section 3, p.3.
"Many social workers are opposed to using Lexington for older teen-agers. It has no special facilities for young addicts. Social workers cite instances of teen-age addicts, cured at Lexington, returning home only to get back on the habit in a short time, armed with knowledge from hardened, older addicts.
In response to the opposition, the fact that the teens were mixed in with the other patients/prisoners was confirmed, as was the overcrowding. Source: Reister, Joe. "161 Teen-age addicts treated at Lexington, one is Kentuckian," The Courier-Journal, 02/04/1951, Section 3, p.3.
"There are 147 male and 14 female patients under 21 at the United States Public Health Service Hospital (narcotics farm) near Lexington."
"There's one regrettable factor in treatment of these teen-agers at the narcotics farm. That's the fact that they cannot be segregated, but must be mixed in with the older patients."
"We have almost 1,500 patients now, when we should have only 1,200, so the youngsters must be mixed in with the older patients, Dr. Vogel declared."
"These teen-agers are legally eligible to come here - there's no place else for them to go."
In April of 1951, Dr. Victor H. Vogel spoke to Henry Clay High School students in Lexington, KY, about the dangers of drugs. His cautions included the following.
- The average teen-age addict is a student in a large city and comes from a slum area and has a minimum of parental supervision.
- Teen-age use of drugs usually starts with marijuana before the teen is introduced to heroine for a bigger high. It soon requires more of the drug to produce the desired high.
- Teen-agers turn to stealing and prostitution to get money for narcotics, which leads to trouble with the law.
- There was only one Kentucky patient under the age of 21 at the U.S. Public Service Hospital.
There was concern voiced in the newspapers about the teenagers placed at the United States Public Health Service Hospital/Narcotic Farm in Lexington, KY. The queries were more about the teens being housed with the adult addicts and prisoners. While the concerns did not result in a separate narcotic farm for teenagers, the concerns did lead to some of the male teens eventually being housed in a separate unit. There was not a separate unit for female teens. Source: "38,000 Dope fiends entered this gate: only 1 in 10 comes back fully cured," The Pittsburgh Press, 11/26/1951, p.15.
"What about the teenagers at Narco and its sister addict-hospital in Ft. Worth, Tex.? Do they mingle with killers, forgers, perverts, and counterfeiters as so often charged?"
In November of 1951, it was announced in The Courier-Journal that the majority of the male teenage patients at the United States Public Health Service Hospital (Narcotic Farm) would soon be housed in a dormitory unit that would be completely separate from the living quarters of the older, hardened addicts. The new residence hall was being constructed in the east wing of the hospital Administrative Building. The housing unit would be for the male patients under the age of 21. There was not any mention in the newspapers as to how the teen males were selected to be housed in the new unit. In 1965, it was announced that there were not many teenagers at the Narcotic Farm, and the age range was from 16 to about 75, with the majority between 20 and 40 years old. Sources: "The Bluegrass: Separation planned," The Courier-Journal, 11/04/1951, Section 3, p.14; Vaughn, Nell. "Basic purpose of U.S. Hospital hasn't changed since 1935, main aim has been assistance of the individual," Sunday Herald-Leader, 05/23/1965, p.68.
FROM THE BEGINNING
The U.S. Public Health Service Hospital would come to be known as the Narcotic Farm or NARCO. Prior to the facility opening, there was a debate among the members of the U.S. House Committee of Appropriations as to what would be the name of the facility. Dr. Hugh S. Cummings, the 5th U.S. Surgeon General, did not like the name Narcotic Farm and found it to be absurd because no narcotics were being grown on the farm. It was thought to be an embarrassment that the federal government had received queries about the purchase of drugs that were grown on the farm. Dr. Cummings suggested the facility be named the United States Public Health Service Hospital, which became the official name when it was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1936. Though, the facility continued to be called the Narcotic Farm in print and in public.
The Narcotic Farm was a federal treatment complex that operated as a drug addiction research center/rehabilitation hospital/prison. It was the first prison for drug addicts in the United States and was located on a 100-acre working farm in rural Fayette County, KY. Starting in 1935, the patients/prisoners were adults, and starting in the late 1940s, there was an influx of teenagers who were referred to as juveniles.
In the book, The Narcotic Farm, it is said that after WWII, the increased heroin addiction among teenagers and women caused overcrowding at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital. This was stated in more specific terms by William L. White, MA, Michael Dennis, PhD, and Frank M. Tims, PhD, in their article "Adolescent treatment: its history and current renaissance," posted 08/12/2014 by Len Van Nostrand at the Full Spectrum Recovery & Counseling blog (online).
"Following two decades of abeyance, juvenile narcotic addiction rose dramatically in the early 1950s, particularly within urban African-American and Puerto Rican neighborhoods. Admissions of persons under age 21 to the two U.S. Public Health Hospitals rose from 22 in 1947 to 440 in 1950."
"What occurred between 1900 and 1950 was first the inclusion of adolescents within new approaches to the treatment of narcotic addiction and then the collapse of nearly all such treatment."
The first occupants at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital were adult men. Six years later, in 1941, the construction of Kolb Hall was completed for women. This was before WWII. Ten years later, in 1951, a dormitory unit was constructed for teen males less than 21 years old. Prior to 1951, the teens had been housed with adults. The attempted goal of the research center was to treat and cure individuals with addictions through the use of experimental drug therapies (including methadone, LSD, heroin, cocaine, and cannabis). There were also recreational and rehabilitation activities such as group therapy, farming, arts, music, and games. In the early years, there was dental care and manicures.
Over the years, the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital had its share of challenges that were often reported in the Lexington newspapers. There were patients/prisoners who filed petitions in the U.S. Court in Lexington for their release. There were grand jury indictments for patients/prisoners who had smuggled liquor, marijuana, and narcotics into the facilities. There were court cases when a patient/prisoner attacked a guard. There were also court cases of guards smuggling drugs into the facilities. A prisoner murdered another prisoner. There were newspaper reports when patients/prisoners escaped, and when they were recaptured, and when they were still on the run. In March of 1942, Ambrose Mendez, an 18-year-old from Texas, was one of two men who were captured by the Lexington police shortly after their escape.
In 1974, after the controversial research with drug experiments, the government sponsored drug experiments, scandals, and other issues were revealed, the patients/prisoners were removed from the Narcotic Farm. Later that year, the location became the present-day Federal Medical Center (FMC) under the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). In 2008, the documentary film titled The Narcotic Farm was released by King Love Films. The film was shot on location at 3301 Leestown Road.
BRIEF TIMELINE OF LAWS AND MOVEMENTS:
- Movements to keep children out of adult jails and prisons dates back to the 1825 New York House of Refuge for children.
- The federal prison system was established in 1891. The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was established May 14, 1930. There has never been a federal prison solely for juveniles. BOP has contracts with state and local corrections facilities to house juveniles in the federal system.
- The first juvenile court was established in Chicago, IL, in 1899.
- The Narcotic Farm Act of 1929 was signed by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. The act established the two United States narcotic farms, one in Lexington, KY, in 1935, and a smaller farm in Fort Worth, TX, in 1938. The facilities were for the confinement, treatment, and rehabilitation of persons who were convicted of federal offenses and were also addicted to narcotic drugs.
- The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act was implemented in 1938 "to address the small number of juveniles who committed Federal criminal offenses; this act was amended in 1948, 1974, and 1984." One of the juvenile rights was to be separated from adults.
- The Federal Youth Corrections Act (YCA) of 1950 was enacted with the intent to prevent recidivism. The goal behind the law was for youth offenders in federal prisons, who were 21 years old and younger, to receive rehabilitation instead of punishment.
- The first drug treatment center for juveniles was established at the Riverside Hospital in New York City in 1952.
- The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act was enacted on September 7, 1974. The act provided grants to states that were willing to remove juvenile status offenders from secure custody, to separate adult and juvenile inmates, and to support delinquency prevention programs meant to improve state and local juvenile justice systems.
- The Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice was established in 1996. Before the department was established, the Kentucky Cabinet of Health and Family Services oversaw juveniles charged and convicted of offenses.
The names of 73 teens at the Narcotic Farm in Lexington, KY, are enumerated in the 1940 and 1950 U.S. Census schedules. The teens were between the ages of 15 and 19. They were among the youngest group of prisoners/patients at the facility, and the majority (74%) were Black: 53 African Americans, 14 Whites, 5 Puerto Ricans (White), 1 Puerto Rican (Black). Their names are given below.
** The 13 and 14 year olds at the Narcotic Farm in Lexington, KY, who were mentioned in the first few paragraphs above, were not enumerated in Kentucky in the U.S. Census schedules. Their names, birth locations, and races are not known.
Name / Birth Location / Age / Race in U.S. Census
1940
1. David Crimm, born in South Carolina, lived in New York, 19, African American
2. Paul Duffy, born and lived in Pennsylvania, 19, White
3. Allison Embry, born and lived in Illinois, 19, African American
1950
1. John I. Crayton, born in Missouri, 15, African American
2. Earl L. Guffy, born in Mississippi, 16, African American
3. William J. Reason, born in Arkansas, 16, African American
4. Julius C. Smith, born in Illinois, 16, African American
5. Glorya B. Tobman, born in New York, 16, White
6. John C. Beoah, born in Louisiana, 17, African American
7. Wendolyn Branche, born in Mississippi, 17, African American
8. Franklin Brown, born in New York, 17, African American
9. Leonard Brown, born in Washington, D. C., 17, African American
10. Hamilton Delago, born in Illinois, 17, African American
11. Lawrence E. Edwards, born in Illinois, 17, African American
12. Wilford Emmartinez, born in New York, 17, White
13. William H. Grant, born in Illinois, 17, African American
14. Samuel Ketempass, born in New York, 17, White
15. Ella M. Powell, born in Michigan, 17, African American
16. Willard Rodgers, born in Illinois, 17, African American
17. Angel A. Vega, born in Puerto Rico, 17, White
18. Edward Wynfield, born in Illinois, 17, African American
19. Albert R. Benny, born in Illinois, 18, African American
20. Roy Betts, born in Mississippi, 18, African American
21. Ralph C. Burwell, born in New York, 18, African American
22. Robert A. Douglas, born in Illinois, 18, African American
23. Willie Edmonson, born in West Virginia, 18, African American
24. Francis Glassman, born in New Jersey, 18, White
25. Bernice Kelly, born in Florida, 18, African American
26. Robert J. Mullins, born in Alabama, 18, African American
27. John C. Randolph, born in Arkansas, 18, African American
28. Carl Roberts, born in Illinois, 18, African American
29. Herman Tomaik, born in New York, 18, White
30. Clenarl Ward, born in Mississippi, 18, African American
31. Robert Williams, Jr., born in Missouri, 18, African American
32. Epifanio Acevedo, born in Puerto Rico, 19, White
33. Betty M. Allen, born in Missouri, 19, African American
34. Rafael Aulet, born in Puerto Rico, 19, White
35. William H. Baker, born in Illinois, 19, African American
36. Jose M. Balascio, born in Puerto Rico, 19, White
37. Joe Bell, born in Indiana, 19, African American
38. James A. Besley, Jr., born in Illinois, 19, African American
39. Lloyd W. Bray, born in Washington, D.C., 19, White
40. Lawrence W. Cain, born in Illinois, 19, African American
41. Lamarr Chivers, born in Kansas, 19, African American
42. Anthony Dale, born in Illinois, 19, African American
43. Martin R. Dickson, born in Illinois, 19, White
44. Bennett Duncan, born in Illinois, 19, African American
45. Raymond Flores, born in New York, 19, White
46. Leroy Gathren, born in Pennsylvania, 19, African American
47. Sandra Gorshel, born in New York, 19, White
48. Eugene A. Hall, born in Illinois, 19, African American
49. Berard Hammond, born in Washington, D.C., 19, African American
50. Lorenzo Hanes, born in Illinois, 19, African American
51. Angel L. Laureano, born in Puerto Rico, 19, White
52. Clarence J. Lewis, born in New York, 19, African American
53. Sullivan Mack, Jr., born in Louisiana, 19, African American
54. Venus Mandley, born in Illinois, 19, African American
55. Soloman J. McGee, born in Illinois, 19, African American
56. William McMannus, born in Virginia, 19, White
57. Eugene Milton, born in Alabama, 19, African American
58. Oliver D. Mundy, born in Louisiana, 19, African American
59. Lois G. Murphy, born in Texas, 19, White
60. Kenneth Owens, born in Kentucky, 19, African American
61. Roland H. Robinson, born in Illinois, 19, African American
62. Wendall Robinson, Jr., born in Missouri, 19, African American
63. Candido Rosado, born in Puerto Rico, 19, Black
64. William Rumage, born in Michigan, 19, White
65. Alfritz K. Simmons, born in Indiana, 19, African American
66. Christa Theoparis, born in Washington, DC, White
67. Laverge Thompson, born in Illinois, 19, African American
68. Jefferson Tucker, born in Illinois, 19, African American
69. Patrick Williams, born in Illinois, 19, African American
70. Thomas R. Wright, born in Illinois, 19, White
Sources: 1940 U.S. Census schedules; 1950 U.S. Census schedules; 1950 U.S. Census, Portfolio Control Label for the Narcotic Farm in Fayette County, KY - Total Persons 1,472 (including staff and family members). Total Teenagers 73; MSS 222 Lexington Narcotics Farm Collection at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, KY (online introduction and Finding Aid); "Juvenile Justice History," a webpage by the Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice (online); Federal Bureau of Prisons, a Department of Justice webpage (online); "Timeline of Incarceration in the US" by Catherine Besteman, Emma Terwiliger, Matt Gurgiolo and Reagan Dennis (online). Created for Freedom & Captivity.; "Children in adult prisons," an Equal Justice Initiative webpage (online); "Juvenile Court Statistics," by the Children's Bureau. Statistical Series No.18. U.S. Department of Health, Education, & Welfare, 1954. (online).
Sources: "U.S. farm will open with about 300 inmates," The Lexington Leader, 01/29/1935, front page; "Narcotic Farm becomes Public Health Hospital," The Lexington Leader, 07/01/1936, front page; "Escaped narcotic patient recaptured," The Lexington Herald, 03/17/1942, p2; "Trial of 8 charged with drug-smuggling set for July 12," The Winchester Sun, 06/16/1943, p.6; "Dope hearing opens in court," The Lexington Herald, 07/20/1943, p.2; "Teen-age 'doping' fans out alarmingly," The Courier-Journal, 02/04/1951, Section 3, p.3; Reister, Joe. "161 teen-age addicts treated at Lexington, one is Kentuckian," The Courier-Journal, 02/04/1951, Section 3, p.3; "Teen-age 'hops' jam U.S. Hospital," The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD), 03/26/1951, front page; Terry, Dickson. "Teenagers crowd narcotic hospital," St. Louis Post Dispatch, 06/04/1951, p.3D; "History of Heroin." United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 01/01/1953, pp.3-16 (online).
Sources: Cahalan, Margaret Werner, and Parsons, Lee Ann. Historical Corrections Statistics in the United States, 1850-1984. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 1986. (online); The Narcotic Farm (film) by Luke Walden, King Love Films, 2008 (55 minutes) (at Vimeo); Winters KC, Botzet AM, Fahnhorst T. Advances in adolescent substance abuse treatment. Current Psychiatry Reports. 13 October 2011, pp.416-21. (online at the National Library of Medicine); Samuelson, Kristin. "Among Delinquent Teens, Whites More Likely Than Blacks to Abuse Hard Drugs: Findings call for reform addressing disproportionate incarceration of African Americans," 17 March 2016, a Northwestern Now webpage at Northwestern University (online); Clery Estes. "The Narcotic Farm and the little-known history: America’s first prison for drug addicts." November 18, 2019. Forbes (online); History of Narco Farm in Lexington (film) by Updike Convocation. "The Direct Relevance of Humanities Research to Understanding Addiction: Lessons from the Narco Project," Lindsey Wilson College, 20 February 2021 (at YouTube); If I Betray These Words by Wendy Dean; The Narcotic Farm by Nancy Campbell, J. P. Olsen, and Luke Walden;.
EARLY U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE HOSPITALS IN KENTUCKY
When searching for information about the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Kentucky, your search results may include the early hospitals that were established in Jackson, KY, in 1914, Hindman, KY, in 1913, and the hospital in London, KY. These were hospitals established in the mountains to treat children and adults with trachoma.
Sources: "3 States aroused to importance of fight on trachoma," and "United States Public Health Service Hospitals in the mountains of Kentucky, patient and infected territory," The Lexington Herald, 08/15/1915, front page and p.3.