The Ridges
The Ridges legends and lore are an historic part of Athens and Ohio University history. The Forgotten Ohio Ridges site gives a general overview of the history of the Ridges and some of the public’s perceptions of what its history is. The Kirkbride Buildings site has information about the Ridges and other mental hospitals that were designed to follow the ideas of Dr. Thomas Kirkbride.
Alden Library also has some great sources about the Ridges. Two are online: Asylum and community : connections between the Athens Lunatic Asylum and the village of Athens, 1867-1893 and a gallery of 75 photos of The Ridges in the Libraries’ digital collection.
We have The Athens Asylum, a DVD about the Ridges that you can check out from our Media Library on the 4th floor. For those doing serious research, the Archives on the 5th floor of Alden Library has some great books you can look at, The Athens State Hospital , The Athens state hospital, Athens, Ohio : history, grounds & facilities, floor plans, plot plans , and Views in and about Athens Asylum for the Insane. Be aware, though, that you can’t check these archival items from the library; you can read them in the Archives Reading Room.
A virtual tour of the Ridges and infographic of Ridges history are both available at the 2009 Soul of Athens site.
- Asylum on the hill : history of a healing landscape / Katherine Ziff ; foreword by Samuel T. GladdingNew work examining how the Athens Lunatic Asylum typified "a great American experiment in psychiatry" that focused on compassionate care through personal attention, meaningful work, and a connection to nature.
- Photos from the University ArchivesContains 75 digitized images showing The Ridges, past and present, including views in and about Athens Asylum for the Insane
- Pinterest Page about The RidgesMore than 60 images, with captions.