October 23, 1970

Recently-fired staff of Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa filed Wyatt v. Stickney at the United States District Court in Montgomery. The suit alleged that insufficient staff at the hospital prevented patients, including fifteen-year-old Ricky Wyatt, from receiving adequate treatment. The suit led to a thirty-three year legal battle that placed the Department of Mental Health under court rule until 2003 and cost the state more than $15 million in litigation fees. The lawsuit created the “Wyatt Standards,” a national model for minimum-care standards for people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. The standards call for a humane environment, qualified and sufficient staff, individualized treatment plans, and minimum restriction of patient freedom.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Peter Bryce (1834-1892) was Alabama’s first state psychiatrist. Bryce served for 32 years as the medical superintendent of the Alabama Insane Hospital, which later was named Bryce Hospital in his honor. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Birmingham Public Library Archives)

Patients working in the laundry at Bryce Hospital, a mental care facility founded in Tuscaloosa in 1861. Patient engagement in manufacturing and chores was central to the facility’s approach to mental health treatment. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama Libraries)

Bryce Hospital, opened in 1861 in Tuscaloosa, is Alabama’s oldest and largest inpatient psychiatric facility. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

View showing the piggery and other out buildings at Bryce Hospital Tuscaloosa. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Autoclave used to sterilize medicine at Bryce Hospital, opened in 1861 in Tuscaloosa, is Alabama’s oldest and largest inpatient psychiatric facility. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.