Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane

The Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, also known as The Superintendents' Association, was organized in Philadelphia in October, 1844 at a meeting of 13 superintendents, making it the first professional medical specialty organization in the U.S.

The objectives of the Association were “to communicate their experiences to each other, cooperate in collecting statistical information relating to insanity, and assist each other in improving the treatment of the insane.” The name of the organization was changed in 1892 to The American Medico-Psychological Association to allow assistant physicians working in mental hospitals to become members. In 1921, the name was changed to the present American Psychiatric Association.

At a meeting in 1844 in Philadelphia, thirteen superintendents and organizers of insane asylums and hospitals formed the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (AMSAII). The group included Thomas Kirkbride, creator of the asylum model which was used throughout the United States.

It was chartered to focus "primarily on the administration of hospitals and how that affected the care of patients", as opposed to conducting research or promoting the profession.

At the meeting they passed the first proposition of the new organization: "It is the unanimous sense of this convention that the attempt to abandon entirely the use of all means of personal restraint is not sanctioned by the true interests of the insane."

The list of the "original thirteen" members and their organizations provide a good index to well-established psychiatric institutions in the U.S. as of 1844. They included:

The American Journal of Insanity (AJI) was first published in June, 1844, by Amariah Brigham, Superintendent of the Utica (N.Y.) State Hospital. He was said to have been the author of the entire first issue, which included six articles, a list of existing mental asylums in the U.S., and notes on insanity from France. His aim for The Journal was to acquaint its readers with the nature and varieties of mental illness and with methods of prevention and care for patients.

The AJI remained the property of the Utica State Hospital, though it served as the official publication of the Superintendents’ Association. In 1892, the journal was bought by The Association, and in 1921, the name was changed to the present American Journal of Psychiatry by The American Psychiatric Association.

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