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Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto


PSAT RECEIVED AN AWARD!!!

On Tuesday evening, October 4, 2011 the Psychiatric Survivor Archives, Toronto won the Community Heritage Award from Heritage Toronto, in recognition of our decade long effort with allies and community support to preserve the still existing nineteenth century patient built walls and to memorialize with nine historical plaques the work and contributions of unpaid psychiatric patient labourers at the former Toronto Asylum for the Insane.

The citation read out at the Heritage Toronto awards ceremony is as follows:

Founded in 2001, the Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto collects and preserves archival material - ranging from written documents to videos - created by persons who have had, or are having, a first-hand experience in the psychiatric system.  In the early 2000?s, the Archives, in collaboration with the CAMH Archives, began an advocacy campaign to preserve the brick boundary walls, built by psychiatric patients in the 1860s and 1880s, at the Centre for Addiction of Mental Health on Queen Street.  In 2010, after a fundraising campaign, the Archives unveiled nine heritage plaques and an audio tour that tell the story of the walls and of other unpaid labour undertaken by psychiatric patients at the Queen Street hospital beyond its boundaries.

The jury felt this group accomplished a lot with very little, using creative ways to fundraise and make their cause known.  The jury also commended the work of the Psychiatric Survivor Archives in recognizing the significant contributions that a marginalized community has made to the City?s fabric, shedding light on a little known dimension of Toronto?s history.

Mission Statement

The Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto is dedicated to ensuring that the rich history of people who have experienced the psychiatric system is preserved for our community and the wider community as a resource from which everyone can share and learn.

The Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto began meeting regularly beginning in January 2001. We are a group of volunteers working together to preserve the rich history of people who have experienced the psychiatric system.

PSAT is a grass roots organization that is run for and by psychiatric survivors to preserve all aspects of our history. The Archives seeks to reflect the broad diversity of views that are expressed by all people with a psychiatric history however they choose to self-identify.

The emphasis of our archives will be on a critical perspective including anti-psychiatry that is primarily produced by psychiatric survivors whether institutionalized or in the community. First person expression in all media formats on this topic are particularly welcome. The need for these archives has grown out of a recognition that our history has too often been ignored or trivialized by main stream historians, researchers and medical professionals.

PSAT is constantly evolving as we develop, so please watch for future developments in the months and years ahead.