How It Was...

This is one in a series of articles on the history of Harding Hospital. Included in the newsletter distributed to hospital employees, the articles were written by Ellie Jones, Harding Hospital archivist. This article describes the horticultural therapy program directed by Dr. Floyd Chapman. The program centered on immersing patients in nature through gardening, celebrating Arbor Day, participating in an annual bird count, walking on a nature trail, and “clay pot therapy.” When patients were upset, Dr. Chapman encouraged them to throw broken clay pots against the foundation of the campus’s greenhouse as an outlet for their negative feelings. Although horticultural therapy was common in Europe in the 1970s, Harding Hospital was the first psychiatric hospital in the United States to feature a nature and exercise trail.