(BCPM) Artesia Hall: A Texan Horror Story

This blog post was composed by graduate assistant Aaron Ramos, a master’s student in the Department of History.

 

“Send us your daughter and we will return to you a lady

or

send us your son and we will return to you a gentleman.”

(Printed along the bottom of Aston Educational Foundation letterhead, of which Artesia Hall was a part.)

In 2011, Ryan Murphy’s FX original show American Horror Story: Asylum, shocked audiences around the world with its brutal depiction of a New England mental hospital in the 1960s. While Asylum is a work of fiction, the story plays off real-life stereotypes and fears over abuse and malpractice in mental institutions. While processing the Lane Denton papers, I uncovered numerous documents that, when pieced together, depicted scenes of abuse and improper care in mental hospitals across the state of Texas in the 1970s. The Denton papers also document the steps state legislators took to address the deficiencies in the services mental health institutions in Texas offered to youth.

Before Denton’s career in the Texas House of Representatives, he served as an educator and director of special services for Waco Independent School District. His career working with youth likely accounts for the volume of documents in his papers that address issues concerning young people and mental health.

The tragedy that served as the focal point of this moment in Denton’s career was the death of a female student in a facility run under questionable conditions. On November 12, 1972, seventeen-year-old Danna Annette Hvolboll died while under the care of Dr. Joseph Farrar at Artesia Hall, a rural mental health facility for troubled youth in Liberty County, Texas. Farrar, who had received his Ph.D. in Mexico, was not licensed to practice psychology in either the United States or the country where he obtained his degree. The girl had ingested a large dose of insecticide, and Farrar reportedly waited two days before getting her proper care outside the facility. By then she had died.[i] Adrienne Viscounty, another patient, reported that Artesia Hall staff believed Hvolboll was faking her illness. Prior to Farrar taking her out of the facility, staff kept Hvolboll strapped to her bed and placed her in a strait jacket to contain her convulsions. Farrar did not seek out medical care for Hvolboll until that Sunday when he placed her in the back of his station wagon and drove off the premises.[ii] What makes this event even more shocking was that throughout 1971 and early 1972, the Texas Department of Public Welfare had conducted numerous visits and investigations of the Artesia Hall facility due to complaints of abuse and malpractice that predated Hvolboll’s death.

Danna Annette Hvolboll’s death was not the only incident to come out of Artesia Hall. Records indicate that Artesia Hall had caught the eye of state officials at least one year before Hvolboll’s death. As the outside world began to learn of what was taking place in Artesia Hall, various departments and state legislators launched investigations into the facility. In March 1971, the Houston Regional Office of the Department of Public Welfare informed the Liberty Welfare office that Artesia Hall had been operating without proper licensing. In May that same year, a deputy game warden discovered three girls who had run away from Artesia Hall. The girls reportedly begged to remain in jail rather than be returned to Artesia Hall, where they had suffered physical beatings at the hands of staff and other students. When Farrar arrived to collect the girls, he reportedly handled them “very roughly,” and offered the game warden a $75 reward for the girls.[iii] An investigator from the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (TDMHMR) would later report that the facility itself had a “stark, concentration-camp-like aura.”[iv] As Artesia Hall attracted the attention of legislators and government offices, Representatives such as Lane Denton would conduct interviews with the families of former patients. In a phone interview she gave with Representative Lane Denton, Mrs. Andy McCommas shared a story that lends credence to the runaway girls’ accounts of abuse.

Mrs. McCommas considered Artesia Hall for her daughter Julie, who had been struggling with substance abuse and truancy. Mrs. McCommas spoke with Farrar himself, who offered “glowing reports” of his facility. Mrs. McCommas decided to withdraw Julie from Artesia Hall after she witnessed a staff member handle a patient roughly, and Farrar lost his temper with her. Julie also reported that the facility was run like a “Gestapo camp,” and patients were encouraged to tattle on one another or risk punishment.[v] Mrs. McCommas was not the only parent to speak out regarding the poor treatment their children received under Farrar’s care.

Mrs. W.O. Cornish’s teenage son Terry was referred to Farrar in 1973. Terry suffered from a learning disability and had a history of behavioral issues; however, Terry’s return home did not indicate that his time in Artesia Hall had helped to correct his behavioral issues.[vii] The Cornish family’s experience was not unique. Mrs. Cornish sent a letter to State Representative Wayne Peveto, who forwarded the message to Representative Lane Denton. In his response, Denton noted that families reported that the children they entrusted to the care of Artesia Hall did not return with noticeable improvements to their behavior.[viii]

How might a facility with such negative publicity have continued to function? When interviewed in 1973, Farrar repudiated the horror stories circulating about his facility by stating that “the children were smart deviants with psychopathic parents.” Moreover, Farrar claimed that parents and former staff who shared their stories regarding the facility all owed him money.[ix]

Over the course of several investigations conducted by various government agencies, a few state employees spoke out against Artesia Hall. A 1971 licensing study of Artesia Hall, done by Public Welfare Supervisor George R. Burrows, stated that “Dr. Farrar is remiss in his responsibility of setting up safeguards for children’s health and welfare.” Burrows was alarmed at the “nature and extent of the verified complaints,” and concluded that Artesia Hall should be “permanently enjoined from operating.”[x]

Other state employees delivered similar remarks regarding Artesia Hall. Lonnie A. Gruver, a county welfare employee in the Department of Public Services stated in court that he “could not, in any way, recommend the approval of the place for a license.”[xi] Bobby J. Flatt, the Licensing Program Director of the Houston Region of the Department of Public Welfare stated that without the approval of the Houston Region’s Director, he would not have approved Artesia Hall for a license.

How could a facility continue to operate in the face of such damning evidence? Lane Denton would later remark that Artesia Hall and facilities like it were likely allowed to operate due to a lack of enforcement in state policies and severe oversight on the part of state employees sent to ensure that Artesia Hall was operating up to the standards expected for an institution providing care for children. The Texas State Board of Psychologists also investigated Farrar’s educational background and determined that he did not have the educational training sufficient to practice psychology or sit for any official examination.[xii] By early 1972, however, further state investigations seemed to indicate that things were starting to improve for the better at Artesia Hall.

After the 1971 visit to Artesia Hall, Len Dan Kerr of the TDMHMR, and John Lindell of the State Department of Public Welfare arrived at the facility to conduct another investigation in April 1972. In their report, Kerr and Lindell noted that most of the staff at Artesia Hall were in their early twenties, did not hold degrees in behavioral sciences, and had received unsatisfactory on-the-job training.[xiii] Even so, Kerr and Lindell reported that the staff seemed eager about their jobs and held the patients’ best interests at heart. By the end of their visit, Kerr and Lindell concluded that Artesia Hall had implemented several reforms that had improved the facility since the 1971 investigation. In closing their report, Kerr declared, “I could not in good conscience state that Artesia Hall was a particularly bad treatment center or a good treatment center. It is a typical one in this State. This is our dilemma.”[xiv] Artesia Hall was not alone in its deficiencies as a care center for mentally ill youth. It shared problems that many facilities across the State of Texas also had. Even so, Kerr recommended that the facility undergo regular and unscheduled inspections to ensure there was no relapse into unsatisfactory care practices.

Any progress that state officials had observed in Artesia Hall was severely undercut by Hvolboll’s death in November 1972. In addition to the publicity surrounding his mishandling of Hvolboll’s treatment, Farrar and his 23-year-old son were indicted by a Liberty County grand jury for aggravated assault against a student.[xv] Records are unclear whether this assault took place before or after Hvolboll’s death. By June 1973, the state had seized control of the facility and closed it.[xvi]

Throughout the time Denton spent investigating Artesia Hall, fellow legislators and constituents often questioned Denton why he invested so much time and energy into this rural Liberty County facility. In a press release from the House Human Resources Subcommittee on Public Welfare, Lane Denton stated, “I will not be deterred from exposing every incident of child abuse, be it physical, financial, emotional, or whatever.”[xvii] In 1973, Denton and the other members of the Subcommittee on Public Welfare recommended several measures to ensure the proper licensing of institutions like Artesia Hall. Among these were:

1. A clear definition of what metrics institutions need to meet to achieve licensing.
2. Refusal of licensure for institutions out of compliance with licensing standards.
3. Criminal penalties for operating an institution out of compliance with licensing standards.
4. Procedures to relocate children at facilities that do not meet the standards recommended by the Subcommittee on Public Welfare.[xviii]

By 1976, murder by omission had been removed from the penal code by the state legislature, and the case against Farrar was thrown out. Hvolball’s parents then sued Farrar, and his insurance company reached an out-of-court settlement with the girl’s parents in 1979. Farrar died in 1983, escaping legal punishment for Hvolball’s death.[xx]

People’s accounts of abuse and mistreatment in Artesia Hall sparked a statewide movement of former patients and employees of state-run facilities sharing their stories of abuse. As a member of the Committee for Emotionally Disturbed Children, and the House Human Resources Subcommittee on Public Welfare, Lane Denton conducted extensive research not just into Artesia Hall, but on facilities that cared for troubled youth throughout the state of Texas. As a result, his papers in the Baylor Collections of Political Materials are brimming with court reports, letters, patient files, newspaper clippings, and other documents related to the administration of mental health facilities. When pieced together, these documents tell both a frightening story of neglect and abuse, alongside a greater struggle to ensure that troubled youth in Texas would receive the care they deserve.

Sources Cited

[i] Untermeyer, Chase “State is Blamed for Not Preventing Death of Girl at Controversial School” June 17, 1973, Houston Chronicle

[ii] Smyser, Craig “Friend Says Poison Taken 2 Days Earlier,” 1973 Houston Chronicle

[iii] Report of the Subcommittee on Public Welfare: The Case of Artesia Hall. October 11, 1973. Lane Denton papers, Legislative, Committees, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall Report, 1973.

[iv] Report of the Subcommittee on Public Welfare: The Case of Artesia Hall. October 11, 1973. Lane Denton papers, Legislative, Committees, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall Report, 1973.

[v] Mrs. Andy McCommas. Interview. August 8, 1973. Transcript. Lane Denton papers, Correspondence, Departments, Public Welfare, Childcare Institutions, Artesia Hall (1 of 2), 1973.

[vi] Mrs. Andy McCommas. Interview. August 8, 1973. Transcript. Lane Denton papers, Correspondence, Departments, Public Welfare, Childcare Institutions, Artesia Hall (1 of 2), 1973.

[vii] Mrs. W. O. Cornish letter to Wayne Peveto. July 26, 1973. Lane Denton papers, Correspondence, Departments, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall (2 of 2), 1973.

[viii] Wayne Peveto letter to Lane Denton, August 1973. Lane Denton papers. Correspondence, Departments, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall (2 of 2) 1973.

[ix] Joseph D. Farrar. Interview. August 7, 1972. Transcript. Lane Denton papers, Correspondence, Departments, Public Welfare, Childcare Institutions, Artesia Hall (1 of 2), 1973.

[x] Report of the Subcommittee on Public Welfare: The Case of Artesia Hall. October 11, 1973. Lane Denton papers, Legislative, Committees, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall Report, 1973.

[xi] Report of the Subcommittee on Public Welfare: The Case of Artesia Hall. October 11, 1973. Lane Denton papers, Legislative, Committees, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall Report, 1973.

[xii] Untermeyer, Chase “State is Blamed for Not Preventing Death of Girl at Controversial School “ June 17, 1973, Houston Chronicle.

[xiii] Kerr, Len Dan, and Lindell, John, “On Site Visit of Artesia Hall” April 14, 1972

[xiv] Kerr, Len Dan, and Lindell, John, “On Site Visit of Artesia Hall” April 14, 1972

[xv] “’Lack of feeling’ for youths inside Artesia Hall charged.” Houston Post. June 28, 1973.

[xvi] “Artesia Hall Licensing ‘Difficult,’ Welfare ‘in Control’” Fort Worth Star Telegram, July 18, 1973.

[xvii] Denton, Lane. “House Human Resources Subcommittee on Public Welfare.” July 23, 1973. Lane Denton papers. Press, Press Releases, Welfare, Abuse in Childcare Facilities, 1973.

[xviii] Report of the Subcommittee on Public Welfare: The Case of Artesia Hall. October 11, 1973. Lane Denton papers, Legislative, Committees, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall Report, 1973.

[xix] Report of the Subcommittee on Public Welfare: The Case of Artesia Hall. October 11, 1973. Lane Denton papers, Legislative, Committees, Public Welfare, Artesia Hall Report, 1973.

[xx] “Obituary of Joseph D. Farrar,” Corpus Christi Times, February 22, 1983, 5. https://www.newspapers.com/article/corpus-christi-times-obituary-for-joseph/154831607/. (accessed 1/22/25).