Title: Hollywood Hospital program and lecture notes, 1959
Abstract
The Hollywood Hospital program and lecture notes (1959; 1 folder) contains an original typescript of Al Hubbard's talk he delivered for a panel discussion on LSD-25.
Administrative/Biographical History
During the 1950s, Hollywood Hospital was known mainly as an alcoholic treatment center. The hospital was a mansion surrounded by holly trees located in New Westminster in British Columbia, Canada. However, by 1959, staff writer Ben Metcalfe at The Province heard strange stories about a drug being used and tested at the hospital. Metcalfe decided to look into Hollywood Hospital and not soon after ingested 400 micrograms of LSD and took a twelve hour guided trip with Al Hubbard inside the walls of the hospital. The B.C. College of Physicians petitioned against the hospital’s medical director, Dr. J. Ross MacLean, and wanted the government to revoke the hospital’s funding. Apparently, this is what brought Metcalfe to the hospital; they needed some good press. Metcalfe quickly realized after his trip that LSD therapy worked best when the trip was guided by a good therapist. Hubbard and MacLean claimed rather impressive successes with their patients after receiving LSD therapy; however, the numbers and statistics were considered debatable. MacLean then brought Frank Ogden on board as another staff member at the hospital. It was Ogden who stated that the hospital had a large clientele from California; Cary Grant and Ethel Kennedy were among the assumed clientele. By 1975, Hollywood Hospital had all of its funding pulled by the province. MacLean sold the property to developers and the hospital was torn down six months later and replaced by Westminster Mall. Apparently, the hospital’s files were left in Frank Ogden’s care before MacLean passed away; however, very few have seen the files. This is quite possibly the reason why very little is actually known about the inner-workings of Hollywood Hospital.
Source:
“B.C.’s Acid Flashback.” Vancouver Sun. December 8, 2001. 15 December 2011. http://www.maps.org/media/flashback.html
Hollywood Hospital program ...
