On Feb. 25, 1811, McLean Hospital was founded through a charter granted by the Massachusetts Legislature for the ‘Massachusetts General Hospital Corporation.’ McLean Hospital was first known as the ‘Asylum for the Insane,’ a division of the Massachusetts General Hospital.

When the Asylum opened in 1818, it was the first hospital in New England, and only the fourth special institution for the treatment of the mentally ill in America.

Fundraising campaigns were held between 1812 and 1816, and a majority of the contributors earmarked their donations for the establishment of a facility to treat mental illnesses.

In June of 1826 the Asylum was renamed “The McLean Asylum for the Insane,” in honor of John McLean, a Boston merchant who bequeathed $25,000 and left a residuary legacy of more than $90,000 to the Asylum.

In 1844, 13 Asylum superintendents from the Eastern Seaboard, including McLean’s Luther V. Bell, MD, (1837-1856 and 1857-1858), founded the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, now known as the American Psychiatric Association.