Virginia House Resolution #15

On January 16, 1846, the legislature passed House Resolution #15. This resolution permitted the admission of insane slaves to the Eastern Lunatic Asylum at Williamsburg. However, three conditions were required in the legislation that circumscribed access by race: No enslaved blacks could be admitted without a petition from their owner or the person who held jurisdiction over them. This first requirement was greatly influenced by the second policy requirement that the petitioner had to pay for the inpatient care of the enslaved. The third requirement of this early policy in Virginia would not allow the admission of enslaved blacks to reduce admission or treatment opportunities for whites. No reference or mention is made in the policy about the potential impact on the admission and treatment opportunities for free blacks of this change in policy.

Additional policies were passed in 1853 to create housing at the Eastern Lunatic Asylum to accommodate the "colored insane as patients." These policy changes were influenced by a new medical hypothesis that recognized the enslaved were not immune from the risk and incidence of lunacy.