Celebrating Agnes Richards, RN

March is Women’s History Month. Although there are so many women who have done so many amazing and important things, for this month CVW will be focusing on women who have helped shape the future, often defying social norms.

In the 1920s, the approach to mental health was often barbaric, in part because it was not understood. Women especially took on the brunt of the brutality that was considered treatment. Women could be institutionalized for reasons that included premenstrual syndrome [PMS], menopause and postpartum depression – all of these “ailments” were usually classified as “hysteria.” Once in an institution, they were often abused, ignored and forgotten.

Into this world stepped Agnes Richards. She worked in hospitals in the midwest and knew what really went on behind closed doors. She was a widow with a small child. She married for a second time after a 10-year period and moved her family to San Bernardino where she earned her RN license in 1922. She decided to open a sanitarium on Honolulu Avenue in 1923. Her vision would be a place for women, where they would be treated with respect and understanding. For the early 1920s, this was a big deal. In a quiet way, she became an advocate for women’s mental health and grew as a businesswoman in a world that was dominated by men.

She did not march in the streets and, by all accounts, she did not think of herself as a feminist, but she changed the life of every woman who called Rockhaven “home.” She may have not broken the big glass ceiling but for the one over 2713 Honolulu Ave., she shattered it.

For more information on Rockhaven Sanatarium, visit friendsofrockhaven.org.