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Description

Promoting the Keeley Institute's Treatment For Alcoholics -- "Drunkenness is a disease and I can cure it."

This map of San Francisco was compiled from official surveys and maps by Crocker-Langley, for inclusion in the San Francisco Directory.

The map presents a detailed layout of the city at the close of the 19th century, with a focus on transportation infrastructure, particularly the streetcar lines, which are prominently marked in red throughout the map. The streetcar system, vital for San Francisco's urban development, connects various neighborhoods and highlights the city's growing accessibility.  The map features several neighborhoods highlighted in bold letters, including well-known areas such as Lone Mountain, Golden Gate Park, Mission Bay, South San Francisco, Presidio Reservation, and Rancho Laguna de la Merced. These bold inscriptions provide a sense of the city's expanding urban sprawl and the prominence of different districts at the time.

 An interesting element of the map is the advertisement for The Keeley Institute, located at 1170 Market Street in the Donohoe Building. The text surrounding the map reads:

"Cures The Liquor, Opium, Morphine, Cocaine, Chloral, and Tobacco Habits and Neurasthenia or Nerve Exhaustion."

"Endorsed by the U.S. Government and Used in the Soldiers' Homes." 

Overall, the combination of transportation, neighborhood designations, and commercial advertisements makes this map a fascinating artifact, reflecting not just the city's layout but also the intersections of commerce, public services, and urban growth in San Francisco at the end of the 19th century.

The Keeley Institute

The Keeley Institute, established in 1879 by Dr. Leslie Keeley, became internationally known for its controversial "Keeley Cure" or "Gold Cure," which claimed to treat alcoholism as a medical disease. Based in Dwight, Illinois, the original facility was part of a larger network of over 200 branches that spread throughout the United States and Europe. This extensive reach made the Keeley Institute a dominant force in the treatment of alcohol and drug addiction, especially in the late 19th century.  

Treatment at the Keeley Institute focused on a regimen of four daily injections of bichloride of gold, which Dr. Keeley and his partners, John R. Oughton and Curtis Judd, claimed could cure alcoholism by cleansing the body of its harmful effects. The exact formula of the injections remained a closely guarded secret, but various analyses suggested the inclusion of ingredients such as strychnine, alcohol, apomorphine, and willow bark. The treatment was offered over four weeks in a spa-like atmosphere where patients were encouraged to drink alcohol within the confines of the institute, but not outside. The experience was designed to be comfortable and supportive, featuring tranquil surroundings and regular interaction with fellow patients. Despite its popularity, many in the medical community viewed the Keeley Cure with skepticism, criticizing both its secrecy and the dubious claims made about its efficacy.

The Keeley Cure was hailed by proponents as a revolutionary approach to treating alcohol dependency, a departure from the moralistic or punitive measures commonly used at the time. Keeley, who famously declared, "Drunkenness is a disease and I can cure it," believed that alcoholism was a physiological condition, not simply a vice. This perspective foreshadowed modern approaches to addiction treatment. However, the institute's methods were met with increasing criticism, particularly from mainstream medical professionals who questioned the validity of the treatment and the ingredients in the injections. Despite the controversy, Keeley achieved significant financial success, and the Keeley Institute remained a prominent fixture in addiction treatment into the early 20th century.

After Dr. Keeley's death in 1900, the institute began to decline. Although John R. Oughton and later his son continued to manage the operation, the lack of Keeley's charismatic leadership and the increasing medical consensus that alcoholism could not be cured through injections led to a waning interest in the Keeley Cure. By the mid-20th century, many branches of the institute had closed, and the institute in Dwight ceased operations in 1965. The legacy of the Keeley Institute persists in the village of Dwight, Colorado, where a few remaining structures, including the Livingston Hotel and the John R. Oughton House, stand as reminders of the institution's influence.

Despite its eventual decline, the Keeley Institute's early emphasis on treating alcoholism as a medical condition, rather than a moral failing, marked a significant shift in the understanding of addiction. Though the Keeley Cure itself was later discredited, its pioneering approach to addiction treatment paved the way for future therapeutic models, such as Alcoholics Anonymous.