State hospital records

By mbcross on Wed, 07/15/2026 - 17:18

Forums

I received a patient summary record for a 2x-great-grandfather's admission to a state hospital, and I've begun to craft the citation:

H. H. Wilkerson patient summary record, case no. 17459, Rusk State Hospital, Rusk, Texas, 14 November 1950; privately held by mbcross.

I left the creator block blank because it would have introduced repetition. Because I received this document via email, would you suggest including a layer for that?

Submitted byEEon Fri, 07/17/2026 - 09:09

mbcross, two tweaks here:

1. Your Layer 1 (document info) carries the essentials for that layer (as per EE4 §5.12). However, the document info needs to be followed by a provenance layer, saying how the document came into your possession. You state that you received it via email (presumably from the hospital itself, which speaks to the authority of the record), so your layer 2 would cite the email through which you obtained it. (EE4 §4.41)

2. Look again at the elements in your Layer 1 and the sequence.  Does the date you've supplied relate to the location or is it not an identifier for the file?

Submitted bymbcrosson Fri, 07/17/2026 - 10:27

The date is when he was admitted to the hospital. Also, I did not receive the document directly from the hospital but from someone in the Texas Department of Health and Human Services who identifies himself as the Assistant Press Officer. I've opted to use square brackets and deidentify the sender's name.

H. H. Wilkerson, case no. 17459, patient summary record, admitted 14 November 1950, Rusk State Hospital, Rusk, Texas; [sender's name], Assistant Press Officer, Texas Department of Health and Human Services, Austin, Texas, [(email for private use),] to mbcross, e-mail, 15 July 2026, "Rusk State Hospital records circa 1950 A07102026.0450001"; privately held by mbcross.