BI-CHLORIDE OF GOLD CLUB

BI-CHLORIDE OF GOLD CLUB. The Keeley Institute, known for its Keeley Cure or Gold Cure, was a commercial medical operation that offered treatment to alcoholics from 1879 to 1965. Although there were more than 200 branches in the United States and Europe, the original institute was founded by Leslie Keeley in Dwight, Illinois. The Keeley Institute's location in Dwight, Illinois had a major influence on the development of Dwight as a village, though only a few indications of its significance remain.

After Keeley's death the institute began a slow decline but remained in operation under John R. Oughton, and, later, his son. The Institute offered the internationally known Keeley Cure, a cure which drew sharp criticism from those in the medical profession. It was verypopular in the late 1890s. Thousands of people came to Dwight to be cured of alcoholism; thousands more sent for the mail-order oral liquid form which they took in the privacy of their homes. (1)

The John R. Oughton home was used until 1930.

New patients who arrived at the Dwight institute were introduced into an open, informal environment where they were first offered as much alcohol as they could drink. Initially, patients were boarded in nearby hotels, such as the Dwight Livingston Hotel or the homes of private residents. Later patients stayed in the converted John R. Oughton House. The institute operated out of homes and hotels using a spa-like atmosphere of peace and comfort. All patients received injections of bichloride of gold four times daily. There were other tonics given as well. The treatment lasted four weeks. (2)

The medical profession criticized the method and many tried to identify the mysterious ingredients. Strychnine, alcohol, apomorphine, willow bark, ammonia, and atropine were claimed to have been identified in the injections. The injections were dissolved in red, white and blue liquids and the amounts varied. In addition, patients received individually prescribed tonics every two hours throughout the day. Treatments lasted for a period of four weeks. Patients at Dwight were free to stroll the grounds of the institute as well as the streets of the village. It has been called an early therapeutic community. (3)

In February 1892 a Keeley Bi-Chloride of Gold Club had been formed in Dubuque. It rented the rooms previously occupied by the YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.M.C.A.) on the corner of 7th and Main and had twenty members. The club also enrolled honorary members who would help assist in sending to Dwight victims of alcohol, morphine and opium who could not afford the cost of treatment. (4)

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Source:

1. "Keeley Institute," Wikipedia. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeley_Institute

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. "Chloride of Gold Club," Dubuque Daily Herald, February 23, 1892, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=_OG5zn83XeQC&dat=18920223&printsec=frontpage&hl=en