St. Vincent’s Home was operated by the Brothers of Mercy and was built in 1945. The nursing order of Catholic brothers moved to the present location and built the ‘old’ section of the building in 1953. The addition was built using a grant from Hill-Burton. St. Vincent’s takes male patients only. In 1957, patients ranged from a 7 year old boy, and a 90 year old man. The addition added several semi-private rooms with connecting baths, a lounge on each floor, nurses stations, and a chapel.
The St. Vincent’s Home has had it’s share of tragic endings and in 1962, a nurse brutally suffocated two patients, simply for the thrill of it, but the charges were later dropped because the man had schizophrenia. In 1988, Rev. Frank Dolan, who founded the Main Artery (an alcoholics living center at the location) was found murdered in his apartment. And in 1983, a man who lived at the home was shot and killed in Norman.
The building still stands today, but all windows are gone, and trash is everywhere.
Media:
Occasionally while in locations, I will record video or sound on my basic point and shoot digital camera. This location I recorded several audio clips but didn’t review them until several weeks later. The clip below was recorded in the lower level, right next to the original building. You will hear us walking through the debris, but listen carefully and you will hear a voice say “Don’t Ignore Me”. After not sleeping all night and not exactly sure what we had recorded, we headed back to the location and tested out several possibilities. We set the recorder and walked down the hallway whispering “Don’t ignore me” every foot or so. The results were shocking. After you get more than 5 feet from the recorder, all you hear is a muffled, but full of reverb and echo whisper. The recording is way to clear for it to have been whispered from more than 3 feet away. I had the recorder in my hand, and I was at least 15 feet from the other 2 in our team. So you decide what it could be….
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