Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital

Founded in 1853 by Baltimore merchant Moses Sheppard, after a visit by mental health rights advocate and social reformer Dorothea Lynde Dix, the hospital was originally called the Sheppard Asylum.

As a result of these financial restrains, the Asylum did not open until 1891, 34 years after Sheppard's death. It also left it with financial uncertainty, putting its long-term future in doubt.

The future of the Asylum was greatly enhanced when in 1893, the estate of Baltimore merchant Enoch Pratt bequeathed a substantial amount of his fortune to complete the construction and expand the asylum with the stipulation that the name change to The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital.