Keeley Institute

Keeley Institute
Founded1879
FounderLeslie Keeley
Defunct1965
Headquarters
Number of locations
200 branches in the United States and Europe
Servicesrehabilitation

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. Though at one time there were more than 200 branches in the United States and Europe, the original institute was founded by Leslie Keeley in Dwight, Illinois, United States. 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 in the village.

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 mainstream medical profession. It was wildly popular in the late 1890s.[1] 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]

  1. ^ a b Erik Larson (2003). The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Vintage Press. pp. 161–163.