 It was initially known as the Mount Vernon Insane Hospital, the hospital for colored insane or the Mount Vernon Hospital for the Colored Insane, since it served African-Americans exclusively until 1969, when it was desegregated following the Civil Rights Act of 1964.In 1906, 57 patients died due to an outbreak of a disease at the hospital.Initially the disease was a mystery, but it was later identified as one of the first major outbreaks of pellagra in the United States.