Suitcases from an insane asylum tell of lives long lost

[hot_pastrami]

What They Left Behind...

Craig Williams, a curator at the New York State Museum, drove four hours to visit Willard Psychiatric Center in the spring of 1995. The complex, located 65 miles southwest of Syracuse, was about to shut down after more than 100 years. Williams figured he would be able to pick up some artifacts—maybe some antique furniture or a few nurses' uniforms. A staffer suggested he check out the attic of an abandoned building, and that's when he found 400 suitcases covered by decades of dust and pigeon droppings.

These suitcases bore the names of former patients. Inside were their long-forgotten possessions: snapshots, diaries, postcards, books, letters, news clippings. For Williams, finding these suitcases was the equivalent of stumbling upon a buried chest of gold. "You'd open these suitcases, and you could so clearly sense and feel a personality and a humanity," he recalls. He didn't know it at the time, but these dusty trunks would change the course of his life, sparking a mission that would stretch on for the next nine years—first to uncover the stories of the suitcases' owners, and then to present them to the public.

[lumberjim]

so, now we know xoxoxobruce's REAL name...never would have guessed Craig.

[xoxoxoBruce]

At least Dmytre really was nuts. Margret Truman? (shudder)

[FelinesAreFine]

I knew I left my suitcase somewhere.

[Elspode]

My God...the horrors these people must have endured. This display sounds absolutely compelling.

[Nothing But Net]

Originally posted by Elspode
My God...the horrors these people must have endured. This display sounds absolutely compelling.

Who knows, in 100 years when Internet archaeologists are digging through that arcane cult known as <b><i>The Cellar</i></b>, they may think the same of us!

[xoxoxoBruce]

And they'd be right.

[farfromhome]

Wow,the start of this thread made me sit up.I used to deliver to the willard psychiatric center quite frequently.Brings back a lot of memories.Its a sprawling complex of old brick buildings located in the beautiful finger lakes area.That must have been awesome stumbling onto those suitcases.I remember being on that campus and hearing people screaming and babbling incessantly.It was kind of creepy.What a freakshow.In fact the whole area there,just south of Geneva,NY is fascinating.The old psych center has two interesting neighbors to the north.The sampson submarine base.It has been closed for many,many years.But the buildings are still there.Everything is dilapitated and overgrown with foliage.Its another place that would be fun to explore,although I think its guarded.The Seneca army depot is the other.It has been largely mothballed and converted to civilan uses.The depot was a depository for large quantities of nuclear weapons for years.There were protests from many liberal groups their annualy.I can remember Dr. Benjamin Spock getting arrested their.The depot is home to the largest herd of albino whitetail deer in the world.Hmmm,Lets see... Albino deer and nuclear weapons?Nah!Just a coincidence.And don't get excited FNF.I said albino DEER.Part of the old psych center is now a shock incarceration prison for drug offenders.I've watched those prisoners being marched in formation with(instructors,drill sergeants?)screaming in their faces.In the pouring rain.I'm guessing thats a vision that would warm wolfs heart.

[wolf]

I have certain ideas regarding the criminal justice system. You're right, the idea of bootcamp/prison does make me smile.

I would certainly love to see the suitcase exhibit. I already do know the warm human side of a lot of the folks we treat ... I've had multiple generations of families come through the door for services. Many of them, even at their craziest, retain some touch of who/what they once were (okay, sometimes it's harder to find than others). I also have had the opportunity to talk to parents of clients who are resigned to their child's illness, but still recall their one-time dreams of success for their child.