Peter Stastny is a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker in New York, NY. Darby Penney, an ex–patient activist, is a senior research associate with Advocates for Human Potential, Albany, NY.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Darby Penney, Senior Research Associate, Advocates for Human Potential, 324 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207 (e-mail: darby@capital.net).
Because this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.
INTRODUCTION
THE ATTIC AT WILLARD STATE Hospital in the village of Willardin upstate New York was lit by a beam of sunlight streamingbetween rows of wooden racks filled with suitcases—men’son the left side, women’s on the right—alphabetized,labeled, and covered by thick dust and bird droppings. Theyhad been untouched for many years. It was 1995, and the hospitalwas closing. The belongings, once owned by nearly 300 patientsfrom the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries, were salvaged,shedding some light on the stories they brought to the hospital—storiesdoomed to be forgotten if not for this . . . [Full Text]
