Lost Cases, Recovered Lives: Suitcases Fraom a State Hospital Attic

17.01.2004 - 19.09.2004

New York State Museum, New York / United States

This exhibition examines the enigmatic lives of early-20th-century patients at the Willard Psychiatric Center, located on the shore of Seneca Lake. When the hospital closed in 1995, hundreds of trunks and suitcases belonging to since deceased patients, admitted to Willard between 1898 and 1965, were discovered. The contents of the suitcases, now in the Museum’s history collections, reveal much about the lives of those affected by long-term institutionalization.
Many suitcases were empty, some contained items not permitted on the wards, and a few held the person’s belongings.... With rare exceptions, the owners never saw their suitcases again. The contents show connections to family, friends and communities prior to a mental illness diagnosis and offer evidence of the owners’ varied lives, in striking contrast to the institutional life imposed upon them. [Website New York State Museum]