Category Archives: Writing and Researching

Obscure Information

Archival Center in Boston

On the website I maintain to support my book, Vanished in Hiawatha, someone wrote to me and asked me to help them find information about an ancestor who had been a patient in a New England insane asylum. Of course I don’t do research of that sort, but I do like to answer anyone who has taken the trouble to write. Other people may have similar questions, and I know it can sometimes be like trying to grope through a maze to get at a speck of information you need.

The first thing I have to say is that unfortunately, information sometimes just isn’t there. Documents of all kinds are destroyed over time for legitimate reasons–sometimes just because there’s not enough room to keep storing them. This may not be a problem in the electronic age, but it has certainly been one prior to it.

If your particular record still exists, one of the starting points for you to look for it would be within the institution that originally housed it. By that, I mean that if you’re looking for records on a patient who was in an insane asylum, try to research the original institution to see if it has changed its name (or moved) over the years. If the place still exists and is now a hospital of some sort, for instance, its administrators may have stored these original records somewhere. In the worst case scenario, the administrators will probably still be able to tell you what happened to them.

If records are not readily available at the institution, the next most likely place to look would be in a local, and then state, archive. Again, either of these places may be able to tell you where the records are if they don’t have them. If they were destroyed, you’re probably out of luck so far as detail is concerned, but you can still go to a library (at the original location) to see what they have. A library probably wouldn’t have actual patient records, but many libraries have town/county/family histories which may mention your relative’s name.

Each place you look may lead to another, so don’t automatically give up just because a record isn’t readily accessible.

No End to the Sentence

Elizabeth Packard Being Taken to an Asylum Against Her Will, courtesy National Library of Medicine

After researching insane asylums for many years, I’ve come to the conclusion that they have been–and still are–a necessary evil. I went into this topic simply fascinated by the history of asylums and how they came to be. (This is also the subject of the book I’m currently writing.) I could see how humane they were in comparison to what had come before. Patients who had previously been locked in unheated outhouses, basements, or thrown into jail–often without adequate food or clothing–could now rest in rooms that were warm and clean. Prior to the 1830s, life was dismal indeed for anyone considered insane.

But the reality of life in an asylum is terrible to consider. Imagine going for a carriage ride with a spouse or friends to take tea with a new acquaintance, only to find that you have arrived at an insane asylum and are going to be kept there. Or, imagine appearing before a judge to explain or justify some sort of irrational behavior (and who hasn’t acted irrationally at some point?) only to be judged insane and “sentenced” to an insane asylum. The scariest part of either scenario was the open-endedness of the sentence. If that same person had committed a crime, he or she would spend a definite amount of time in jail and then get out. Not so with the insane patient . . . his or her fate depended upon the discretion/personality/judgment of the asylum’s superintendent!

The Search is On

Eugenics Record Office, Archives Room at Cold Spring Harbor

I love to do research from the comfort of my home, but there is way too much data out there for it all to be digitized–or at least, yet! Sometimes I have to go somewhere to look at physical records, and that can be both a pain and a pleasure. Going to an archive or agency that holds historical information I need will mean a trip (and the extra time that takes) at the very least. Hopefully the information resides in a location I actually want to visit or where I have friends who might be able to put me up while I’m there. With great locations, I can sometimes tack on a day or two and make the trip a mini-getaway.

But, unless the facility is really close by, I have to figure on paying for gas, food, parking, and a hotel for however long I need to be there. Then there will be copying fees and perhaps entry fees if I’m going to a place where there are tours or collections for the public to view. Gathering information can be expensive–researchers always need to consider the costs when they decide what to write about. There may be great subjects, and even great information available. But, can you get to it at a price you can afford?

Where to Start

Early South Dakota Homesteaders, courtesy State Archives of the South Dakota State Historical Society

One of the difficulties of writing history is knowing where to find the relevant information. When I began writing about the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, there wasn’t much out there about it–not in books or on the internet. My first real clue in the search was the mention of something called the “Silk Report,” which was the summary of an investigation made into the asylum in 1929. I knew it was something I needed to get.

Sometimes the best place to start is the most obvious place. Since this asylum had been in Canton, South Dakota, I figured the state’s archives would have at least some information about it. The State Archives of the South Dakota State Historical Society is the actual entity which reviews and preserves historical material for the state, and so I contacted them to ask about the Silk Report. They sent it to me for a nominal copying fee, and from there I was hooked. The report was full of information and description, and I knew right away that I had a story worth telling.

Birth of a Book

Front-View-of-Canton-Asylum-courtesy-National-Institutes-of-Health

The Front View of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, Canton, South Dakota, U.S.

A new book is exciting, even after you’ve read your manuscript a hundred times, proofed it over and over, and scrutinized it for errors and typos until you feel you could recite entire chapters in your sleep! Vanished in Hiawatha: The Story of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians was published June 1, 2016, after literally years of research and writing.

In 2008 I was in writing limbo–I had finished a short biography for teens and wasn’t sure about my next topic. I knew I wanted to write historical material, but what? I began toying with the idea of a young adult novel that involved insane asylums . . . perhaps the main character’s father had been sent to one so his evil relatives could gain control of his fortune . . . perhaps the main character would be sent to one . . . the possibilities were intriguing. For some reason, I had associated insane asylums with England, but my beginning research showed that they had also been well-represented in the United States. Just as I began to get excited about fictional situations, I ran across a reference to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians.

What!? An asylum just for Indians? Could this be real? I almost thought it wasn’t, until I dug around enough to understand that this institution had really existed. After that, I couldn’t get the place out of my mind and I began to put out feelers for additional information. Soon, I was digging deeper and starting to shape a book that would keep me interested and amazed for the next eight years.