San Francisco
Hey everyone, tomorrow I fly to San Francisco to help plan how my portion of the “Changing Face of What is Normal” exhibit will be hung. (Providing Logan in Boston is open for business. We had 20 inches of snow here in Western Massachusetts overnight, and Boston got totally wailed.) I’ll try to post daily from out there. I don’t know how much free time I will have, if any, but if you are in the area and want to meet up for a brief visit, just send me an email. It might work. This photo is from Flora T’s case. I think I published it in an earlier post, but lately this image has been sticking with me. The print I made is absolutely beautiful.
The Amazing Beverly Courtwright
I have always given primary credit to Craig Williams for saving the Willard suitcases, and his contribution to the preservation of these objects was enormous. But if it wasn’t for Beverly Courtwright’s connection to Willard and her tremendous respect for the patients and their lives, the cases would have been lost forever. On Saturday I got the chance to meet her for the first time, and thanks to the corrections folks who now control the site, we were allowed to go into the attic for a few minutes. It is behind this door that in May of 1995 Bev “rediscovered” the cases. She had become one of the Willard employees heavily involved with the transition team responsible for shutting down the psych center. As a storehouse clerk, part of her task was to go through all the buildings to determine what should be saved and what could be thrown out. She described the first time she opened this door and saw the cases stacked up as a surreal experience, and told me that she felt a “whoosh of energy” sweep over her.
She grew up in the area, and as a child remembers Willard patients coming to her home through the Family Care program that allowed for patients not in need of direct care to live temporarily in private homes.
This is what the attic now looks like when you walk through the door. The racks are on either side of the attic with men’s cases on one side and women’s on the other. When Bev was talking about being up here for the first time it literally gave me chills.
You can see the letters on the racks representing the first initial of the surname of each patient. Whomever set up the system did an amazing job. I find it so interesting that as in the residential parts of the buildings, men and women were segregated up here as well.
There were a very few items left behind that could not be linked to a specific patient. This coat was one of them. / As my work on this project continues, I am constantly overwhelmed by the people I meet and the stories that they have to tell. Late last night I got an email letting me know of a new comment on this post. Scroll down toward the bottom of the comments section and read what Stephanie had to say. / Getting into the attic and meeting Bev really tied together everything that I have been trying to say with my work on this project. She is a truly remarkable person with a huge heart and the ability to convey a great sense of connection to the people who were at Willard, and I just want to thank her for all she has done.
Binghamton Asylum Glass Plate Negatives
In the late 1980’s Brad Edmondson and I went down to the Binghamton asylum buildings that I was photographing for my original New York State asylum project. While were in the “Castle” building we came across a room that was filled with boxes of glass plate negatives of patients from the early days of the asylum. It was an amazing trove of images and we immediately hoped to be able to do something with them. We had no luck getting access, but I have thought about them over the years. Craig Williams from the New York State Museum arrived at the facility on the morning of 11 September, 2001 to have a look, but events of that day put the kibosh on his access. About a month ago I heard that the Broome County Historical Society had finally made arrangements to check out the plates. On Friday I went to Binghamton to have a look at their efforts to organize, clean, and catalogue every plate. It is such a relief to know that they are finally in safe hands and will be preserved.
The negative’s eventual home is still up in the air, but the Greater Binghamton Heath Center which runs the facility is eager to get them into safe hands. Here you see one of the volunteers cleaning the non emulsion side of a plate. They are all a bit dusty, but otherwise in amazing condition.
Here’s another box of unexposed plates. Love the graphic design.
I am always on the lookout for bits of ephemera from the buildings. Another object from the collection is this very cool typewriter.
I’ve never seen one like this and haven’t had the time to research the brand. Anyone out there ever heard of the Printype Oliver Typewriter?
It is a beautiful machine and I like the little character in the photo below.
Old keyboards are also interesting.
Thanks to the Broome County Historical Society and the Greater Binghamton Health Center for allowing me to see the plates. And to Roger Luther who like me has a great interest in New York State asylums.
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