Jon Crispin's Notebook

Please check this out.

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Hi Everyone,  Lin Stuhler has been working for the last 10 years to reclaim some respect to the patients at Willard and other New York State institutions.  She recently posted this on her site “The Inmates of Willard“.  Please read it.

I am really interested in moving ahead with lobbying NY State legislators to sort this issue out.  If any of you have ideas on how to proceed or have connections to state legislators, please get in touch.

Thanks for following.

The above photo is from Margaret D.’s collection.  It is amazing.  Check it out here.  There are over 500 photos in the gallery so make sure you click on the 500 link at the bottom.  Also if you are on Instagram, I am posting an image almost daily. @willardsuitcases.

Willard Suitcase / Gordon K. + Cemetery News

Posted in Willard Asylum, Willard Suitcases by joncrispin on 27/12/2013

Gordon K was admitted to Willard in September of 1962.  The inner lining of his small grip was different than most we have seen.  More like flannel than anything else.

This morning Cris was reading the news on her computer and forwarded this story to me.  I couldn’t help but think about the Willard cemetery, and the work that Colleen Spellecy is doing  at the Willard Cemetery Memorial Project and that Lin Stuhler is doing at her Inmates of Willard site.  After watching the piece, I was curious about how the group was able to get names from the state.

Lin Stuhler’s Willard Cemetery Project

Posted in Abandoned Buildings, Architecture, Asylums, Government, History, People, Willard Asylum by joncrispin on 29/05/2013

Central stairway, Chapin House, Willard Asylum

There are a lot of great and interesting people working on New York State asylum issues.  I have been following Lin Stuhler’s work on the Willard cemetery for a while, but only had the chance to meet her a few months ago.  We keep in touch, and she just emailed me with a link to her recent blog post about the recent open house, and the bill she has been pushing in the state legislature to name the people buried at the graveyard.  There is also a link to a really great video that was made by her local cable company.  It is an interesting post and there is some nice video footage of some of the buildings and the cemetery.  She has a real passion for this issue and should be commended for all the hard work she has done in the name of Willard patients.