The Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane is a former state hospital in Willard, New York, United States, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ()
In 1865 the Legislature authorized the establishment of The Willard Asylum for the Insane. Chapter 342, enacted 8 April 1865, effective immediately. Chapter 132, enacted 18 April 1890, effective immediately. Opened in 1869, the asylum offered low-cost custodial care.Dwyer, Ellen. Homes for the Mad: Life inside two nineteenth-century asylums. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987. The Willard drug treatment center was opened in 1995 on the campus of the former Willard Psychiatric State Hospital, a facility for mental patients.
In 1995, some 400 suitcases that were brought in by the patients were discovered in an asylum attic. These suitcases were part of a 2014 exhibition at the Exploratorium in San Francisco called "The Changing Face of What is Normal: Mental Health." The exhibit included photography of the contents of the suitcases by John Crispin and poetry about the lives of the patients and staff by Dr. Karen L. Miller who researched the experience of Willard patients and staff.
References
External links
Willard Asylum for the Insane at Abandoned Willard State Hospital at Asylum Projects Willard State Hospital at NYSAsylum