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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is the first book published on the history of the Athens Lunatic Asylum. Until now, people seeking to learn about the asylum had to search in a variety of works scattered in many places. The general difficulty of gaining a coherent picture of especially the early history has contributed to all kinds of conjecture and supposition, which have served to continue the stigma still associated with mental illness that lingers about the asylum. I hope that this work, by presenting facts and stories of actual events and people, will help dispel rumors and speculation. I have spent eleven years—much longer than I originally thought—researching the asylum, and my work was made possible by the support of many people and organizations.

Particular thanks go to staff of the Ohio University Libraries and its Robert E. and Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections: Doug McCabe, Bill Kimok, Janet Carleton, Judy Connick, and George Bain worked for over a decade with patience, expertise, and enthusiasm to support my work. Janet along with Kelly Broughton made it possible for me to tell the story of the asylum with historical photographs. Others who provided help with the many images are the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, the State Library of Ohio, the Chicago Public Library, the Cosmos Club, the National Archives, and the Athens Messenger. The Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, custodian of the original 1874 asylum casebooks, helped provide a unique window into life in the moral treatment years of the asylum. George Eberts, a former employee of the asylum, was an early supporter of my research; Dave Malawista, Sue Foster, and Pam Callahan were also kind enough to share their experience with me.

Much of the material presented here is drawn from patient records, access to which remains restricted because of the patient names associated with the records kept by the asylum. The Ohio Department of Mental Health approved my research (twice—once as doctoral research and again for the book) as one of their projects and provided access to the restricted patient records held by the Mahn Center and the Ohio Historical Society.

Ohio University’s Patton College of Education supported my dissertation, out of which grew this book, with a research grant. The Patton College of Education also awarded me a scholarship from the HVFH/Pi Beta Phi Endowment Fund for Graduate Student Support, which gave me time to complete my initial research. I am grateful also to Janice Phelps Williams for her advice and encouragement.

Thanks go to Ohio University Press and to Gillian Berchowitz for making this book a reality. Thanks also to the Athens-Hocking-Vinton 317 Board and the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau for their generous support for the production of the book. I also acknowledge the patients, caregivers, families, farmers, builders, craftsmen, communities, elected officials, and administrators who figured in the history of the asylum. I hope I have done them justice.