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Exile: Homelessness and Northampton State Hospital
Exile: Homelessness and Northampton State Hospital

Speaker:
Christopher J. Sparks, Historian and Writer
Date:
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 7 pm
Registration:
This public talk will be presented via Zoom.
Please register using the button at right.

REGISTER

Picture
Photograph from a scrapbook about the
Northampton State Hospital dating to 1930.

Northampton was an agricultural and industrial community of just 6,500 when, on a July 4th afternoon in 1856, local and state dignitaries laid the cornerstone for the third state hospital for persons labeled as mentally ill in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This program will compare 19th century thinking about the root causes of psychiatric disorders, which led to the establishment of the hospital, with 20th century ideas about mental health, which culminated with the closing of the hospital.

We will explore two documents: Dr. Edward Jarvis's “Insanity and Idiocy in Massachusetts” from 1855, (it was so influential that a copy was sealed in the cornerstone of the original building) and video segments from Frontline’s “A Place for Madness,” produced in 1994, on the closing of Northampton State Hospital.


Picture
A lifelong Northampton resident, Christopher Sparks took an interest in the Northampton State Hospital shortly after it was abandoned. He researches and writes about the hospital with the mission to analyze its history as a symptom of public intolerance of the mentally ill.
This public talk is presented in partnership with Northampton Open Media.
REGISTER
HISTORIC NORTHAMPTON
46 Bridge Street Northampton, Massachusetts 01060
info@historicnorthampton.org | 413-584-6011

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  • About
    • About Historic Northampton
    • What's On View >
      • Main Street Exhibit
      • The Sarah Strong Chest
    • Hours and Directions
    • Board-Staff
    • Legal/Financial
  • Programs
    • Upcoming Programs
    • Past Programs 2022
    • Help I am not receiving email messages
  • Explore
    • Collections & Research
    • History at Home >
      • Videos
      • Interactive Witch Trial
      • Paper Dolls
      • Hidden Histories
      • Scavenger Hunts
      • Coloring Pages
      • Brain Teasers
      • Peg Doll Hunts
      • Jonathan Edwards Prayer Requests
    • Properties >
      • Parsons House
      • Damon House
      • Shepherd House
      • Shepherd Barn 2020
      • The Bridge Street School Sprouts
    • Educational Websites
    • Historic Highlights
    • COVID-19 Stories >
      • Vaccination Photos
      • Submit Your COVID Story
      • Children React
      • Family and Neighborhood Fun
      • It's a New World
      • Hope and Togetherness
      • Images
      • How Illness Feels
      • Brings Forth Memory
      • Blessings and the New Busy
      • Fear and Worry
  • Indigenous Native History
    • Native Histories in Nonotuck
    • Nonotuck Histories Essay by Margaret M. Bruchac
    • Recovering Nonotuck Histories Photo Essay
    • Profiles of Native People
    • Extended Biographies of Native People
    • Nonotuck to Northampton Maps
    • Native LIves Bibliography
  • History of Slavery
    • About the Slavery Research Project
    • Black Enslaved People
    • Free Black People
    • Native Enslaved People
    • Enslavers of People
    • Relationship Map
    • Timeline of Slavery in Northampton
  • DONATE
    • Make a Donation
    • WAYS TO GIVE
    • Join the Email List
    • MEMBERSHIP
    • IRA Giving
    • Stock Giving
    • Donate to the Collection
    • Volunteer