{"id":286,"date":"2021-09-28T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/historyofmentalhealth.mallorykarnei.com\/blog\/?p=27"},"modified":"2021-09-28T12:00:23","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T12:00:23","slug":"project-proposal-elizabeth-packard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/uncategorized\/project-proposal-elizabeth-packard\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Proposal \u2013 Elizabeth Packard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth Packard was a vital figure in the reformation and social awareness of mental health in the 19th<\/sup> century. After being involuntarily committed to the Illinois Insane Asylum by her reverend husband for merely having differing religious beliefs, she remained institutionalized for three years. While institutionalized, she continuously plead to be released and was adamant that she was not in fact insane. It was not until her son came of age three years later that she was released and able to begin her efforts of preventing other women from enduring her own experiences. Elizabeth Packard\u2019s experience of being institutionalized and subjected to her husband\u2019s control inspired her to begin a long career of increasing patient\u2019s rights as well as women\u2019s autonomy in society.<\/p>\n

For this research project, I propose focusing on how Elizabeth Packard\u2019s experience of being wrongfully institutionalized impacted the creation of legislation and long standing social reforms for both women and patients in asylums. Her own personal works such as Modern Persecution, or Insane Asylums Unveiled: As Demonstrated by the Report of the Investigating Committee of the Legislature of Illinois, <\/em>The Prisoner\u2019s Hidden Life, or Insane Asylums Unveiled: As Demonstrated by the Report of the Investigating Committee of the Legislature of Illinois, <\/em>and Marital Power Exemplified in Mrs. Packard\u2019s Trial and Self-Defense from the Charge of Insanity<\/em>, will prove essential to understanding her own desires and accomplishments during and after her stay in the asylum. The use of secondary sources such as Linda Carlisle\u2019s Elizabeth Packard: A Noble Fight <\/em>and Benjamin Reiss\u2019s Theaters of Madness: Insane Asylums and Nineteenth-Century American Culture<\/em>, will provide general context, historical analysis, and background on this subject. This project will provide further insight on women\u2019s rights in society and asylums as well as represent the early reform efforts of asylum and mental health care.<\/p>\n

Secondary Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carlisle, Linda V. Elizabeth Packard: A Noble Fight<\/em>. University of Illinois Press, 2010.<\/p>\n

This book provides a strong background to Packard\u2019s life and how her experiences caused her to pursue advocating for the mentally ill. It describes her own experience in the asylum and her relationship with her husband and how those events led to her passing of legislation and the lasting effects of that legislation on the psychiatric community.<\/p>\n

Carlson, A. Cheree. The Crimes of Womanhood: Defining Femininity in a Court of Law<\/em>. Baltimore: University of Illinois Press, 2008.<\/p>\n

Carlson\u2019s work puts the work of these women in the context of femininity in the court and how their accomplishments were monumental to legislation for women. Carlson has a chapter dedicated to Elizabeth Packard that will place her work in the context of proving women\u2019s sanity in the court and how that impacted both Elizabeth and future women in asylums.<\/p>\n

Chesler, Phyllis. Women and Madness<\/em>. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.<\/p>\n

Chesler\u2019s works to compare Packard\u2019s experience to that of other women which shows the importance of Packard\u2019s experience in the asylum. This work also provides context and an understanding of other women\u2019s treatment in the asylum allowing for a better understanding of Packard\u2019s personal accounts.<\/p>\n

Grob, Gerald. The Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America\u2019s Mentally Ill<\/em>. New York: The Free Press, 1994.<\/p>\n

Grob touches on Elizabeth Packard\u2019s story to further the understanding of treatment of mentally ill patients throughout history. He uses her story to explain how her experiences and then political activism led to the creation of the National Association for the Protection of the Insane and Prevention of Insanity.<\/p>\n

Hartog, Hendrik. Mrs. Packard on Dependency<\/em>. Yale J.L. & Human, 1989.<\/p>\n

Hartog focuses on how the men involved in Elizabeth Packard\u2019s commitment to the Illinois Insane Asylum represents the dependence that women had on men during the late 19th<\/sup> century. This source is beneficial to this research because it also utilizes Packard\u2019s accounts to show how Packard increasingly attempted to become legally less dependent on her husband and men in general.<\/p>\n

Himelhoch, Myra Samuels, and Arthur H Shaffer. \u201cElizabeth Packard: Nineteenth-Century Crusader for the Rights of Mental Patients.\u201d Journal of American studies<\/em> 13, no. 3, 1979: 343\u2013375.<\/p>\n

Himelock and Schaffer argue that while Packard was a strong figure in the reform of mental institutions, she was often attacked by both the press and physicians for the reforms she was trying to pass. This is an important secondary source because it shows the relationship that Packard\u2019s efforts had with the public.<\/p>\n

Mann, Emily. Mrs. Packard<\/em>. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2009.<\/p>\n

This is a production that is based on Elizabeth Packard\u2019s life events. This is beneficial because it represents how impactful Packard\u2019s story and efforts were.<\/p>\n

Moore, Kate. The Woman they Could not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men who Tried to Make Her Disappear<\/em>. New York: Sourcebooks, 2021.<\/p>\n

This secondary source is a new approach on Elizabeth Packard\u2019s story and provides the most recent historiography on her life experience. It provides a general background and information that is important to understanding Packard\u2019s entire story.<\/p>\n

“Packard v. Packard: 1864.” Great American Trials. Encyclopedia.com.<\/em> <\/p>\n

This the court case between Reverend Theophilus Packard and Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard. This is an important source because it shows Elizabeth as the defendant and able to defend herself in the court of law as a woman. The outcome of the case concluded Elizabeth to be sane, and important step to her ability to be able to pursue further advocacy for women in mental health.<\/p>\n

Pouba, Katherine and Ashely Tianen. Lunacy I the 19th<\/sup> Century: Women\u2019s Admission to Asylums in the United States of America<\/em>. Oshkosh: University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 2006.<\/p>\n

This source provides a general understanding of women\u2019s experiences in asylums in the 19th<\/sup> century and how it relates to Elizabeth Packard. This will provide a general context and understanding that will then provide a basis to place Packard\u2019s story in.<\/p>\n

Reiss, Benjamin. Theaters of Madness: Insane Asylums and Nineteenth-Century American Culture<\/em>. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.<\/p>\n

Reiss touches on both Packard\u2019s experience in the asylum and how her experience resulted in the creation of legislation. This work will be most beneficial in the understanding of the laws and legislation passed and how psychiatry was viewed by women in the 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

Sapinsley, Barbara. The Private War of Mrs. Packard<\/em>. New York: Kodansha International, 1995.<\/p>\n

Sapinsley touches on Elizabeth\u2019s relationship with her husband and how it influenced her eventual institutionalization. It also provides a great basis for information on her homelife in general.<\/p>\n

Primary Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eghigian, Greg. From Madness to Mental Health: Psychiatric Disorder and Its Treatment in Western Civilization<\/em>. Piscataway: Rutgers University Press, 2009.<\/p>\n

Eghigian\u2019s work comprises of primary sources and firsthand accounts of mental health patients throughout history. He includes in this a firsthand account of Elizabeth Packard called \u201cMrs. Cheneworth\u2019s Suicide \u2013 Medical Abuse\u201d that showcases how the treatment of women in the Illinois asylum was exploitive and detrimental to their health and safety.<\/p>\n

Geller, Jeffery, and Maxine Harris. Women of the Asylum: Voices from Behind the Walls, 1840-1945<\/em>. New York: Anchor Books, 1995.<\/p>\n

Geller and Harris\u2019s work provides both overall context for the condition of asylums during Packard\u2019s commitment while also including Packard\u2019s personal accounts. This work is important because Packard described her stay in the asylum and the conditions that she lived with for those three years. It also touches on her life after her stay and her attempts to defy her husband\u2019s desire to re-commit her.<\/p>\n

“One Woman’s Life Work: Mrs. Packard’s Long Labors for Relief of the Insane.\u201d Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922),<\/em> Aug 01, 1897.<\/p>\n

This is a news article and eulogy regarding Elizabeth Packard\u2019s efforts in helping the insane and women. It includes how she raised funds for hospitals, increased women\u2019s rights, and how she went about to accomplish her goals. This is an important document because it shows what the public thought of her efforts in the late 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

\u201cModern Persecution.\u201d Disability History Museum<\/em>. 1873.<\/p>\n

This primary source is a collection of drawings and images that regard to Elizabeth Packard\u2019s experience before, during, and after her stay in the Illinois asylum. This is a beneficial source because it provides visual aid to the treatment of Elizabeth as well as portrays treatment in asylum overall.<\/p>\n

Packard, Elizabeth. Marital Power Exemplified in Mrs. Packard\u2019s Trial and Self-Defense from the Charge of Insanity<\/em>. Chicago: Clarke & Co Publishers, 1870.<\/p>\n

This is Elizabeth Packard\u2019s personal account of the lawsuit she had against her husband for wrongly committing her to the Illinois Insane Asylum and then proceeding to imprison her in their home after her discharge from the asylum. This is important to this research because it gives Packard\u2019s direct opinion on her own trial while also providing a primary source on the entire ordeal.<\/p>\n

Packard, Elizabeth. Modern Persecution, or Insane Asylums Unveiled: As Demonstrated by the Report of the Investigating Committee of the Legislature of Illinois.<\/em> New York: Pelletreau & Raynor, 1873.<\/p>\n

This is Elizabeth Packard\u2019s own publication on her entire experience from the bible class that gave her husband the desire to declare her insane to her life in the asylum, and her legal attempts to increase the protection of those in asylums. This source is extremely vital to this research for its invaluable firsthand accounts and abundance of writing from Packard herself.<\/p>\n

Packard, Elizabeth. The Prisoner\u2019s Hidden Life, or Insane Asylums Unveiled: As Demonstrated by the Report of the Investigating Committee of the Legislature of Illinois<\/em>. Chicago: Packard, 1868.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Packard worked alongside the Illinois Legislature to create this primary source that combines her personal experience with that of the broader treatment of patients in insane asylums during the late 19th<\/sup> century. This source will provide further context on her experience and how she was able to get the state to listen to her story and pass legislation.  <\/p>\n

Packard, E. P. W. “Depravity of A Clergyman.: The Wife of a Preacher Imprisoned Three Years on Pretense Of Insanity\u201d Chicago Tribune (1860-1872),<\/em> Jan 28, 1864.<\/p>\n

This is a news paper article that Elizabeth Packard wrote when she was released from the asylum. This is an important document because it is one of the first accounts from her and it openly states how her husband mistreated her and wrongly committed her. The content of the article is what is interesting since she was a woman openly berating her husband.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth Packard was a vital figure in the reformation and social awareness of mental health in the 19th century. After being involuntarily committed to the Illinois Insane Asylum by her reverend husband for merely having differing religious beliefs, she remained institutionalized for three years. While institutionalized, she continuously plead to be released and was adamant\u2026 Continue reading Project Proposal \u2013 Elizabeth Packard<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287,"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions\/287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.mcclurken.org\/HistoryOfMentalHealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}