Advertisement
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Into The Madhouse Nellie Bly, 2021-01-25 PLUCKY NELLIE BLY! “No young writer has ever leaped into such sudden fame in New York as Miss Nellie Bly, who did that lunatic asylum exposure for the New York World. She is a bright, handsome young lady, less than twenty years old, who came to the metropolis from Pittsburg a few months ago, and pluckily undertook to make her living by newspaper work in the great city. She deceived the expert physicians who examined her, and pronouncing her insane they consigned her to one of the insane wards of Blackwell’s Island, where she dwelt among horrors for ten days, noting down in her quick brain all that she saw and heard. The old song says: “Nellie Bly, shuts her eye When she goes to sleep,” but she seems never to have closed a peeper during the whole of that trying ordeal. Her narrative of the horrors of the place—the indifference of doctors, the neglect and cruelty of the nurses and the tortures inflicted upon the unfortunates, is told in a plain, straightforward manner and attests at once to her humanity and truth.” - November, 1887 This volume collects for the first time ever all the reporting surrounding Nellie Bly’s blockbuster undercover story that launched her to fame, including all three versions from her own pen: - Bly's initial account across three articles for the New York World - Bly's bestselling book Ten Days In A Mad-House - Bly's long-form 1889 article Among The Mad for Godey's Lady's Book Also included are over two dozen contemporary articles relating to Bly's madhouse stay, including the attempt by the New York Sun to scoop Bly on her own story! With a foreword by David Blixt, author of What Girls Are Good For: A Novel Of Nellie Bly, The Master Of Verona, and Her Majesty's Will. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Ten Days in a Mad-House (EasyRead Super Large 18pt Edition) Nellie Bly, 2007 |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Report of the Committee on Public Health Relative to Lunatic Asylums New York (State). Legislature. Senate. Committee on Public Health, 1879 |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: The Mad Girls of New York Maya Rodale, 2022-04-26 One of Amazon’s Best Books of 2022 So Far! “Gloriously recommended.” —Historical Novel Society A gripping and compelling novel based on the true story of fearless reporter Nellie Bly, who will stop at nothing to prove that a woman’s place is on the front page. In 1887 New York City, Nellie Bly has ambitions beyond writing for the ladies pages, but all the editors on Newspaper Row think women are too emotional, respectable and delicate to do the job. But then the New York World challenges her to an assignment she'd be mad to accept and mad to refuse: go undercover as a patient at Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum for women. For months, rumors have been swirling about deplorable conditions at Blackwell’s but no reporter can get in—that is, until Nellie feigns insanity, gets herself committed and attempts to survive ten days in the madhouse. Once inside, Nellie befriends her fellow patients who help her uncover shocking truths about the asylum. It’s a story that promises to be explosive—but will she get out before rival reporters get the scoop? From USA Today bestselling author Maya Rodale comes a witty, energetic and uplifting novel about a woman who defied convention to become the most famous reporter in Gilded Age New York. Perfect for fans of hidden histories about women who triumph. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Damnation Island Stacy Horn, 2018-05-15 “A riveting character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell’s Island.” —Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man’s Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica On a two-mile stretch of land in New York’s East River, a 19th-century horror story was unfolding . . . Today we call it Roosevelt Island. Then, it was Blackwell’s, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals. Conceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world ever seen, Blackwell’s Island quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, “a lounging, listless madhouse.” In the first contemporary investigative account of Blackwell’s, Stacy Horn tells this chilling narrative through the gripping voices of the island’s inhabitants, as well as the period’s officials, reformers, and journalists, including the celebrated Nellie Bly. Digging through city records, newspaper articles, and archival reports, Horn brings this forgotten history alive: there was terrible overcrowding; prisoners were enlisted to care for the insane; punishment was harsh and unfair; and treatment was nonexistent. Throughout the book, we return to the extraordinary Reverend William Glenney French as he ministers to Blackwell’s residents, battles the bureaucratic mazes of the Department of Correction and a corrupt City Hall, testifies at salacious trials, and in his diary wonders about man’s inhumanity to man. In Damnation Island, Stacy Horn shows us how far we’ve come in caring for the least fortunate among us—and reminds us how much work still remains. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: The Mystery Of Central Park Nellie Bly, 2021-03-16 An astonishing discovery! Available for the first time in 125 years, the Lost Novels Of Nellie Bly! Pioneering undercover journalist Nellie Bly is rightly famous for exposing society's ills. From brutal insane asylums to corrupt politicians, she used the pages of the New York World to bring down all manner of frauds, cheats, and charlatans. What no one knows is that Nellie Bly was also a novelist. Because, of the twelve novels Bly wrote between 1889 and 1895, eleven have been lost - until now! Newly discovered by author David Blixt (What Girls Are Good For, The Master Of Verona), Nellie Bly's lost works of fiction are available for the first time! These are The Lost Novels of Nellie Bly! Nellie Bly's first novel, in a newly revised edition! A rejected marriage proposal and the corpse of a dead beauty confound Dick Treadwell’s hopes for happiness, until his beloved Penelope sets him a task: she will marry him if he solves—The Mystery of Central Park! Dick and his sweetheart Penelope discover the body of a beautiful young woman posed upon a Central Park bench. Instantly Dick is suspected of having something to do with the young woman’s death. Moreover, Penelope has long been urging the ne’er-do-well Dick to accomplish something with his life. So he sets out to discover the dead woman’s identity and solve the riddle of her death. Was it innocent? Suicide? Or was it murder? From the twinkling lights of New York’s high society to dens of iniquity, Dick follows every trail until he uncovers a tenuous lead. Saving another young woman from the jaws of death, he puts his happiness in jeopardy to confront the scoundrel responsible for the dead woman’s fate. Inspired by Bly’s own reporting during her time at the New York World, as she tracked down real-life scoundrels in both business and society, this edition combines both published versions of—The Mystery Of Central Park! This new edition combines both versions of Bly's first novel into one new text! Bonus: includes Bly's articles that inspired the story, including The Infamy Of The Park! |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Roosevelt Island Judith Berdy, 2003 Roosevelt Island captures the fascinating and sometimes curious history of an island located halfway between Manhattan and Queens in the East River. In 1824, the city of New York purchased Blackwell's Island, later Welfare Island, as a site for its lunatic asylum, penitentiary, workhouses, and almshouses. In the years that followed, the island was a temporary home for several of New York City's famous and infamous. William Marcy Tweed, better known as Boss Tweed, was imprisoned at the penitentiary in the 1870s. Mae West was incarcerated in 1927 at the Workhouse for Women after her appearance in a play called Sex. After many institutions were closed or relocated, Welfare Island was virtually ignored until 1973, when it was reborn as Roosevelt Island, which is now a model planned community and thriving home to almost ten thousand people. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: The Girl Puzzle: A Story of Nellie Bly Kate Braithwaite, 2019-03-06 Her published story is well known. But did she tell the whole truth about her ten days in the madhouse? Down to her last dime and offered the chance of a job of a lifetime at The New York World, twenty-three-year old Elizabeth Cochrane agrees to get herself admitted to Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum and report on conditions from the inside. But what happened to her poor friend, Tilly Mayard? Was there more to her high praise of Dr Frank Ingram than everyone knew? Thirty years later, Elizabeth, known as Nellie Bly, is no longer a celebrated trailblazer and the toast of Newspaper Row. Instead, she lives in a suite in the Hotel McAlpin, writes a column for The New York Journal and runs an informal adoption agency for the city's orphans. Beatrice Alexander is her secretary, fascinated by Miss Bly and her causes and crusades. Asked to type up a manuscript revisiting her employer's experiences in the asylum in 1887, Beatrice believes she's been given the key to understanding one of the most innovative and daring figures of the age. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: A Feigned Madness Tonya Mitchell, 2020-10-06 Winner of the 2021 Phoenix Award in Historical Fiction from the Kops-Fetherling International Book Awards Winner of the 2021 Silver Reader View Reviewer's Choice Award in Historical Fiction The insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island is a human rat trap. It is easy to get in, but once there it is impossible to get out. —Nellie Bly Elizabeth Cochrane has a secret. She isn’t the madwoman with amnesia the doctors and inmates at Blackwell’s Asylum think she is. In truth, she’s working undercover for the New York World. When the managing editor refuses to hire her because she’s a woman, Elizabeth strikes a deal: in exchange for a job, she’ll impersonate a lunatic to expose a local asylum’s abuses. When she arrives at the asylum, Elizabeth realizes she must make a decision—is she there merely to bear witness, or to intervene on behalf of the abused inmates? Can she interfere without blowing her cover? As the superintendent of the asylum grows increasingly suspicious, Elizabeth knows her scheme—and her dream of becoming a journalist in New York—is in jeopardy. A Feigned Madness is a meticulously researched, fictionalized account of the woman who would come to be known as daredevil reporter Nellie Bly. At a time of cutthroat journalism, when newspapers battled for readers at any cost, Bly emerged as one of the first to break through the gender barrier—a woman who would, through her daring exploits, forge a trail for women fighting for their place in the world. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Around the World in Seventy-Two Days Nellie Bly, 2021-05-06 Nellie Bly’s solo trip around the globe broke records as she chronicled her journey in this fantastic vintage travelogue. First published in 1890, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days offers a unique perspective of the world in the late 19th century. Writing under the pseudonym of Nellie Bly, the American journalist, Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, traveled around the world following in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg. Inspired by Verne’s novel, Around the World in Eighty Days, Bly brought Fogg’s fantastic adventure to life through her journalistic account writing for the New York World newspaper in 1889. With her money in a bag tied around her neck, a small bag of toiletries, and the clothes on her back, Bly traveled the globe. Through her detailed journal, she offers exciting accounts of her experiences and glimpses into a multitude of the cultures she encountered on her voyage. The contents in this volume include: - A Proposal to Girdle the Earth - The Start - Southampton to Jules Verne’s - Jules Verne at Home - On to Brindisi Republished by Read & Co. Travel with an introductory author biography by Frances E. Willard and Mary A. Livermore, this late 1800s travelogue offers an immersive exploration of the world through the eyes of a pioneering Victorian woman. A perfect read for lovers of travel writing and those interested in the cultural history of the world. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Vanished in Hiawatha Carla Joinson, 2020-11-01 Begun as a pork-barrel project by the federal government in the early 1900s, the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians (also known as the Hiawatha Insane Asylum) quickly became a dumping ground for inconvenient Indians. The federal institution in Canton, South Dakota, deprived many Native patients of their freedom without genuine cause, often requiring only the signature of a reservation agent. Only nine Native patients in the asylum’s history were committed by court order. Without interpreters, mental evaluations, or therapeutic programs, few patients recovered. But who cared about Indians in South Dakota? After three decades of complacency, both the superintendent and the city of Canton were surprised to discover that someone did care, and that a bitter fight to shut the asylum down was about to begin. In this disturbing tale, Carla Joinson unravels the question of why this institution persisted for so many years. She also investigates the people who allowed Canton Asylum’s mismanagement to reach such staggering proportions and asks why its administrators and staff were so indifferent to the misery experienced by their patients. Vanished in Hiawatha is the harrowing tale of the mistreatment of Native American patients at a notorious asylum whose history helps us to understand the broader mistreatment of Native peoples under forced federal assimilation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Ten Days in a Mad-House: A Graphic Adaptation Brad Ricca, 2022-04-19 AN EISNER AWARD NOMINEE A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY “BEST NEW COMIC OF 2022 FOR ADULTS” Beautifully adapted and rendered through piercing illustrations by acclaimed creators Brad Ricca and Courtney Sieh, Nellie Bly’s complete, true-to-life 19th-century investigation of Blackwell Asylum captures a groundbreaking moment in history and reveals a haunting and timely glimpse at the starting point for conversations on mental health. “I said I could and I would. And I did.” While working for Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper in 1887, Nellie Bly began an undercover investigation into the local Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell Island. Intent on seeing what life was like on the inside, Bly fooled trained physicians into thinking she was insane—a task too easily achieved—and had herself committed. In her ten days at the asylum, Bly witnessed horrifying conditions: the food was inedible, the women were forced into labor for the staff, the nurses and doctors were cruel or indifferent, and many of the women held there had no mental disorder of any kind. Now adapted into graphic novel form by Brad Ricca and vividly rendered with beautiful and haunting illustrations by Courtney Sieh, Bly’s bold venture is given new life and meaning. Her fearless investigation into the living conditions at the Blackwell Asylum forever changed the field of journalism. A timely reminder to take notice of forgotten populations, Ten Days in a Mad-House warns us what happens when we look away. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Following Nellie Bly Rosemary J. Brown, 2021-05-31 The remarkable story of one of the great pioneering women adventures of the 19th century. Intrepid journalist Nellie Bly raced through a ‘man’s world’ — alone and literally with just the clothes on her back — to beat the fictional record set by Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days. She won the race on 25 January 1890, covering 21,740 miles by ocean liner and train in 72 days, and became a global celebrity. Although best known for her record-breaking journey, even more importantly Nellie Bly pioneered investigative journalism and paved the way for women in the newsroom. Her undercover reporting, advocacy for women's rights, crusades for vulnerable children, campaigns against oppression and steadfast conviction that 'nothing is impossible' makes the world that she circled a better place. Adventurer, journalist and author, Rosemary J Brown, set off 125 years later to retrace Nellie Bly’s footsteps in an expedition registered with the Royal Geographical Society. Through her recreation of that epic global journey, she brings to life Nellie Bly’s remarkable achievements and shines a light on one of the world's greatest female adventurers and a forgotten heroine of history. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum W. H. Davenport, 2012-01-01 An illustrated look inside a mid nineteenth century lunatic asylum located in New York City. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: What Girls Are Good For David Blixt, 2023-11-17 ★★★★★ - David Blixt pens a heroine for the ages in What Girls Are Good For, which follows the extraordinary career of pioneer newspaperwoman Nellie Bly. A pint-sized dynamo who refuses to stay in the kitchen, Nellie fights tooth and nail to make a name for herself as a journalist, battling complacent men, corrupt institutions, and her own demons along the way. This real-life Lois Lane had me cheering aloud as I turned the pages - simply a delight! — Kate Quinn, NY Times Bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Rose Code A well-crafted and thoughtful work of historical fiction. — Kirkus Reviews From Bestselling Author David Blixt: Nellie Bly has the story of a lifetime — if she can she survive to tell it! Step into the thrilling world of investigative journalism! This captivating novel takes you back in time to the 19th century, where pioneering undercover reporter Nellie Bly shatters barriers and defies expectations. Enraged by an article entitled ‘What Girls Are Good For’, Elizabeth Cochrane pens an angry letter to the Pittsburgh Dispatch, never imagining a Victorian newspaper would hire a woman reporter. Taking the name Nellie Bly, she struggles against the male-dominated industry, reporting stories no one else will tell — the stories of downtrodden women. Chased out of Mexico for revealing government corruption, her romantic advances rejected by a married colleague, Bly earns the chance to break into New York’s Newspaper Row if she can nab a major scoop — life inside a madhouse. Feigning madness, she dupes the court into committing her to the Insane Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. But matters on the Island are far worse than she ever dreamed. Stripped, drugged, beaten, she must endure a week of terror, reliving the darkest days of her childhood, in order to escape and tell the world her story. Only, at the end of the week, no rescue comes, and she fears she may be trapped forever... Based on the real-life events of Nellie Bly’s life and reporting, What Girls Are Good For is a tale of rage, determination, and triumph — all in the frame of a tiny Pennsylvania spitfire who refused to let the world change her, and changed the world instead. Praise for What Girls Are Good For: ★★★★★ — With rich imagination and meticulous research, David Blixt has brought the hectic, exciting world of nineteenth-century journalism vividly to life. His Nellie Bly is determined, independent, crafty, irresistible -- a heroine any reader would be delighted to get to know. — Matthew Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of Eighty Days ★★★★★ — Dramatic, engrossing, and spirited, What Girls Are Good For takes the reader straight to the heart of an unsung American hero--a feminist icon whose voice rings loud and true. This is a must-read for anyone who loves an underdog and celebrates justice; the perfect accompaniment for our present times. — Olivia Hawker, international bestselling author of The Ragged Edge of Night ★★★★★ — Author David Blixt delivers a great story about Nellie before she exposes the horrors she endured during her stay at the asylum on Blackwell Island. The portrayal of Nellie Bly in What Girls Are Good For is astonishing and doesn’t give you the fake twists and turns and add-ons that a lot of historical fiction does. The characters are likable and I feel that Blixt did a wonderful job of capturing Nellie’s voice and personality in his words. I would love to read more of his work. Without a doubt, the best book I have read this month! — Readers' Favorite 5-Star Review |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: A History of Public Health: From Past to Present Jan Kirk Carney, 2022-03-10 A History of Public Health: From Past to Present uses a structured format to study public health from antiquity to the present time. After a brief introduction, this concise text illuminates defining moments in public health history through stories that illustrate people, principles, and challenges. These are followed by a discussion of history’s relevance to contemporary practice. Suggestions for additional study, discussion questions, and references complete each chapter. Key Features: • Emphasis on selected narratives - more detailed stories - to highlight defining moments in public health history and help readers to remember key historical events, their significance, and determine their relevance to today’s issues and practice. • Easily accessible references and primary sources are included for additional study and context. • Ample visuals and graphics highlight people, priorities, art, public opinion, and trends relevant to the time period,, and more. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Ten Days In a Mad-House Nellie Bly, 2021-02-09 She went undercover to expose an insane asylum's horrors. Now Nellie Bly is getting her due. ― Diane Bernard, The Washington Post It is only after one is in trouble that one realizes how little sympathy and kindness there are in the world. Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by American journalist Nellie Bly. It was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World; Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. The book was based on articles written while Bly was on an undercover assignment for the New York World, feigning insanity at a women's boarding house, so as to be involuntarily committed to an insane asylum. She then investigated the reports of brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. The book received acclaim from critics at the time. Accumulation of her reportage and the release of her content brought her fame and led to a grand jury investigation and financial increase in the Department of Public Charities and Corrections. A True Classic that Belongs on Every Bookshelf! |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: The City Record , 1878 |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Nellie Bly Brooke Kroeger, 1994 Now in paperback--the acclaimed biography of Nellie Bly, the thrilling account of a trailblazer (Pat Morrison, Los Angeles Times Book Review). Kroeger's biography of Nellie Bly moves at almost as fast a pace as did Bly's remarkable life.--Mindy Spatt, San Francisco Chronicle. Photos & illustrations. From the Trade Paperback edition. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Kings Park Psychiatric Center: a Journey Through History Jason Medina, 2018-02-20 This book is the definitive history of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center, which at one time, was the largest state hospital in New York. Located on Long Island, it occupied nearly 873 acres of land and was in operation from 1885 to 1996. At its prime, it housed up to ten thousand patients. Today, much of its former land belongs to the Nissequogue River State Park, but its many abandoned hospital buildings have become a magnet for urban explorers, ghost hunters, and scavengers. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: The Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide (Third Edition) Sharon Seitz, Stuart Miller, 2011-06-06 “A well-written and comprehensive tale . . . a lively history of the people and events that forged modern-day New York City.”—The Urban Audubon Experience a seldom-seen New York City with journalists and NYC natives Sharon Seitz and Stuart Miller as they show you the 42 islands in this city’s diverse archipelago. Within the city’s boundaries there are dozens of islands—some famous, like Ellis, some infamous, like Rikers, and others forgotten, like North Brother, where Typhoid Mary spent nearly 30 years in confinement. While the spotlight often falls on the museums, trends, and restaurants of Manhattan, the city’s other islands have vivid and intriguing stories to tell. They offer the day-tripper everything from nature trails to military garrisons. This detailed guide and comprehensive history will give you a sense of how New York City’s politics, population, and landscape have evolved over the last several centuries through the prism of its islands. Full of practical information on how to reach each island, what you’ll see there, and colorful stories, facts, and legends, The Other Islands of New York City is much more than a travel guide. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: The City Record New York (N.Y.), 1873 |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: And What Is Hell? Sara Ramsey, Dorothy Ramsey, 2015-06-15 A True Story: Exposing The Dark Secrets Of The Insane Asylum. I did not know it was hell until that first night!A place of cruel torture, of starvation, of murder, of flagrant injustice, of hatred, of despair, of envy. As Told By Sara Ramsey And Written By Dorothy Ramsey Sara and James, who with all their hungry souls sought the truth and understanding of Gods Words, (as evidenced by her poetry throughout the book), were apprehended on December 18, 1912, judged and committed without a trial or defense for being impoverished street preachers and for living together while not being legally married by the laws of man. They were sent to Patton State Hospital, then known as The Insane Asylum, in San Bernardino County, California. At the time qualifying afflictions included: religious excitement, spiritualism, worry, overwork, love affairs, seduction, alcoholism, drug and tobacco abuse, privation, politics, asthma, desertion by husband, grief, change of life and old age. Whether sent by a judge or family member, the poor unfortunates institutionalized lost every freedom and were deprived of human rights and dignity. The horrors were indelibly impressed in Saras mind. She felt if she told her story it could save others from anguish and torment. This story is important because people are important. How we treat the young, the elderly, weak, vulnerable, mentally ill or physically ill, the poor and homeless is ultimately a true reflection of our society. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Damnation Island Stacy Horn, 2018-05-15 Enthralling; it is well worth the trip.” --New York Journal of Books Conceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world had ever seen, New York’s Blackwell’s Island, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals, quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, a lounging, listless madhouse. Digging through city records, newspaper articles, and archival reports, Stacy Horn tells a gripping narrative through the voices of the island’s inhabitants. We also hear from the era’s officials, reformers, and journalists, including the celebrated undercover reporter Nellie Bly. And we follow the extraordinary Reverend William Glenney French as he ministers to Blackwell’s residents, battles the bureaucratic mazes of the Department of Correction and a corrupt City Hall, testifies at salacious trials, and in his diary wonders about man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. Damnation Island shows how far we’ve come in caring for the least fortunate among us—and reminds us how much work still remains. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: History of New York City Benson John Lossing, 1884 |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: South Carolina State Hospital, The: Stories from Bull Street William Buchheit, 2020 Nearly two decades after it closed, the South Carolina State Hospital continues to hold a palpable mystique in Columbia and throughout the state. Founded in 1821 as the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, it housed, fed and treated thousands of patients incapable of surviving on their own. The patient population in 1961 eclipsed 6,600, well above its listed capacity of 4,823, despite an operating budget that ranked forty-fifth out of the forty-eight states with such large public hospitals. By the mid-1990s, the patient population had fallen under 700, and the hospital had become a symbol of captivity, horror and chaos. Author William Buchheit details this history through the words and interviews of those who worked on the iconic campus. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: A Deadly Fortune Stacie Murphy, 2021-01-05 A historical mystery in the vein of The Alienist, in which a young woman in Gilded Age New York must use a special talent to unravel a deadly conspiracy. Amelia Matthew has done the all-but-impossible, especially for an orphan in Gilded Age New York City. Along with her foster brother Jonas, she has parleyed her modest psychic talent into a safe and comfortable life. But safety and comfort vanish when a head injury leaves Amelia with a dramatically-expanded gift. After she publicly channels an angry spirit, she finds herself imprisoned in the notorious insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island. As Jonas searches for a way to free her, Amelia struggles to control her disturbing new abilities and survive a place where cruelty and despair threaten her sanity. Andrew Cavanaugh is familiar with despair. In the wake of a devastating loss, he abandons a promising medical career—and his place in Philadelphia society—to devote himself to the study and treatment of mental disease. Miss Amelia Matthew is just another patient—until she channels a spirit in front of him and proves her gift is real. When a distraught mother comes to Andrew searching for her missing daughter—a daughter she believes is being hidden at the asylum—he turns to Amelia. Together, they uncover evidence of a deadly conspiracy, and then it’s no longer just Amelia’s sanity and freedom at stake. Amelia must master her gift and use it to catch a killer—or risk becoming the next victim. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: A Haunted History of Invisible Women Leanna Renee Hieber, Andrea Janes, 2022-09-27 From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester's mysterious mansion this offbeat, insightful, first-ever book of its kind explores the history behind America’s female ghosts, the stereotypes, myths, and paranormal tales that swirl around them, what their stories reveal about us—and why they haunt us . . . Sorrowful widows, vengeful jezebels, innocent maidens, wronged lovers, former slaves, even the occasional axe-murderess—America’s female ghosts differ widely in background, class, and circumstance. Yet one thing unites them: their ability to instill fascination and fear, long after their deaths. Here are the full stories behind some of the best-known among them, as well as the lesser-known—though no less powerful . . . Tales whispered in darkness often divulge more about the teller than the subject. America’s most famous female ghosts, from ‘Mrs. Spencer’ who haunted Joan Rivers’ New York apartment to Bridget Bishop, the first person executed during the Salem witchcraft trials, mirror each era’s fears and prejudices. Yet through urban legends and campfire stories, even ghosts like the nameless hard-working women lost in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire —achieve a measure of power and agency in death, in ways unavailable to them as living women. Riveting for skeptics and believers alike, with humor, curiosity, and expertise, A Haunted History of Invisible Women offers a unique lens on the significant role these ghostly legends play both within the spook-seeking corners of our minds and in the consciousness of a nation. Afterword by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Linda D. Addison “An absolute must-buy for the spooky people of the world . . . utterly brilliant.” —Mallory O'Meara, bestselling author of The Lady from the Black Lagoon and Girly Drinks “If this book doesn’t leave with you a sense of wonder and a healthy dose of goosebumps, check your pulse—you may already be among the spirits.” --Marc Hartzman, author of Chasing Ghosts: A Tour of Our Fascination with Spirits and the Supernatural |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: American Psychosis E. Fuller Torrey, 2013-08-22 In 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered an historic speech on mental illness and retardation. He described sweeping new programs to replace the shabby treatment of the many millions of the mentally disabled in custodial institutions with treatment in community mental health centers. This movement, later referred to as deinstitutionalization, continues to impact mental health care. Though he never publicly acknowledged it, the program was a tribute to Kennedy's sister Rosemary, who was born mildly retarded and developed a schizophrenia-like illness. Terrified she'd become pregnant, Joseph Kennedy arranged for his daughter to receive a lobotomy, which was a disaster and left her severely retarded. Fifty years after Kennedy's speech, E. Fuller Torrey's book provides an inside perspective on the birth of the federal mental health program. On staff at the National Institute of Mental Health when the program was being developed and implemented, Torrey draws on his own first-hand account of the creation and launch of the program, extensive research, one-on-one interviews with people involved, and recently unearthed audiotapes of interviews with major figures involved in the legislation. As such, this book provides historical material previously unavailable to the public. Torrey examines the Kennedys' involvement in the policy, the role of major players, the responsibility of the state versus the federal government in caring for the mentally ill, the political maneuverings required to pass the legislation, and how closing institutions resulted not in better care - as was the aim - but in underfunded programs, neglect, and higher rates of community violence. Many now wonder why public mental illness services are so ineffective. At least one-third of the homeless are seriously mentally ill, jails and prisons are grossly overcrowded, largely because the seriously mentally ill constitute 20 percent of prisoners, and public facilities are overrun by untreated individuals. As Torrey argues, it is imperative to understand how we got here in order to move forward towards providing better care for the most vulnerable. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Bellevue David Oshinsky, 2016-11-15 From a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian comes a riveting history of New York's iconic public hospital that charts the turbulent rise of American medicine. Bellevue Hospital, on New York City's East Side, occupies a colorful and horrifying place in the public imagination: a den of mangled crime victims, vicious psychopaths, assorted derelicts, lunatics, and exotic-disease sufferers. In its two and a half centuries of service, there was hardly an epidemic or social catastrophe—or groundbreaking scientific advance—that did not touch Bellevue. David Oshinsky, whose last book, Polio: An American Story, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, chronicles the history of America's oldest hospital and in so doing also charts the rise of New York to the nation's preeminent city, the path of American medicine from butchery and quackery to a professional and scientific endeavor, and the growth of a civic institution. From its origins in 1738 as an almshouse and pesthouse, Bellevue today is a revered public hospital bringing first-class care to anyone in need. With its diverse, ailing, and unprotesting patient population, the hospital was a natural laboratory for the nation's first clinical research. It treated tens of thousands of Civil War soldiers, launched the first civilian ambulance corps and the first nursing school for women, pioneered medical photography and psychiatric treatment, and spurred New York City to establish the country's first official Board of Health. As medical technology advanced, voluntary hospitals began to seek out patients willing to pay for their care. For charity cases, it was left to Bellevue to fill the void. The latter decades of the twentieth century brought rampant crime, drug addiction, and homelessness to the nation's struggling cities—problems that called a public hospital's very survival into question. It took the AIDS crisis to cement Bellevue's enduring place as New York's ultimate safety net, the iconic hospital of last resort. Lively, page-turning, fascinating, Bellevue is essential American history. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Madwoman Louisa Treger, 2023-03-30 **A HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES AND THE SUNDAY TIMES**___________________________'A moving story' SUNDAY TIMES, Best historical fiction books of 2022'A must read!' GILL PAUL'Intriguing ... A fascinating read' HAZEL GAYNOR'Remarkable' ESSIE FOX'An astonishing tour de force' REBECCA MASCULLIn 1887 young Nellie Bly sets out for New York and a career in journalism, determined to make her way as a serious reporter, whatever that may take.But life in the city is tougher than she imagined. Down to her last dime and desperate to prove her worth, she comes up with a dangerous plan: to fake insanity and have herself committed to the asylum that looms on Blackwell's Island. There, she will work undercover to document - and expose - the wretched conditions faced by the patients.But when the asylum door swings shut behind her, she finds herself in a place of horrors, governed by a harshness and cruelty she could never have imagined. Cold, isolated and starving, her days of terror reawaken the traumatic events of her childhood. She entered the asylum of her own free will - but will she ever get out?An extraordinary portrait of a woman way ahead of her time, Madwoman is the story of a quest for the truth that changed the world.'Madwoman is one of the best, a magnificent portrayal of Nelly Bly in all her journalistic integrity and daring' New York Journal of Books |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: The Dollhouse Fiona Davis, 2016-08-23 Enter the lush world of 1950s New York City, where a generation of aspiring models, secretaries, and editors live side by side in the glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success in this debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue. “Rich both in twists and period detail, this tale of big-city ambition is impossible to put down.”—People When she arrives at the famed Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secretarial school enrollment in hand, Darby McLaughlin is everything her modeling agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious, homesick, and utterly convinced she doesn't belong—a notion the models do nothing to disabuse. Yet when Darby befriends Esme, a Barbizon maid, she's introduced to an entirely new side of New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs where the music is as addictive as the heroin that's used there, the startling sounds of bebop, and even the possibility of romance. Over half a century later, the Barbizon's gone condo and most of its long-ago guests are forgotten. But rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish with a hotel maid back in 1952 haunt the halls of the building as surely as the melancholy music that floats from the elderly woman's rent-controlled apartment. It's a combination too intoxicating for journalist Rose Lewin, Darby's upstairs neighbor, to resist—not to mention the perfect distraction from her own imploding personal life. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her investigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged when the shocking truth is finally revealed. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Tenements, Towers & Trash Julia Wertz, 2017-10-03 A New York Times Notable Book of 2017! Here is New York, as you've never seen it before. A perfectly charming, sidesplittingly funny, intellectually entertaining illustrated history of the blocks, the buildings, and the guts of New York City, based on Julia Wertz's popular illustrated columns in The New Yorker and Harper's. In Tenements, Towers & Trash, Julia Wertz takes us behind the New York that you think you know. Not the tourist's New York-the Statue of Liberty makes a brief appearance and the Empire State Building not at all-but the guts, the underbelly, of this city that never sleeps. With drawings and comics in her signature style, Wertz regales us with streetscapes Then and Now and little-known tales, such as the lost history of Kim's Video, the complicated and unresolved business of Ray's Pizza, the vintage trash and horse bones that litter the shore of Brooklyn's Bottle Beach, the ludicrous pinball prohibition, Staten Island's secret abandoned boatyard, and the hair-raising legend of the infamous abortionist of Fifth Avenue, Madame Restell. From bars, bakeries, and bookstores to food carts, street cleaners, and apartments both cramped and grand, Tenements, Towers & Trash is a wild ride in a time machine taxi from the present day city to bygone days of yore. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Hidden History of Queens Richard Panchyk, 2019-09-30 True stories and vintage photos of this bustling New York City borough, covering everything from crime and corruption to a beloved Christmas poem. Queens has a history filled with fascinating firsts, cool characters and ramshackle ruins. From the nation’s first modern highway to the first-ever transatlantic flight, the borough has long been at the forefront of modern transportation. Poet Clement Clarke Moore was inspired by childhood memories of Elmhurst when he wrote the poem “’Twas the Night before Christmas.” The infamous William “Boss” Tweed once fled jail to a secret hideout in a Bayside hotel. The remains of the old Creedmoor Hospital complex in Queens Village are haunting, as are the eerie remnants of Fort Tilden in the Rockaways. In this fascinating book, Richard Panchyk reveals glimpses of the hidden history of Queens. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Manifesto of the Critical Theory of Society and Religion (3 Vols.) Rudolf Siebert, 2010-08-16 The Manifesto develops further the Critical Theory of Religion intrinsic to the Critical Theory of Society of the Frankfurt School into a new paradigm of the Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy and Theology of Religion. Its central theme is the theodicy problem in the context of late capitalist society and its globalization. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Manual of the corporation of the city of new york , 1856 |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: From Inebriate Asylums to Narcotic Farms Kenneth Anderson, 2022-04-29 The inebriate asylum movement of the 19th and early 20th century was guided by a dystopian vision which sought to incarcerate all drinkers until they were cured, and to incarcerate incurable inebriates for life. This plan to create a nationwide chain of state-run inebriate asylums to rival the insane asylums of the era, which was promoted by the American Association for the Cure of Inebriates, ended in abject failure. Few inebriate asylums were ever established, and those that were established did not last long. Many were shot through with political corruption and graft. Moreover, no state government was willing to pass a law to incarcerate drinkers indefinitely, perhaps for life. Most states never built an inebriate asylum or passed a law to commit inebriates to specialized inebriate institutions, for the few states which did pass such laws, the typical commitment was six months or one year. A rival movement of the same era sought to establish inebriate homes rather than asylums. Inebriate homes were run on the honor system and sought to cure with kindness and a client-centered approach which foreshadows Rogerian Therapy. Inebriate homes had more success than inebriate asylums; the Boston Washingtonian Home was in existence for more than a century. This book tells the story of the government-run and the non-profit addiction treatment facilities which were founded prior to the Repeal of Prohibition in 1933: inebriate asylums, homes, and farms, as well as the municipal narcotic clinics which dispensed morphine to addicts, the Federal Narcotic Farms at Lexington and Fort Worth, and the alcoholic ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. This book also discusses the close ties between the temperance movement and addiction treatment in the 19th and early 20th centuries and the automaton theory of inebriety, which presages today's hijacked brain theory. This book also discusses the genesis of the 12-step Minnesota Model at the State Inebriate Farm at Willmar, the introduction and disastrous ending of Synanon-based therapeutic communities at the Lexington Narcotic Farm, and the introduction of methadone programs at Bellevue and at the Boston Washingtonian Hospital. Groundbreaking studies of opiates, marijuana, barbiturates, alcohol, naloxone, and LSD conducted at the Lexington Narcotic Farm are also covered, as is the research at Bellevue Hospital on Korsakoff's Syndrome and the protective effect of vitamin B1. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Institution. Board of Regents, 1872 |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution , 1865 Vols. for 1847-1963/64 include the Institution's Report of the Secretary. |
blackwell's island insane asylum history: Exploring New York's SoHo Alfred Pommer, Eleanor Winters, 2012-09-25 This historical guide reveals the events, architecture and personalities that make SoHo one of Manhattan’s most storied neighborhoods. SoHo—short for South of Houston—is a world-famous tourist destination known for its high-end fashion boutiques, innovative restaurants, and gorgeous loft apartments. But these modern luxuries are intermingled with a rich history that can still be seen in the neighborhood’s architecture and Belgian block side streets. In fact, the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. SoHo’s beautiful old buildings tell a fascinating story of urban development, decline and regeneration. It was once the center of New York's show business world and its most infamous red-light district. The richest and poorest Manhattanites walked these streets, as well as historic notables such as John Jacob Astor, Harry Houdini, Aaron Burr and P.T. Barnum. In this colorful history, local authors Alfred Pommer and Eleanor Winters reveal these and other stories of an ever-changing SoHo. |
Blackwell (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia
Blackwell is a graphics processing unit (GPU) microarchitecture developed by Nvidia as the successor to the Hopper and Ada Lovelace microarchitectures.
Blackwell's, books for life and for learning Blackwell's
Trading since 1879, Blackwell of Oxford is the largest academic and specialist bookseller in the UK. Fast dispatch, carefully packaged, worldwide delivery.
The Engine Behind AI Factories | NVIDIA Blackwell Architecture
Building upon generations of NVIDIA technologies, NVIDIA Blackwell defines the next chapter in generative AI with unparalleled performance, efficiency, and scale. NVIDIA Blackwell …
NVIDIA RTX BLACKWELL GPU ARCHITECTURE
The NVIDIA RTX Blackwell architecture builds upon foundational AI technologies introduced in prior NVIDIA GPUs, enabling the next-generation of AI-powered gaming and professional …
NVIDIA Blackwell Platform Arrives to Power a New Era of ...
Mar 18, 2024 · Powering a new era of computing, NVIDIA today announced that the NVIDIA Blackwell platform has arrived — enabling organizations everywhere to build and run real-time …
Nvidia reveals Blackwell B200 GPU, the ‘world’s most powerful ...
Mar 18, 2024 · But perhaps Nvidia is about to extend its lead — with the new Blackwell B200 GPU and GB200 “superchip.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds up his new GPU on the left, next to …
Nvidia Blackwell architecture deep dive: A closer look at the ...
Jan 15, 2025 · The new Nvidia Blackwell GPU architecture will power the upcoming generation of RTX 50-series GPUs. We've known various details for a while now, and many have been …
NVIDIA Blackwell Delivers Breakthrough Performance in Latest ...
Jun 4, 2025 · The at-scale submissions used two AI supercomputers powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell platform: Tyche, built using NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 rack-scale systems, and Nyx, …
What’s So Great About Nvidia Blackwell? - Forbes
Nov 25, 2024 · Blackwell replaces the Lovelace architecture created in 2022, and according to the company, it delivers some pretty impressive performance increases as well as other …
NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra for the Era of AI Reasoning
Mar 19, 2025 · Blackwell Ultra is designed for massive-scale AI reasoning inference, delivering smarter, faster, and more efficient AI with optimal TCO.
Blackwell (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia
Blackwell is a graphics processing unit (GPU) microarchitecture developed by Nvidia as the successor to the Hopper and Ada Lovelace microarchitectures.
Blackwell's, books for life and for learning Blackwell's
Trading since 1879, Blackwell of Oxford is the largest academic and specialist bookseller in the UK. Fast dispatch, carefully packaged, worldwide delivery.
The Engine Behind AI Factories | NVIDIA Blackwell Architecture
Building upon generations of NVIDIA technologies, NVIDIA Blackwell defines the next chapter in generative AI with unparalleled performance, efficiency, and scale. NVIDIA Blackwell …
NVIDIA RTX BLACKWELL GPU ARCHITECTURE
The NVIDIA RTX Blackwell architecture builds upon foundational AI technologies introduced in prior NVIDIA GPUs, enabling the next-generation of AI-powered gaming and professional …
NVIDIA Blackwell Platform Arrives to Power a New Era of ...
Mar 18, 2024 · Powering a new era of computing, NVIDIA today announced that the NVIDIA Blackwell platform has arrived — enabling organizations everywhere to build and run real-time …
Nvidia reveals Blackwell B200 GPU, the ‘world’s most powerful ...
Mar 18, 2024 · But perhaps Nvidia is about to extend its lead — with the new Blackwell B200 GPU and GB200 “superchip.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds up his new GPU on the left, next to …
Nvidia Blackwell architecture deep dive: A closer look at the ...
Jan 15, 2025 · The new Nvidia Blackwell GPU architecture will power the upcoming generation of RTX 50-series GPUs. We've known various details for a while now, and many have been …
NVIDIA Blackwell Delivers Breakthrough Performance in Latest ...
Jun 4, 2025 · The at-scale submissions used two AI supercomputers powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell platform: Tyche, built using NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 rack-scale systems, and Nyx, …
What’s So Great About Nvidia Blackwell? - Forbes
Nov 25, 2024 · Blackwell replaces the Lovelace architecture created in 2022, and according to the company, it delivers some pretty impressive performance increases as well as other …
NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra for the Era of AI Reasoning
Mar 19, 2025 · Blackwell Ultra is designed for massive-scale AI reasoning inference, delivering smarter, faster, and more efficient AI with optimal TCO.