The Willard Suitcase Exhibit

Quite a while ago I came upon the Willard Suitcase Exhibit online and found it disconcerting, yet fascinating. While there is a traveling exhibit one can see at many venues across the country, the online exhibit of The Lives They Left Behind ~ Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic, certainly gives you a good idea of what it is all about.

{attic where suitcases were found ~ men's on one side, women's on the other}

Basically, the Willard Asylum/Willard Psychiatric Center operated in some form from 1869 ~ 1995, when its doors were closed and several staff members and a museum curator worked to save artifacts left behind. Almost 400 suitcases were found labeled and alphabetized ~ untouched for years ~ the suitcases were moved to a NY State Museum's warehouse where they were later examined more closely and researched further resulting in a major exhibition in 2004 at the NY State Museum. The researchers were able to match residents of the asylum with their specific belongings and memorialize their lives in a respectful way.

{ filled steamer trunk}

{Margaret's personal photos and keepsakes}

{ID card or record?}

Below are several of the suitcase owners whose lives are written about on the online exhibit. You can read more about those below and seven others here ~ click on 'the suitcases' once you enter the online exhibit.

{various photos of Frank}

{Madeline ~ resided at Willard for 47 years}

{Ethel}

{Willard Asylum}

It is interesting to note that over 50,000 patients were admitted to Willard over the years ~ nearly half of those patients died there. All images via.