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The Opal

The Opal was published by the patients at the New York State Insane Asylum in Utica during the 1850s. It contained comments on current events, literary essays and book reviews, poetry, and descriptions of events at the asylum, including the dramatic and musical productions of the patients themselves. This flurry of cultural activities was itself part of moral treatment and would become unthinkable just a few decades later. The Opal was printed at the asylum on the same presses that produced the Journal of Insanity. Authors were never named, but sometimes initials were provided. The journal, published monthly, had a tone that was learned and fairly highbrow.