Library Collections: Visual Still: Enlargement

A room with two rows of beds, each with a stuffed animal on it.



Visual Still Information

Title: Christmas In Purgatory, Page 83
From: Christmas In Purgatory: A Photographic Essay On Mental Retardation
Original caption: "During the eighteenth century the plight of the mentally ill was shocking almost everywhere in Europe.. . .flighty, troublesome or dangerous patients were restrained and kept in a small room or stall in a private house, in 'lunatic boxes,' in cages or in other places of confinement that seemed appropriate for isolating them and rendering them harmless... as a result of poor supervision, many committed suicide, perished through accidents or created serious disturbances. The tense and exasperating environment thus created and encouraged the establishment of the strictest preventative measures."
Emil Kraepelin
Creator: Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan (photographer)
Date: 1974
Source: Available at selected libraries