Archive
The Story of Gennie Pilarski
Genevieve “Gennie” Pilarski quietly passed away in her nursing home room one September day in 1998 at the age of 79. Few noticed or cared as she had been a prisoner of Illinois state mental institutions for over 50 years.
Gennie’s parents had her committed to Manteno State Hospital in 1944 when she was only 25. But after being committed to Manteno, Gennie would never be the same. The state would take her freedom, and the doctors would take her sanity. Read more…
Manteno State Hospital
In 1927, the state of Illinois purchased over 1,000 acres of land earmarked for a massive mental health complex to become known as the Manteno State Hospital. By 1929 the dedication ceremony took place with Illinois announcing Manteno as the tenth such hospital to be “dedicated by the State of Illinois to the welfare of its people for their relief and restoration, a place of hope for the healing of the mind and body where many may find health and happiness again.”
The Forgotten Island of New York: North Brother
Located between Riker’s Island and the Bronx on the East River, North Brother Island currently sits in a state of disrepair, abandoned for the last fifty years. North Brother wasn’t always this way. Back in the nineteenth century, the city of New York decided an isolated location was necessary to quarantine and treat those suffering from infectious disease. North Brother Island provided the perfect solution.
Thus, existing facility Riverside Hospital was moved to North Brother Island in 1885 and re-established as a quarantine facility. Read more…
Medical Firsts: The Story of Phineas Gage
The year was 1848, and 25-year-old Phineas Gage was earning wages as a railroad worker in Vermont. His task was to blast rock to clear the way for new railroad tracks. On September 13th, one blast detonated prematurely and shot a 4-foot metal rod through Gage’s skull. Miraculously – and without the benefit of medical technologies we have today – he survived and managed a full recovery. Read more…
Electronic Waste Dump of the World: Guiyu, China
Ever wonder where those old used computers end up? How about all those old CRT monitors, cell phones, keyboards, and PDAs? We’re told when we drop off our old electronics for recycling that they will be properly disposed of; in some cases we pay recyclers to ensure our old electronics are disposed of in the correct way.
It is easy to wipe our hands of these discarded items, feeling we’ve done our part – but have we? What we don’t know is what the “recyclers” do with these parts and where the discarded items end up. You rarely hear about electronic waste sites; perhaps it is time we start paying more attention. Read more…
The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic
Much less serious than the Dancing Plague was the Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1962. On January 30th, three girls at a boarding school in Kashasha, Tanzania began laughing. The laughter spread like wildfire throughout the school, affecting nearly 60% of the students. Symptoms of those affected lasted from a few hours to 16 days. The behavior was so disruptive, the school was forced to close down. Read more…
