Thursday, September 20, 2012

State Library Partners with State Museum on Mental Health Exhibits



"Two new exhibits at the South Carolina State Museum will be highlighted at a special event hosted in partnership by the South Carolina State Library, South Carolina State Museum and a group of mental health service and educational organizations on Thursday, September 27 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, fourth floor, S.C. State Museum. 

The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic, and Bull Street: Life Behind the Wall were brought to the State Museum through a collaborative effort by S.C. Protection and Advocacy, Mental Health America of South Carolina, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Mid-Carolina, NAMI S.C., and the S.C. Department of Mental Health.
The exhibits run September 1 to October 14 and South Carolinians will be able to catch a glimpse of the realities of those individuals living in mental health institutions or asylums at the beginning of the 20th century. 

The South Carolina State Library, with its partners, will help share a more personal side to the stories of people from the State Hospital history at an evening event on September 27. The evening will include several storytellers bringing to life stories from the past.  There will also be 3 brief lectures focused on the past, present and future of the S.C. State Hospital Mental Health issues in South Carolina by guest speakers Woody Harris, Joy Jay, and Meera Narasimhan, MD, DFAPA. 

The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital tells the story of the lives of nine patients living at the Willard Psychiatric Hospital in the early 20th century. Also, a new, original exhibit created for the purpose of this occasion entitled, Bull Street: Life behind the Wall will be on exhibit. The purpose of the New York exhibit is to provide a patient-centered study of the institution from the information and artifacts found in the suitcases discovered in the attic of one of the building on the Willard campus when it closed in 1995. Bull Street: Life behind the Wall tells the story of the people who lived in the State Hospital during the early part of the century.
The South Carolina State Library will have on hand a group of resources for perusal during the evening and will make available a bibliography of local resources for attendees to take home.

For more information, please contact Pamela Hoppock at 803-734-8646 orphoppock@statelibrary.sc.gov, or Denise Lyons at 803-734-6061 ordlyons@statelibrary.sc.gov."

To read more, please click on the above title.

To access the CDR Library catalog, please click on this link.

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