Ellen Meeropol and Barbara Blumenthal: Learning the Truths about Northampton State Hospital 

Hello, as I was doing some of my usual research on State Hospitals I came across this video. I found this very interesting as we followed the grounds and the book. I have a bit of history myself when it comes to Northampton State Hospital. My grandfather on my mother's side Joseph Cunningham, a hard-working Irish immigrant who owned a rug business on Worthington Street in Springfield for many years, passed away at NSH in 1957. My mother would tell me stories of the overcrowding and less than stellar conditions at NSH when she would visit him back in the late 50s. She was the only one of her 2 other siblings that would visit her father. She did not like to talk about her experiences there too often but she did tell me how her anxiety would rise as she would get closer to NSH especially when she "saw that damn smokestack looming in the distance" I am not sure if the smokestack she was referring to was at NSH or one that was located nearby. My grandfather's story is one of the reasons I went into nursing. I have been a psychiatric nurse for almost 10 years and started my career at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. I grew up in East Longmeadow, not too far from Northampton. I now work at a jail in Georgia which can be very challenging at times. You mentioned how Kirkbride had a vision to help people with mental illness by placing them in a more positive environment than the jails and poorhouses they had been living in at that time. Unfortunately, because of deinstitutionalization the jails are now over crowded once again with people suffering from mental illness. It appears that the jails have turned into another version of the state hospitals these days. It is really unfortunate because sometimes patients need chronic care and do not do well in the community. This is a struggle I am very passionate about as well as destigmatizing mental health as a whole. I will get off my soapbox now and end my comment here. Also, do you know how anxiety provoking it is writing something when you know published authors are reading it? I hope my writing was ok. 😊 Thank you! Joe

Thank you for addressing this weighty issue! I very much enjoyed Ms Blumenthal's part of the presentation. Fantasy is less a part of my interest... the hospital provided an economic engine that built Northampton for over 100 years. Those incarcerated by society are a disenfranchised group (no matter the intentions, I worked there). This is a legacy that effects us today. History effects the present and the amount of questions and comments show its currency. Could NN be part of the reconning of healing we could address through more events? Truth and reconciliation, not "we have no records" can assist many today (both the directly involved and general public) could go far in closure and development of more sound policy today & tomorrow (still lacking). We are finding the city working on this issue w/another disenfranchised population now (Reparations). This issue deserves nothing less~