Library to Host Willard Suitcase Exhibit

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Tompkins County Public Library and National Alliance on Mental Illness-Finger Lakes have announced the September 30 opening of “The Lives They Left Behind:  Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic.”

A humbling and heart-wrenching glimpse into the forgotten lives of residents of Willard Psychiatric Center, “The Lives They Left Behind” is a traveling exhibit featuring photographic and written profiles of patients whose stories were uncovered when their belongings were found in suitcases after the Center’s 1995 closing.  In addition to patient profiles, actual suitcases preserved by the New York State Museum will be on display.

For more than 125 years, Willard Psychiatric Center housed people deemed “unfit” for society--some were homeless, some could not communicate in English, some suffered from depression or other illnesses, most were poor. Thousands of people went to Willard, many to spend the rest of their lives ignored by society, and in many cases, their families.  After Willard closed, Craig Williams, senior history curator at the New York State Museum and one time Director of the History Center in Tompkins County, found more than 400 suitcases that had been left behind when their owners moved on or died. 

The suitcases and their contents were preserved by the New York State Museum, and in 1998, Williams partnered with psychiatrist Peter Stastny and Darby Penney, a Senior Research Associate with Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. and former director of recipient affairs for the New York State Office of Mental Health, to piece together the life stories of the suitcase owners. 

Stastny and Penney shared their research in their co-authored book “The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic” (Bellevue Literary Press, 2008), and Williams was instrumental in the development of “Lost Cases, Recovered Lives:  Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic,” an exhibit of the New York State Museum, which featured the suitcases and possessions of 12 Willard patients.

An opening reception for “The Lives They Left Behind” will be held during Downtown Ithaca’s Gallery Night from 5 to 8 p.m., October 4.  Both Penney and Williams will be present.  Penney will return to TCPL at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 5 to talk about her role in developing the exhibit and her work on mental health issues.  Copies of her book will be available for sale and signing on Friday and Saturday.  On October 24 at 6 p.m., Williams will talk about finding the suitcases and the work that was involved following his discovery.  Both talks will be held in the Library’s BorgWarner Community Room.

The traveling exhibit “The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic” was developed by The Community Consortium and is circulated by The Exhibition Alliance, Inc., of Hamilton, N.Y.  It is made possible by a grant from Janssen Pharmaceuticals and has been co-sponsored by the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County and the History Center in Tompkins County. 

For more information, visit http://tcpl-exhibits.blogspot.com/ or contact Exhibit Coordinator Sally Grubb at (607) 272-4557 extension 232 or sgrubb@tcpl.org.