Patient Case Studies

Patient Case Studies

This enclosed glass case features 6 framed images of former patients of the Kalamazoo State Hospital.  There is a blue and cream wallpaper border at the top of the case with a picture rail that the 6 franed photos hangs from.  A steamer trunk and suitcase are on the floor of the case.  

Louise Little

Louise Little was born in Grenada in the late 1890s.  She was raised by her grandparents and was educated in a local Anglican school and was fluent in English, French and Grenadian Creole French. In 1917, after her grandmother's death, she emigrated from Grenada to Montreal where her uncle Egerton Langdon introduced her to the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

Through the UNIA in Montreal, she met Earl Little, a craftsman and lay minister from Reynolds, Georgia. The couple married on May 10, 1919.  Earl and Louise had seven children together: Wilfred, Hilda, Philbert, Malcolm, Reginald, Wesley, and Yvonne. 

The family moved to Lansing, Michigan, in 1931 Earl died in what was officially ruled a streetcar accident, though Louise believed Earl had been murdered. Rumors that white racists were responsible for Earl's death were widely circulated.

In 1938, Louise gave birth to her eighth child.  Shortly after the birth, the child’s father abandoned Louise, leaving her to take care of the baby and her seven other children who were still at home.  Due to giving birth to a child while unwed, Louis lost state financial benefits from Earl’s death.  These circumstances led to Louise showing symptoms of a nervous breakdown and she was committed to Kalamazoo State Hospital. The commitment papers for Louise stated:

“Patient is a widowed mother with several children.  She believes that people walk about on the street, point at her and make remarks about her.  A few years ago, she began to talk to herself and lost interest in her family.  Recently she gave birth to a child, following there was more change in her personality, lack of interest and neglect for her children.  She has frequent controversies with various agencies and is extremely suspicious of them, claiming they are unjust and have discriminated against her.  She talks circumstantially and feels she is of royal blood.”

Upon admission to the Kalamazoo State Hospital, Louise was described as being in a “post-natal low state,” more than likely suffering from post-partum depression coupled with the overwhelming responsibility of taking care of 8 children in the midst of the nationwide economic Great Depression.   The children were separated and sent to foster homes.  Louise was institutionalized at the Kalamazoo State Hospital from 1939 through 1963. Her son Malcolm‍, who rose to fame as Malcolm X, a leading minister of the Nation of Islam‍, ‌joined his siblings in securing her release from the hospital. She lived with her surviving family and descendants for the rest of her life in Grand Rapids and Woodland Park, Michigan. 

Don J. Mozart

Don J. Mozart was known in Michigan as the designer of one of the best American watches ever made. Born in 1819 in Italy, he immigrated to the United States at 3 years of age, where he and his parents settled in Boston, Massachusetts.

At 34, Don settled down, married and opened a jewelry store. Finding that retail was not to his liking, he began spending most of his time experimenting and developing his watch inventions. Soon, he strayed from designing watches to begin development of his clock, for which he would go on to hold several patents. Mozart moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and incorporated the Mozart Watch Company in 1867.

On December 2, 1876, Mozart, at age 57, was working on improvements to his watches and overtaxed himself by working night and day. Already stressed, he began worrying about problems with his company and business losses, which led to a diagnosis of insanity. He was then committed to the Michigan Asylum for the Insane in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Lydia Jackson Button

Lydia Jackson was born on December 15, 1835, in Chautauqua, New York.  Shortly after her birth, her parents moved the family to Southeastern Michigan to begin farming.  Lydia married Horace M. Button, who was 15 years her senior, on March 26, 1850, when she was 14 years old.  The couple resided in Jonesville, Michigan.  Lydia and Horace proceeded to have three children, two daughters and a son.  Unfortunately, the first-born daughter died during childbirth in 1852.  

Lydia and Horace were married for 19 years and divorced in 1869.  However, in 1866, Horace had petitioned the local judge to sign commitment papers to have Lydia sent to stay at the Michigan Asylum for the Insane.  Lydia was a patient there until her escape in February 1872, after which she wrote a scathing account of her time at the asylum, which was published in 1878.

Written in the forward to her book, Behind the Scenes of Life in an Insane Asylum:

The experience of Mrs. Lydia A. Button at the insane asylum, also an interesting account of her most miraculous escape and return home to her friends.  She was taken to the asylum by the unmitigated villainy of her husband and a woman, his accomplice.  No greater outrage has ever been committed in any community than was practiced against this unoffending woman, as can be proven by countless numbers of people, and all the best citizens of her native place. 

She has many warm friends, and those who know her love her most.  She was taken from her home in Jonesville, Michigan, August 12, 1866, escaped from the Insane Asylum and returned to her home, February 1872. 

Lydia’s book contains several accounts from her stay at the asylum, including how she was drugged and terrorized by the medical personal during her stay.  She claims that she had many nights of terror at the hands of then Medical Superintendent Edwin VanDeusen, claiming that she witnessed him conducting despicable acts against other female patients.

After her escape from the asylum in 1872, s         he lived for another 47 years after her experience at the asylum.  Little is known about her life during those years, but records indicate she married another 4 times and passed away on October 2, 1919, in Slagle, Michigan, when she was 83 years old.    

Johanna Vandenbosch

Johanna Smit was born on October 31, 1845 in Zonnemaire, Netherlands.  She immigrated to the U.S. sometime before 1864 when she married Hendrick Vandenbosch in Ottawa County, Michigan on September 25.  The couple resided in Grand Haven, Michigan where Hendrick was part owner of Vandenbosch Bros. Dry Good Store. 

Johanna gave birth to her first child, a daughter on June 27, 1865.  Over the next 19 years Johanna would give birth to a total of 13 children with the last being born in January of 1885.  Eleven of these children survived to adulthood while two daughters passed away in infancy. Perhaps from the strain of having numerous children over the course of two decades, Johanna’s mental faculties began to fail. 

Johanna’s husband Hendrick first petitioned the local courts to have her committed to the Michigan Asylum for the Insane on September 22, 1886.  Fearing that Johanna would harm her children or herself, a doctor signed the papers to have her committed.  Notes from the attending physician, Dr. Arend VanderVeen, state:

I have been requested to treat this lady for two years and have treated her for that time.  I have found her suffering all this time from mental derangement in the form of melancholia and more.  She has been very dangerous to the rest of her family, especially her children and husband, she threatens to kill them.  Johanna Vandenbosch suffers from acute melancholia.  I think that she is a subject for treatment at the Michigan Asylum for the Insane in Kalamazoo. 

Johanna stayed at the asylum for six months and returned home on February 20, 1887.  On December 23, 1890 Johanna was once again committed to the asylum in Kalamazoo as she was deemed a threat to herself and her family.  She arrived for her second stay on December 23, 1890.  Physician’s comments at this time stated that Johanna’s attack was “six weeks coming on. There was an entire change from being in a normal condition to an elated state.  She is suspicious and has ideas of being persecuted.” Johanna stayed at the asylum until being released on April 3, 1901.  At this time Johanna’s son, Bert Vandenbosch, was also being treated at the State Psychopathic Hospital in Ann Arbor. 

Johanna would be admitted to the Michigan Asylum for the Insane yet again on December 14, 1909, and remained until her death from dysentery on November 6, 1912, at age 65.

 

Marian Ferraro 

Marian Ferraro was born on March 4, 1887 in Alcamo, Sicily.  He married Jennie Filippi in 1915 in Detroit, and they had 3 children: Frank (born in Detroit), Launcelot and Baldassare (both born in Kalamazoo).  The Ferraro family resided at 916 East Vine Street in Kalamazoo.

Marian was committed to the Kalamazoo State Hospital on July 1, 1930, with the diagnosis of Dementia Praecox. Dementia Praecox is a term previously used to describe the condition now known as schizophrenia. It was a psychiatric diagnosis for people who appeared to have dementia before they were old. 

In Marian’s commitment report states:

He (Marian) was laid off from work in 1927 and had not been able to find work in three years.  He became worrisome and apprehensive, tramped the streets and out into the country in search of work but was rarely successful.  He would occasionally find work but was invariably laid off.  These lay offs were due to patient’s restlessness and inattentiveness… He grew depressed, uneasy, and about a year ago developed the delusion that the reason he could not keep work was because enemies (other employees) talk about him.  Twice he apparently deserted; however, these were not true desertions but that he could not find his way back or was not clear enough mentally to realize that he should return home. 

When Marian was committed, in July of 1930, he was interviewed by the attending physician, Dr. I.N. Lavictoire.  When asked, “What is the name of this place?”  Marian replied, “Some call it the asylum where they keep crazy people, but I have found out after that they call it the Kalamazoo State Hospital. “What kind of hospital is this?” This is a hospital to help people who want to be helped.”   

Marian was discharged from the Kalamazoo State Hospital on May 3, 1963, after residing there for 32 years, 10 months and 2 days. 

Orville Gibson

Orville Gibson was born in 1856 near the small town of Chateauguay, New York, and moved to Kalamazoo around 1894 to stay with his brother, Ozro.  Records indicate Orville’s concerns about health and well-being, and it is possible that he may have been further drawn to the area to seek therapy at the Battle Creek Sanitarium run by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes fame).

On May 11, 1896, Orville filed for his first and only patent. U.S. Patent No. 598,245 was issued on February 1, 1898, and contained his ideas for the construction of a mandolin with a carved top and back, and with sides that were cut from a solid piece of wood rather than being bent from thin strips.

On October 11, 1902, Orville H. Gibson and five local businessmen met at the County Clerk’s office to form a “Partnership Limited Association” known as the “Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Limited.” Orville’s five partners saw an opportunity to capitalize on Orville’s creative talents.  Oddly, Orville’s name was not listed as a member of the partnership.  In 1904, another agreement documented the payment of $2,500 from the partnership to Orville Gibson for the exclusive rights to his patent. Through this arrangement, Orville sold his rights for a sum that would be equal to approximately $250,000 today.

Orville’s health was deteriorating during the time the company was getting underway. Various medical records suggest that he was suffering from a chronic disease, loss of weight, and possibly a mental illness. Orville had “delusions of persecution” and envisioned that “different persons were trying to get at him.” At the request of his brother, Orville was admitted to the Kalamazoo State Hospital for extended periods in 1907 to 1909 for psychological treatment.

Upon release from the Kalamazoo State Hospital, Orville moved back to New York and settled in the town of Saranac Lake.  It is not known whether Orville returned to Kalamazoo, his instrument work, or the company that bore his name. On August 21, 1918, 62-year-old Orville died of chronic endocarditis (inflammation of the inner lining of the heart chambers and valves).  He died while a patient at the St. Lawrence State Hospital, then a hospital for major diseases, today known as the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center, an institution for mental care.

Today, Gibson Brands, Inc., formerly known as Gibson Guitar Corporation and Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Limited, sells guitars under a variety of brand names.  Gibson was at the forefront of innovation in acoustic guitars, especially in the big band era of the 1930s. In 1952, Gibson introduced its first solid-body electric guitar, the Les Paul, which became its most popular guitar to date.