A Secret Institution: Memoirs From a Madhouse

by Clarissa Caldwell Lathrop

Could it be that any one was trying to poison me, or to make me sick? If so, — whom? A Secret Institution is a fascinating autobiographical account of one woman’s trials and tribulations incarcerated in an American mental institution in the late nineteenth-century. Clarissa Caldwell Lathrop was institutionalised in Utica Lunatic Asylum for voicing the suspicion that she had been poisoned. Published in 1890 following her release, A Secret Institution reveals with harrowing detail the awful events surrounding what Caldwell states was her wrongful incarceration, and her struggle toward freedom. Caldwell recounts many atrocities committed against her during two-year imprisonment from 1880-82 with laser sharp clarity, demonstrating her confidence in her sanity for the entirety of her term within the establishment. Perhaps the most disturbing element of her false lunacy charge, though, lies in the fact that Caldwell was committed on the strict insistence of her own mother and sister. Contemporary reviewers dismissed Caldwell’s account as the confused ramblings of an insane woman, charging their audience to take what they read in A Secret Institution with a pinch of salt… Written with the panache of a novel and supported by diligent attention to detail, Caldwell’s autobiography has now been praised by 21st century reviewers for exposing the dreadful conditions of nineteenth-century mental institutions which were well known for the confinement of outspoken women. A Secret Institution is a hard-hitting, eye-opening autobiography, allowing us a glimpse into the dark past of mental health institutions. This incredibly important historical document is sure to get you thinking…

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2018

Reviews

[Paul baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful

This self published memoir of a spell in hospital suffering from a mental health crisis in the US at the turn of the 20thC highlights the great difficulty, prejudice and unfairness of the system faced by women especially. But the poor author remains deluded and writes so repetitively it is almost unreadable.