Wow, this sounds really amazing. Genealogy Insider, Diane Haddad, of Family Tree Magazine wrote about a remarkable project that's apparently been over a decade in the making:
The Lives They Left Behind
Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic
I defy you to go to the site and not get pulled into the individual stories -- where they came from, what their lives were like before they arrived, how they wound up in the facility, how long they were there, etc. And the images will really get you -- those items they left behind in the attic and pictures -- mostly from their lives before the hospital. It was Dmytro, a Ukrainian immigrant, who really got me. Check out his artwork below. But all the stories are intriguing. Suffice it to say, I've already advance ordered the book.
