Leo T. reviewed Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York on + 1775 more book reviews
This is about the institutions on Blackwell Island as they struggled to meet expectations, with very little mention of politics. A few characters are singled out as exemplars, for good or bad. The author is very good when writing about how kids in distress were treated in NYC. The 'orphan trains' were needed....
No index so no way to use this very much as a student. There is a bibliography showing that Ms. Horn did considerable research but there are no footnotes so interested readers cannot follow up. Therefore my rating is two stars below what the book otherwise deserves.
The author tells the story well of the unlucky folks who served time on Blackwell's Island (NYC) in the 19th C. and various sections could be employed as collateral reading in junior and senior high classes.
There are sections beginning with the Lunatic Asylum, followed by the Workhouse, Almshouse, Hospital and Penitentiary. The consideration of hospital services is very depressing, given the lack of cures to aid those stricken by syphilis, TB, etc. who were sometimes subjected to experimental regimens.
While there were some people who tried hard to improve the lot of those sent to Blackwell's Island, most of the employees were political appointees and inmates did much of the work on the wards. There were huge death rates when something like cholera visited and a general lack of decent food, clothing, and shelter year after year.
Those in the workhouse and the penitentiary were in better shape.
"Criminals were demonstrably more resourceful than lunatics at getting off the Island. They'd enlist their friends to row over under the cover of darkness, while bribing a keeper to either help them or look the other way. Sometimes they'd get the coxswain drunk and then commandeer the Department of Public Charities and Correction rowboat and row back to Manhattan themselves (197)." This is about the only problem that the wardens solved--escapes were uncommon after the middle 1870s.
No index so no way to use this very much as a student. There is a bibliography showing that Ms. Horn did considerable research but there are no footnotes so interested readers cannot follow up. Therefore my rating is two stars below what the book otherwise deserves.
The author tells the story well of the unlucky folks who served time on Blackwell's Island (NYC) in the 19th C. and various sections could be employed as collateral reading in junior and senior high classes.
There are sections beginning with the Lunatic Asylum, followed by the Workhouse, Almshouse, Hospital and Penitentiary. The consideration of hospital services is very depressing, given the lack of cures to aid those stricken by syphilis, TB, etc. who were sometimes subjected to experimental regimens.
While there were some people who tried hard to improve the lot of those sent to Blackwell's Island, most of the employees were political appointees and inmates did much of the work on the wards. There were huge death rates when something like cholera visited and a general lack of decent food, clothing, and shelter year after year.
Those in the workhouse and the penitentiary were in better shape.
"Criminals were demonstrably more resourceful than lunatics at getting off the Island. They'd enlist their friends to row over under the cover of darkness, while bribing a keeper to either help them or look the other way. Sometimes they'd get the coxswain drunk and then commandeer the Department of Public Charities and Correction rowboat and row back to Manhattan themselves (197)." This is about the only problem that the wardens solved--escapes were uncommon after the middle 1870s.
