I would like to thank everyone who has checked out my website or followed my blog for these past few years. I created it to support my recently published book, Vanished in Hiawatha: The Story of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, which was published in June 2016.
I am beginning a new research project and will no longer post (or will post very infrequently) to this Canton Asylum website. Instead, I invite you to follow my new blog called Healing, Hell, and the History of American Insane Asylums
This new site will support a book I plan to write which will contain interesting information about asylums and the history of mental health treatment. I’m excited about it and hope you will be, too.
Thanks so much for your interest in Canton Asylum and its history. Additional information may be available from the group Keepers of the Canton Native Asylum Story (https://www.facebook.com/CantonKeepers/), who are continuing to gather information as it is unearthed. Additionally, Augustana University in South Dakota has three transcripts taken from interviews with (adults) who were children at the time of the asylum’s operation. These are mainly their memories of the asylum–so far as I know, nothing exists beyond an NPR interview of Clara Christopher (available on the internet) from anyone who actually worked there. There are certainly patient letters and so on in the National Archives, but even these are few and far between.
What are you trying to do eventually with your research?
All my best,
Carla
How exciting! I have found your blog posts fascinating over the years! I love the book and am looking forward to the next. Will definitely sign on for more from the new blog. Congratulations on a project completed, and best of luck on the upcoming one!
Hello, my name is Andres Ake Hde Najin Davis, Andy for short. I am currently doing some research for script development regarding the above mentioned asylum in Canton South Dakota. I was looking for additional material and maybe some recorded first person, personal experiences of the asylum. Please, any help or assistance regarding this request would be greatly appreciated.
Pidamayaye
(Thank You)
Sincerely,
A A Davis