For as long as I can remember, I have had a fascination with institutions. I suppose it’s because I have a curiosity for places not accessible to everyone and the people who live and work in those places. I’ve looked forward to reading Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th Century New York by Stacy Horn as I had never heard of Blackwell’s Island and the subject matter seemed a perfect fit for my interests.

As revealed in the book, Blackwell’s Island is now known as Roosevelt Island, a two-mile stretch of land in the East River. It was named Blackwell’s Island after a family who were long-time residents and owners of the island. In 1826, the almshouse at Bellevue Hospital was overcrowded and city officials purchased the island as the new location for the almshouse. Over the next several decades, more and more institutions were added to the island. There were hospitals, a penitentiary, workhouses, a smallpox hospital, an asylum for people with mental illness, and a home for children and elderly men and women.

Author Stacy Horn takes the reader on a guided history of life on Blackwell’s Island through its former residents. There are many stories depicting the lack of simple sanitation of the institutions and residents, plus countless stories resulting in tragic deaths due to a lack of medical attention and outright neglect. Stacy tells the accounts of officials who contributed to the problems and the reformers who tried to affect change. Journalists secretly infiltrated the asylum to gain a perspective on living conditions and treatment to share with the public. The famous Nelly Bly who wrote the book Ten Days in a Mad House is highlighted in this book. Another significant character of the time was Reverend French, who ministered the poor souls, testified at trials, and fought injustices.

At the end of its existence, administrators commented that the staff on Blackwell’s Island did the best they could, regarding the care of their patients, with what they knew at the time. My immediate thought was, “Did you?” I understand medical and psychological care has since become quite advanced, but the simple attitude and behavior of compassion for others has been around since the beginning of time. The humans in their care were certainly denied basic care and compassion, which to me, is unfathomable.

I enjoyed learning the history of Blackwell’s Island and cringed at the stories told of its former residents. Books such as this are important to educate us about the past treatment of humans so that we can appreciate the growth and continue to aspire for more change.

I borrowed the audiobook of Damnation Island from my local library through the Hoopla app. Narration by Pam Ward made for a nice listening experience.

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog ( )

This book is horrifying. Being poor in New York City in the late 1800's was a horror show. ( )

I actually hated this book but it was certainly well-researched and informative - which is why I went with two stars instead of one. There was so much of the same sort of abuse and misery described that, after a short while, it all ran together and the individual cases meant nothing to me - it was all the same horrible and disgusting treatment.

If the point of the book was to discuss on the atrocities inflicted upon those unfortunate enough to be sent to any of the work houses, alms houses, or asylums of the time, it did that ad nauseam. It felt like I was reading misery porn. It was honestly just too much of the same thing over and over and over and over.

If you're looking for something to give you a feel for what life in an asylum was like in a short, emotionally manageable dose, I highly recommend Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly. I took a break from Damnation Island and listened to Bly's book and feel like I got a lot more out of the small book than I did from nearly 10 hours of this one. ( )

Stacy Horn has pieced together a history of the institutions on Blackwell’s Island (now Roosevelt Island) in New York City in the 19th century. The book is structured in sections that align with the buildings – an insane asylum, workhouse, almshouse, penitentiary, and hospital. These structures were almost instantly overcrowded and underfunded, leading to appalling conditions – limited ventilation, infestations of vermin, rampant diseases, starvation, violence, and prisoners serving as attendants. The author shows how good intentions went horribly awry.

Considering that records had largely been destroyed, it is apparent that Stacy Horn has done extensive research to find these detailed stories of people who lived, worked, and were confined on the island. She highlights the lives of abused, neglected, and murdered patients as well as those that tried to change the system or lessen the dreadful conditions.

This account is extremely detailed. Horn examines the flawed legal system and misguided social milieu that lumped together the poor, mad, sick, and criminal. She shows how these blurred lines have contributed to issues that persist today.

Memorable quotes:

“Although the insane were no longer thrown in prison (mostly), the criminal and the insane still formed one group in people’s minds, along with the poor, who were often thought of as defacto ‘guilty.’”

“Today around 28 percent of Americans suffer from some form of anxiety disorder, an affliction that would have been enough to get you committed in the nineteenth century.”

“In reality it was as easy to get an innocent person sent to the Workhouse as it was to get a sane person committed to an asylum.” ( )

I would have preferred this book to have more information about the day to day lives of the people incarcerated on Blackwell Island. It started out interesting but got so boring and repetitive that I began to skim most of the last half of the book. I would have like some actual historically correct and possibly verifiable stories. The ones the author relayed seemed to have been made up. ( )