As Illinois grew, so did its need for asylums—but the path to so-called “care” was paved with legal loopholes, power struggles, and devastating personal costs. In this episode, Matt Bodett and Megan Sterling dive into the forgotten histories of madness in Illinois, tracing the forces that shaped its asylum system.
From Dorothea Dix’s cross-country fight for humane treatment to Edward Mead’s ill-fated Chicago Retreat, we follow the reformers, the laws, and the failures that defined Illinois’ approach to madness. Along the way, we uncover the disturbing legal maneuvers that allowed women to be institutionalized without a trial, leading to the infamous case of Elizabeth Packard—a woman locked away by her husband for daring to speak her mind.
Colonialism, racism, asylum advocacy, and resistance all collide in this story of a state struggling to decide what to do with those it called insane. And at the heart of it all? The early foundations of what would become Dunning.
Mad Tea is produced by PRESS HERE and is a project of the Center for Mad Culture. Learn more about them at madculture.org
Information for the Dunning series is taken from the book DUNNING: Special Report, published by The Center for Mad Culture in 2024 and written by Matt Bodett. Copies of this book can be purchased through their website.
