Elizabeth Packard

(1816-97) wife of an American preacher (Albrecht, 2006; Burch, 2009; Dain, 1989; Levison, 2003). After years of marriage she began to question her husband’s Calvinist beliefs, and argued with about this and other matters, including how their children would be brought up, family finances, and the issue of slavery. In 1860 her husband decided that she as becoming insane and decided to have her committed to an asylum. This was legally possible at the time, and was the one exception to a law that stated that no person could be committed to an insane asylum without a public hearing. A Dr. Brown interviewed Elizabeth, but used trickery in doing so, disguising himself as a sewing machine salesman. He reported his findings back to Mr. Packard, who arranged for her committal on 18 June 1860. She spent the next three years at the Illinois State Hospital at Jacksonville. She was discharged as incurably insane in 1863, and on returning to the family home, her clothes were confiscated by her husband, who also had her boarded into her bedroom. This was illegal. Elizabeth managed to communicate her imprisonment to a friend and a writ of habeas corpus was issued. The resulting trial called numerous witnesses who testified that they never saw Elizabeth exhibit any signs of insanity, while discussing religion or otherwise. The jury found in Elizabeth’s favour (taking only seven minutes to come to this decision), she was declared sane and allowed to go. She never returned to the family home, and while they did not divorce, the couple remained separated for the rest of their lives. As a result of her experiences Elizabeth Packard founded the Anti-Insane Asylum Society and published several books, including Marital Power Exemplified, or Three Years Imprisonment for Religious Belief (1864), Great Disclosure of Spiritual Wickedness in High Places (1865), The Mystic Key or the Asylum Secret Unlocked (1866), and The Prisoners' Hidden Life, Or Insane Asylums Unveiled (1868) (Burch, 2009).

Elizabeth Packard

References:

Albrecht, G.L. (Ed.) (2006). Encyclopedia of disability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

Burch, S. (Ed.) (2009). Encyclopedeia of American disability history. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Dain, N. (1989). Critics and dissenters: reflections on "anti-psychiatry” in the United States. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 25, 3-25.

Levison, J.R. (2003). Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard: an advocate for cultural, religious and legal change. Alabama Law Review 53:3, 987-1077.