A Woman's Place · Episode 2 of 12 · 23 min
The Asylum: Committed for Disagreeing With Her Husband
In 1860, an Illinois minister had his wife carried to a state asylum for disagreeing with his theology, and an 1851 statute made it legal without any hearing. Elizabeth Packard won her sanity back from a jury in about seven minutes, then spent decades pressing for due process. It shows the medical face of patriarchy: a husband, a diagnosis, and the state hospital.
Who's who
- Elizabeth Packard+1 more episodecommitted in 1860, later a leading commitment-reform campaigner
- Theophilus Packardher minister husband who had her committed
- Andrew McFarlandsuperintendent of the Jacksonville asylum who held her three years
- Charles Starrjudge who issued the habeas corpus writ and presided over her trial
- Sarah Haslettneighbor who petitioned for the writ
- Silas Weir Mitchellneurologist who devised the rest cure
- Charlotte Perkins Gilmanwriter treated by Mitchell; author of The Yellow Wall-Paper
- James Cowles PrichardEnglish physician who defined moral insanity
Where it happens
- Jacksonville, Illinoisstate hospital where Packard was confined
- Manteno, IllinoisPackard family home
- Kankakee County, Illinoissite of Packard v. Packard
Timeline
- 1851Illinois law lets husbands commit wives without a hearing
- June 18, 1860Packard is taken to the Jacksonville asylum
- January 1864jury finds Packard sane after about seven minutes
- 1867Illinois passes a personal liberty law requiring jury trial before commitment
- 1897Packard dies after decades of reform campaigning
Still debated
Historians dispute how gendered commitment was overall, since registers show many men. McFarland's motives and the exact seven-minute jury figure, reported by a participant, are also debated.