Behind Every Institution Was a Human Life
These institutions were more than buildings, wards, and records. They were places where thousands of people lived—sometimes for years or even decades—each with a family, a past, and a story of their own. Forgotten Asylums looks beyond the institutions to remember the individuals whose lives might otherwise be reduced to a name in a file.
Beatrice State Home
The starting point of Herbert “Shorty” Wyatt’s family history. Research the changing distance between the institution’s educational purpose and the lives lived under its care.
Fairview Training Center
Follow a resident’s reported testimony into the statewide record of sterilization, institutional labor, personal privacy, and the later official apology.
The Human Story
Meet the people whose lives became part of America’s asylum history—and help bring their stories back into the light.
