Retreat and Yard

Title: Retreat and Yard
Description: This etching depicts female asylum patients aimlessly wandering the grounds, with no attendants (doctors or nurses) in sight. Neglect of inmates and patients was all too common on Blackwell's Island, and a cause of death for many.
Date: 1860s
Source: https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2015/11/nellie-bly-undercover-in-new-yorks-notorious-asylum-for-the-insane.html
Language: English
Subject: 19th-century, 19th-century etchings, women, 19th-century women, gender, mental illness, gender and mental illness in the 19th century
Rights Holder: Public domain