The Society welcomes back Dr. Katherine Anderson Benson
Explore the often-overlooked history of unmarked institutional cemeteries such as those at Danvers State Hospital. Once a sprawling 19th-century psychiatric facility, Danvers was home to thousands of patients who lived, died, and were buried without markers, numbers, or names. Drawing on historical records, survivor accounts, and preservation efforts, examine how societal attitudes toward mental illness, poverty, and disability shaped burial practices in state institutions. The lecture will also highlight the successful memorialization efforts at Danvers and other sites, exploring how descendants, activists, and historians are working to restore dignity and remembrance to those who were forgotten in death as they were in life.
Dr. Katherine M. (Anderson) Benson, MAT, EdS, MFA is the author of a number of volumes on the history of institutions and mental health treatment including Images of America: Danvers State Hospital. She has been in special education for over twenty years and is the president of the Belchertown State School Friends Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history of state institutions and disability rights.
Dr. Benson is the award-winning author of Hospital Hill and its companion novel, Shadows in the Ward. She is also the author of Behind the Walls, a volume on the history of insane asylums in institutions in New England. Kate is a special education teacher and architectural photographer who leads a lecture series on the history of mental illness and its treatment. She is currently hard at work on a number of asylum projects. She is also the owner of Otherwords Press, an independent publishing imprint representing authors from all over the world.
Kate lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband, her beagle, and a very feisty cat.
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