This digital collection has to be the most heart-felt collection I have run across. Although I have been trying to stick with digital collections pertaining to music, this one begged to be written about. The Willard Suitcase Exhibit is based on the contents found in suitcases that were brought to the Willard Psychiatric Center in New York when the patients were first checked in. When the center closed in 1995, some of the staff members wanted to save the historical artifacts that were left behind. They found over 400 suitcases tucked away in the attic that were lined up alphabetically with tags identifying to whom they belonged. They chose 9 different people and tell their stories to bring awareness to mental disorders. The original exhibit was made possible by the van Amerigen Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. The display has been made into a traveling exhibit entitled: The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From a State Hospital Attic.
The online exhibit does a wonderful job of capturing the essence by giving the background of the project and the institution. The stories are told of all 9 patients they chose; however, due to privacy reasons they only give the person’s first name and patient number. This is a very heartbreaking exhibit, because many of the patients did not have any mental disorder but were instead sent there for various other reasons. This exhibit will make you appreciate the differences in the society where we live today.
