Most of the canvas straps still clung tightly to their large tubs which lined the basement room, despite the excessive sagging from thirty-seven years of disuse. Diffused rays of sunlight danced along the row of mummified bathtubs, yellowed with time and blackened with mold. A strange breeze wafted in from the dark, tiled morgue down the hall. There was no other place I wanted to be.

Another one of those things slipped by me and I hadn't thought of it until today - The Lobotomist, part of the American Experience series by PBS. It was aired on January 21, 2008, and documents the life of Walter Freeman - once described as the "Henry Ford of lobotomy." Starting with his early career at St Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington D.C., the video follows his medical career as he "improved" upon Antônio Egas Moniz's method of the lobotomy. The quotes are to emphasize the differing point of view held between disapproving medical professionals, fervent followers of his method, and mixed blessings from lobotomized patients and their families. The documentary pulls all these perspectives in this well-produced documentary that I enjoyed watching (finally).

I had been pouring copious amounts of research into abandoned places in Italy before returning this year, especially the former psychiatric hospitals (of course). A funny thing happened though... I had discovered a small abandoned complex consisting of two buildings in a rural town while looking at some maps. Nothing special, as there are plenty of these kinds of ruins scattered along the countryside, but I marked it down just in case I'd be driving by. Then one day I found myself in the area, after a disappointing scouting trip to a handful of places that were being torn down. I pulled up to a tall wrought iron gate - a faded sign contained the words "ospedale psichiatrico," psychiatric hospital, and the rusty gate had been locked shut for some years. What amazing luck to have found this! The place was surrounded by a stone wall to prevent escape, but a small hole that had been smashed out - that definitely meant running in to catch the place in the fading sunset.

Last December, NPR ran a very interesting story on the World War II pacifists who were sent to work at state hospitals by the government, specifically focusing on a man named Charlie Lord and his exposé on the Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry). Mr. Lord managed to sneak a small Agfa camera in his pocket to show the world what the conditions inside Byberry were like behind closed doors; his drive was to promote the quality of life for these patients and others in similar institutions. These photos, initially shown to Elanor Roosevelt, spurred public outrage when they were published in LIFE magazine's article Bedlam 1946. The story at NPR put much more context behind the images, and also include some detailed letters written by another conscientious objector, Warren Sawyer. Lord's photos (some of which did not appear in LIFE) were also displayed in a slide show. Follow the links below to NPR's story: