Silent Voices From the Past
A Chronicle of the Almshouse of Sullivan County
by
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The idea for this book came to me one day as I walked from my office in the old part of the Sullivan County Nursing Home to the jail where I work as a mental health and substance abuse clinician. The walk takes me near a cemetery where one can easily see a stark difference between the front half of the cemetery which is ornate and obviously very old. The back half of the cemetery has very small uniform stones that are in perfect rows, not in family plots as one would expect to see. Upon investigation, I learned that these small nondescript stones each belongs to someone who died here on this land during the time period that this spot was the County Almshouse. The look of the stones, the effective use of space and the lack luster appearance of this half of the cemetery is indicative of how these folks were looked upon. These were the throwaways of society, the ones no one wanted to see or know about. It struck me that there is a strong parallel between these rows of folks and those that I work with. These folks are also the throwaways of society.
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About the Book
I noticed a small cemetary on the grounds at the county jail where I work as a clinician. The reason it caught my eye was because each of the stones in the back half of it wre uniform in size and not buried according to family but by chronology. This became the beginning of a research project that lasted about 18 months. The research was a joint project between the inmates at the jail and myself to find out who these people were and why they were buried here. What we learned was this spot was the location of the almshouse for the county. We discovered who was here, why and how the institution evolved and ended. There is a strong parallel between the throw away members of society during the almshouse era and the inmates in the county jail today. The challenges are greater, the stigma more negative and the stakes higher for both populations. My plan was to impart a sense of self-worth for the inmates by seeing that the almshouse population mattered. It matters who is buried here and why. They are entitled to the same dignity as any other member of the society. The same is true for the inmates. If they don't understand that, if they don't respect themselves, they are doomed to repeat their mistakes. I have long since been a champion for the underdog. My career has been working with underprivleged children and families, domestic violence survivors and the incarcerated population. My husband and I have a rescue center for abandoned and abused farm animals.
About the Author
I noticed a small cemetary on the grounds at the county jail where I work as a clinician. The reason it caught my eye was because each of the stones in the back half of it wre uniform in size and not buried according to family but by chronology. This became the beginning of a research project that lasted about 18 months. The research was a joint project between the inmates at the jail and myself to find out who these people were and why they were buried here. What we learned was this spot was the location of the almshouse for the county. We discovered who was here, why and how the institution evolved and ended. There is a strong parallel between the throw away members of society during the almshouse era and the inmates in the county jail today. The challenges are greater, the stigma more negative and the stakes higher for both populations. My plan was to impart a sense of self-worth for the inmates by seeing that the almshouse population mattered. It matters who is buried here and why. They are entitled to the same dignity as any other member of the society. The same is true for the inmates. If they don't understand that, if they don't respect themselves, they are doomed to repeat their mistakes. I have long since been a champion for the underdog. My career has been working with underprivleged children and families, domestic violence survivors and the incarcerated population. My husband and I have a rescue center for abandoned and abused farm animals.