Asylum on the Prairie

Asylum on the Prairie is a short history zine that examines the rise, abuse, and eventual reform of the Jamestown State Hospital, revealing the contradictions at the heart of early American asylums--institutions founded on care but shaped by neglect and stigma. Tracing the hospital from its 1885 opening through the 1937 scandal and later deinstitutionalization, it highlights how systemic failures persisted until public outrage forced change. Ultimately, the zine reflects on Jamestown as a cautionary example of how vulnerable populations can be failed without accountability and humane oversight.