Conceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world had ever seen, Blackwell's Island quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, 'a lounging, listless madhouse.' In the first contemporary investigative account of Blackwell's, Stacy Horn tells this chilling narrative through the gripping voices of the island's inhabitants, as well as the period's officials, reformers, and journalists, including the celebrated Nellie Bly.
Then, it was Blackwell's, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals.
Damnation Island shows how far we've come in caring for the least fortunate among us-and reminds us how much work still remains."On a two-mile stretch of land in New York's East River, a 19th-century horror story was unfolding. And we follow the extraordinary Reverend William Glenney French as he ministers to Blackwell's residents, battles the bureaucratic mazes of the Department of Correction and a corrupt City Hall, testifies at salacious trials, and in his diary wonders about man's inhumanity to his fellow man. We also hear from the era's officials, reformers, and journalists, including the celebrated undercover reporter Nellie Bly. "Enthralling it is well worth the trip." - New York Journal of BooksĬonceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world had ever seen, New York's Blackwell's Island, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals, quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, "a lounging, listless madhouse." Digging through city records, newspaper articles, and archival reports, Stacy Horn tells a gripping narrative through the voices of the island's inhabitants.
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