Joanna Linkchorst, the head of the historical coalition Friends of Rockhaven, says many of the family members who’d placed their mentally ill mothers or sisters in Rockhaven had been so accustomed to degrading treatment that they were shocked by the results of Richards’ methods. Recommended: Fat-Shaming Doesn't Motivate People to Lose Weight Richards had seen more than one previously sane woman driven insane by degrading treatment inside the asylums. At the same time, women, having just won the right to vote, were seen as more dangerous, and the State Lunacy Commission committed women liberally, often for flimsy or manufactured reasons.Įven a disgruntled husband wanting to leave his wife without a messy divorce could present his case for his wife’s insanity and win. But nobody knew what to do with female alcoholics, and many were involuntarily committed. During Prohibition, as many young women were drawn to the danger of speakeasies, alcoholism among females rose dramatically.

In one of the more well-known cases, a La Crescenta sanitarium called Kimball held the actress Frances Farmer against her will after she declared herself to be a communist and an atheist, diagnosed her with paranoid schizophrenia, and treated her with electroshock therapy and insulin.Ī place like Rockhaven-one run by and for women-was especially significant at a time when new and dangerous ideas about women’s sanity were taking hold.

Some homeowners threw up vaulted tents on their property in order to cram in more patients. In practice, though, many of these institutions treated their patients as poorly as the notorious public asylums of the time-there were no laws governing their operations, leaving the residents of these sanitariums with few legal protections. Recommended: The Danger in Comparing the HIV-Prevention Pill to Condoms Scores of sanitariums had popped up around La Cescenta, modeled after the French sanitarium movement any home could be transformed into an asylum for people with mild mental illness, the homeowners collecting money from wealthy patients as they prescribed them sunshine and dry air. In the 1920s, when Rockhaven was founded, running a sanitarium was a lucrative business. But for much of the 20th century, the lot was home to the Rockhaven sanitarium-a feminist institution for mentally ill women, founded as an antidote to the prison-like atmospheres of the asylums of the time. These days, the only people who set foot on the Glendale, California, property are the caretakers who tend the peacefully empty grounds, and the groups of visitors who come through on guided tours. Make sure to follow Luke on all of the links on the website and check out his art on his official website as well! Thanks, Luke! Enjoy the episode.On a shaded lot in a quiet residential enclave in the La Crescenta valley sits a collection of Spanish Colonial cottages. Thank you as well to Comic-Con International and WonderCon for allowing us to be a part of this years convention. On the episode I talked with Luke about living in the UK, finding his artistic influence, growing up surrounded by animators and cartoonists, his band Pop Noir, working for MAD Magazine, KROQ designs, working with Tenacious D, Sad Chewie and so much more! A huge thanks to Luke McGarry for taking the time to join me on the podcast at WonderCon. When I knew I was doing a live show at WonderCon, Luke was one of the first people I thought of and I was so excited to have him join me on the show. I have been following Luke on social media for several years and have been a huge fan of his art. A new episode of podcast is here! This weeks episode is LIVE from Anaheim, CA at WonderCon 2022 with special guest, cartoonist and animator, Luke McGarry!