
9 episodes

WHO Lies Beneath: The Asylum WOUB Public Media
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- Society & Culture
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4.9 • 30 Ratings
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Welcome to WHO Lies Beneath: The Asylum. This podcast is about restoring dignity and respect by giving a voice to the voiceless.
On the old Athens Lunatic Asylum grounds in southeast Ohio, you’ll find tremendous beauty. There are regal buildings overlooking town, and the sprawling grounds originally had a park-like setting, with gorgeous ponds, gardens, and fountains - the beauty in stark contrast to the history of what happened to some of those who were taken to the now closed facility. The grounds contain three cemeteries where approximately 1900 patients who weren’t claimed by their families when they died - were buried.
Those who were unclaimed were buried under numbered tombstones, with no names or dates on them. This was common practice with many state and national mental health and medical institutions at the time.
Each week, you’ll hear the life stories of people who were buried under those numbered tombstones in Athens. Each person will tell their own story - using a first-person style account and voice actors.
We’ll also talk with Doug McCabe, a retired library archivist who spent many years digging through old documents linking names and life stories with the numbers on the grave markers, along with other researchers and mental health experts.
If the subject of this podcast interests you, please subscribe to WHO Lies Beneath: The Asylum wherever you access your podcasts. You can also listen at WOUB.org/listen.
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Looking Ahead to Season 2
In this final episode of “WHO Lies Beneath: The Asylum” Season 1, Cheri Russo and Doug McCabe look ahead to the stories they hope to tell in Season 2. They answer listener questions and read messages from listeners about their relatives who are buried in the Athens Asylum cemeteries. They also talk about two other institutions with unmarked graves that they plan to learn about and then tell the stories of people buried there. Historian Paul LaRue shares his knowledge on the old Feeble Minded Institute in Orient, Ohio and the numbered tombstones located there. They also learn about the former Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia. If you have any information you want to share with us, you can email us at wholiesbeneath@woub.org.
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Alice Mayle
With the help of voice-actor Karen Chan, Alice Mayle tells her life story. Mayle was buried in the Asylum cemeteries in 1929. Alice’s committal records are missing from the archives, but one of her descendants was able to fill in the pieces of Alice’s life. It’s a story of marriage, adultery and contracting a sexually transmitted disease, which eventually led to her time at the asylum. We hear from Alice’s great-grandson Richard Davis and talk with Jackie Wolf, who is a professor of the history of medicine at Ohio University and specializes in the history of women’s health and children’s health, along with the history of public health, and the history of biomedical ethics. We’d love to hear from you and see if the work done in Athens might lead you to some answers about one of your relatives. Email us at wholiesbeneath@woub.org.
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John T. O’Donnell, James Hardy and Arthur D. James
With the help of voice-actors Tom Hodson, Chad Kopenski and Lynn Shaw - John T. O’Donnell, James Hardy and Arthur D. James tell their own life stories. The three men had different life experiences, some criminal in nature, but all experienced violence and trauma in their lives before they were admitted to the asylum. We talk with Paul LaRue, a retired social studies teacher who has conducted research projects involving veterans and unmarked graves and Lisa Skeens, who is an associate professor of social work at Ohio University and is a therapist. Her specialty areas include anxiety disorders, grief and PTSD. We’d love to hear from you and see if the work done in Athens might lead you to some answers about one of your relatives. Email us at wholiesbeneath@woub.org.
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Robert Barlow, Alexandra Nation and Anna McKee
With the help of voice-actors Lou Horvath, Jessica Makosky and Liz Shaw - Robert Barlow, Alexandra Nation and Anna McKee tell their own life stories. They talk about the mysteries surrounding how they ended up at the old Athens Lunatic Asylum and in Barlow’s case, the mystery of what happened to his body after he died. He’s not buried in the Asylum cemeteries. We’d love to hear from you and see if the work done in Athens might lead you to some answers about one of your relatives. Email us at wholiesbeneath@woub.org.
PROGRAM NOTE: Portions of this program were recorded in 2021, prior to the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade. -
Eli Stevens and Israel Johnson
With the help of voice-actors Roger Jones and Dan Hauser, Eli Stevens and Israel Johnson tell their own life stories and how the two Civil War veterans, one who fought for the Confederacy and the other who was an African American soldier who fought with the Union, ended up buried right next to each other under numbered tombstones on the grounds of the old Athens Lunatic Asylum.
Have a story about a relative who you believe may be buried under a numbered tombstone at an institutional cemetery anywhere in the country? We’d love to hear from you and see if the work done in Athens might lead you to some answers. Email us at wholiesbeneath@woub.org. -
Adam Kern
With the help of voice-actor Chad Kopenski, Adam Kern tells his own story as a German immigrant who came to America and then fought in the Civil War. He became a patient at the old Athens Lunatic Asylum in 1874. Kern was 61 years old when he died and was buried under grave 251. We will hear from Kern’s descendants who found closure after tracking down a missing piece of their family line and worked to get a named marker installed at Kern’s gravesite. Cheri Russo and Doug McCabe will also talk with Ohio University Associate Professor of Social Work Lisa Skeens who is a therapist that specializes in anxiety disorders, grief and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is believed to be the reason Kern was institutionalized. Have a story about a relative who you believe may be buried under a numbered tombstone at an institutional cemetery anywhere in the country? We’d love to hear from you and see if the work done in Athens might lead you to some answers. Email us at wholiesbeneath@woub.org.
Customer Reviews
Excellent!!
I have wondered for years about the work that I had heard was being done about the unmarked graves at the asylum. This podcast is so outstanding, and has brought peace to my heart, even though I don’t have a relative buried there. I’m so glad that many have found their relatives and have been able to bring peace to their lives. Keep up the great work, can’t wait to listen to season two!
Highly recommend.
Very well done. I could see a version of this type of podcast about a lot of old cemeteries
Interesting but could be better
This is a fascinating topic, I would have loved to hear everyone’s voices without all the ums, you knows, and stuttering. It’s okay to be nervous but sheesh, re-record!