Care & Custody: Past Responses to Mental Health

National Library of Medicine Exhibit

View the exhibit to explore the treatment of people with mental health conditions throughout history.

The National Library of Medicine's traveling exhibit, Care & Custody: Past Reponses to Mental Health, is presented by the North Olympic Library System at two locations.

• Port Angeles Main Library
  March 10-29 during library hours.
  Reception on Friday, March 14, 5:30-7:30pm, with documentary and panel discussion.

• Peninsula College at Forks, 481 S. Forks Ave.
  April 2-18, open to the public Monday-Thursday, 9am-5pm. 
  Reception on Wednesday, April 9, 5:30-7:30pm, with documentary and panel discussion.

About the Exhibit:

The exhibit is curated by public historian and educator Anne E. Parsons, PhD (University of North Carolina at Greensboro).

The traveling banner exhibition and companion website explore the treatment of people with mental health conditions throughout history, especially in the United States, bringing to light the tension that has existed between care and custody.

Physicians, advocates, families, and government agencies have all contributed to the shaping of mental health policies. Care & Custody examines this history to understand how the country has moved away from custodial forms of treatment, toward more inclusive approaches, and worked to protect the rights of people with mental health conditions.

Care & Custody includes an education component featuring a new university module and a digital gallery that further explores selected works from the historical collections of the National Library Medicine, which are also available in their entirety in NLM Digital Collections. 

The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website.

Image credit: President John F. Kennedy signing legislation that allocated funds for new community mental health centers, photograph by Abbie Rowe, 1963 Courtesy John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.