God knows his name : the true story of John Doe no. 24 / Dave Bakke with a foreword by Mary Chapin Carpenter.
TITLE:
God knows his name : the true story of John Doe no. 24 / Dave Bakke with a foreword by Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Alternate Title:
God knows his name : the true story of John Doe number twenty four
Publication Date:
2000
Publication Information:
Carbondale, Ill. : Southern Illinois University Press,
Physical Description:
xxii, 142 p. : ill.
Additional Contributors:
Summary:
Police found John Doe No. 24 in the early morning hours of October 11, 1945, in Jacksonville, Illinois. Unable to communicate, the deaf and mute teenager was labeled "feeble minded" and sentenced by a judge to the nightmarish jumble of the Lincoln State School and Colony in Jacksonville. He remained in the Illinois mental health care system for over thirty years and died at the Sharon Oaks Nursing Home in Peoria on November 28, 1993. Deaf, mute, and later blind, the young black man survived institutionalized hell: beatings, hunger, overcrowding, and the dehumanizing treatment that characterized state institutions through the 1950s. In spite of his environment, he made friends, took on responsibilities, and developed a sense of humor. People who knew him found him remarkable. Award-winning journalist Dave Bakke reconstructs the life of John Doe No. 24 through research into a half-century of the state mental health system, personal interviews with people who knew him at various points during his life.
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780809323272
