Hey everyone! I am back again with another post in this blog post series called The Central Virginia Training Center and What I know as a granddaughter of a former worker. Now, if you have not read the first blog about in this series, please go read it, you can click the link, right here: The Central Virginia Training Center and What I Know as a grand daughter of a former worker. Pt.1 Anyways, with that out of way, if you have read the first blog post about this topic, then you know that I am on the hunt for anything about the Central Virginia Training Center, whether it's through books, articles, etc. Last time, I read about the history of the Central Virginia Training Center through an article, this time. For this post, I will be discussing some findings I found in this book I read called The Virginia State Colony for the Epileptics and Feebleminded. Please keep in mind, these are my findings and my thoughts on these findings, and you may disagree and that's okay! So, without further ado, here is everything I know and found about the book.
What is the book about?
The book is full of poems that puts in the point of view through the eyes of a patient in the early stages of Central Virginia Training Center, back when it was called the Virginia State Colony for the Epileptics and Feebleminded, which only took in white people with Epilepsy and Intellectual disabilities, hence the name, with an outdated term, to my understanding, feebleminded.
Who is the book by? Who is the Author?
The book is by a published poet and essay writer, Molly McCully Brown, who was raised in rural Virginia and according to the description on the back, she is a John and Renee Grisham fellow at the University of Mississippi.
Thoughts on the book? Any insights into what happened there? Any findings?
From reading this book, yes, I read things that really stood out to me.
The Beginning
In the beginning, the female narrator begins to describe the atmosphere of the colony in summary. Though, in the 4th stanza, within the 5-6th lines, I believe, the female narrator states, "trust anyone to touch her gently,"(Brown 3). To me, it left me with some mystery about the Central Virginia Training center and whether women there, were abused in the Colony, considering how there are some mentions of sex going around in a couple places in the book. I honestly could not stand that kind of environment at all. I mean, as an Autistic, who has seen the dark side of sex, after years of trauma, I do not think it's not beautiful or good at all, however that is my opinion, honestly. Anyways, enough about me and my thoughts on that topic, back to the book. As I look back at my copy of the book, as we speak, and based on what I mentioned before, maybe that's why this fictious girl character mentioned in the beginning book, this could represent some horrible disability history from society or inside the colony itself in the early stages. Who knows?
The Dormitory
Going in further, the female narrator narrates on her experiences inside her dorm and what practices are done to "help" her with her disability. One example, that I had found on page 9, had really shocked me about their practices to "help" someone of these patients. Reading page 8 & 9, the female narrator talks of her experience of what is called a Grand Mal Seizure, hence what this poem is actually called, which is a type of seizure, where a person loses all consciousness and has violent muscle contractions. Though, because of this, whenever this patient has lays down in the bed at night, she talks how they prepare her whenever she lays down, and I quote, "Most nights, they knot the bed sheet, so I will not bite my tongue," (Brown 9). This seems very interesting and kind of terrible in this situation. I say this, because I don't know how that work, plus who knows how often the bed sheets are washed and also, who wants the taste of bedsheets in their mouth? I know I wouldn't!
The Blinding Room
Forward in this book, there is a section in this book called the Blinding room. When I came across the section, I was curious about it. However, when I turned the pages to the beginning poem, I wasn't quite sure what to make of the blind room, considering that when reading the poems about the room, there is mention of a single, broken chair and a window, that is as quoted, "Often it is covered in boards,". Although found some dark things inside or at least dark to me that were interesting. For instance, on page 17, stanza 2, lines 2-3, the female narrator states the following of how sometimes patients are alone or sometimes, as quoted, "Sometimes, someone follows you in, puts his hands around your throat," (Brown 17). Sounds dark, doesn't it? Reading that line, it made me wonder if this line was referring to the doctors and what they were really doing in this room named 'The Blind Room' to so-called help their patients, esepcially the narrator. Know what I mean?
Along with this, on page 21, in continuation of a poem called New Knowledge in the Dark, where the female narrator continues to talk about how lonely & dark the atmosphere is in this room, going so far as to describe the room, even using some symbolism and references to God as well. Except when I kept reading, there is another verse, furthering my questions about the eugenics or dark practices done at the time. For on this page, in the second stanza, after the female narrator describes the atmosphere in this dark room, giving more clues into the insight of the practices throughout the page, like how they tied her hands behind their back once, to what I am guessing is the single broken chair from before, but as for the reason, I am not sure. She never says. However, after saying this, the female narrator talks about what that experience was like before going back to the atmosphere while this happens, I believe. That is until the reader arrives to the poem called Away, where she seems to be talking about how the doctors there handled seizures back then, which was pulling this girl's dress down over her head while the patient as they do this before either going into an experience on trying to flee, considering how the words, running & fleeing are used, I think. After that, the female narrator talks about, what is mostly about the people around them, which maybe about the doctors around her.
In the Field
In this section of the poems, called In the Field, is a small collection of poems describing about what seems to the outside environment of the Colony and the garden nearby. This is considering how there is loads of imagery and description into the outside environment around the huge buildings. Although, along with this, the female narrator mentions some tasks that she has done, according to the use of past tense words, like hanging clothes; all while mentioning for her possible longing to be free from the horrible place known as the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and the Feebleminded.
The Chapel
This part in the book, the female narrator describes the chapel she goes to and her experiences there, like how the other Christians may have treated her as a disabled girl, along with the mention of a baptism, and her questions within the topic of God and her disability.
The Interlude
This section talks about the female narrator's desire and wants, I believe.
In the Infirmary
Within this part of the book, the female narrator talks about the infirmary that she, the patient, is sent and her experiences inside the place. She even mentions the patients around her and why they are. Though, the cool part about this section is that, while all the characters and story is fictional, the Author, Molly, actually put pictures per say of the characters' records designed into what the actual records of the Colony looked like at the time. Cool, right?
The Dormitory (The second part)
So, after the female narrator has done her time at the infirmary, she is sent back to the dormitory and sees some new things and her new experiences back in this part of the Colony. This can be seen by how she mentions of a woman bringing her baby to work, someone throwing at a shoe at her to stop her from screaming, etc.
After thoughts?
After reading this book, I could experience some insight into what these patients may have gone through or at least maybe some, just based on this book. I would have never known what dark practices were done in those times without this book being written, especially as someone, who is learning about my own history as a disabled person myself. I also really like the beautiful descriptions, the structure, and the imagery to help the reader see what is going on and what the patient is thinking during each section.
And that's it, Lovelies! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post, if you did, share this post and give me a follow! Also, if you want to read the book for yourself, you get the book on Amazon, a link will be below, Anyways, until next time, see ya!
Works Cited
- Brown, Molly M. The Virginia State Colony of the Epileptics and Feebleminded. New York: Persea Books, 1982.
Here is a link: The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded: Poems: Brown, Molly McCully: 9780892554782: Amazon.com: Books
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