Elizabeth Packard was a prominent figure in the 19th century who dedicated her life to fighting for justice for herself and others. She was a staunch advocate for women’s rights and mental health reform, particularly for those who were wrongfully institutionalized.
Massachusetts
She was born in Ware, Massachusetts, USA on December 28, 1816. She attended the Amherst Female Seminary where she studied literature and mathematics. At the age of 19, she suffered from “brain fever,” a term that was used at that time to a condition that is characterized by headaches, fever, and delirium. As her condition didn’t improve, her father committed her to an asylum in Worcester, Massachusetts where she stayed for six weeks until she regained her health.
She married a Calvinist minister, Theophilus Packard Jr., who was 14 years her senior. They lived in Shelbourne, Massachusetts until 1854, where Theophilus led a congregation, and had six children. That’s when they moved to the Midwest.
Illinois
After moving many times through the Midwest, they settled in Manteno, Illinois, in 1857, where Theophilus began leading a congregation.
Elizabeth Packard enjoyed living in the Midwest, where she started conducting missionary work and traveling on her own. However, she also began to question the Calvinist teachings and express religious views that differed from her husband’s.
For Theophilus, this was a great offense and he started trying to silence her, almost prohibiting her from expressing different views from his own. Elizabeth couldn’t accept it. He, then, began threatening her. He knew about the time she spent at the asylum when she was 19 and began questioning her sanity. He couldn’t accept the fact that his wife could think on her own and have different religious views.
He ended up gathering his congregation to find people who would to sign a document stating that she was insane. He also found two doctors to support him. He, then, committed his wife to the Illinois Hospital for the Insane, where she would spend the next three years of her life.
At the time, it was legal for a husband to commit his wife without the due process to assess sanity before being committed. Unfortunately, this situation was very common at that time: men would commit their wives just to get rid of them.
Elizabeth protested her confinement during all the time she was committed. She even got friends to try to help but the doctor in charge prevented her from communicating with the outside per request of her husband.
Inside the hospital, she witnessed how patients were mistreated by the staff, and also met many women who, like her, were committed by their husbands just so they could get rid of them. She started writing about everything she was witnessing inside the hospital. She would keep the pages hidden so they would not be confiscated. She was able even to write a book, that she wanted to publish somehow.
After seeing all this injustice inside the hospital, her resistance and protests became an annoyance for the staff and they decided to get rid of her. After three years, she was declared incurably insane and released from the hospital.
Theophilus made arrangements so she would stay with her cousin, who was a good friend of hers. He threatened her saying that, if she would go back home, he would commit her again.
Elizabeth Packard fights back
But she couldn’t stay away from her children anymore and went back home. Theophilus, at first, ignored her. After a while, he imprisoned her in one of the bedrooms. But she was able to get a letter to a friend who appealed to a judge. A habeas corpus was issued demanding Theophilus to release her. Even though it was legal for a husband to commit his wife, it wasn’t legal to confine her inside their home.
Theophilus alleged that he did it for her protection because she was insane. The judge, then, ordered a jury trial to determine Elizabeth’s mental state.
Throughout the five-day trial, several witnesses testified both in favor and against Elizabeth Packard. The doctors who assisted her husband in committing her also testified, claiming that her religious views and refusal to submit to Theophilus were indications of her insanity. However, another doctor, who was also a theologian, provided testimony in support of Elizabeth, explaining that many intellectuals in Europe shared her religious beliefs.
After only seven minutes of deliberation, the jury found Elizabeth to be sane. Following the verdict, Theophilus rented out their house and moved back to Massachusetts with their children, leaving Elizabeth without a home, or money, and separated from her kids.
Elizabeth Packard was determined to fight back. She went to Chicago to publish the book she wrote while she was at the hospital. However, the cost of publishing was too high for her to afford. So, she decided to publish a pamphlet instead with the help of her friends. In March 1864, she was able to publish a letter she wrote while at the hospital titled “Reproof to Dr. McFarland – Abuse of his patients”. This was her initial step before publishing her book.
That’s when she came up with a brilliant plan to sell tickets for her book in advance to raise the capital needed for printing, which is known today as crowdfunding. She produced small visiting cards where it read:
“The bearer is Entitled to the first Volume of Mrs. Packard’s Book… None are genuine without my signature.”
She advertised her book tickets in the Chicago Tribune and went door-to-door trying to find people who would support her work buying her pamphlets and book tickets. She also traveled to villages, towns, and cities in Illinois to pitch her unpublished book. Her hard work paid off and in May 1864 she was able to publish her first book: The Exposure.
The book was a success. A second edition was published in June 1864, and in January 1865 six thousand copies were being published in Boston, Massachusetts with the books flying out the door.
The sales brought her newfound financial stability, allowing her to actively advocate for causes that were dear to her heart. She wanted to change legislation to provide greater rights for married women as well as those who were committed to mental health institutions.
In the end, Elizabeth Packard was able to gather her children and move with them to a house she bought in Chicago. Theophilus also chose to move to Chicago, living nearby.
Elizabeth Packard’s advocacy efforts contributed to legislative changes aimed at protecting the rights of married women and mental health patients. Her work helped influence the passage of laws aimed at protecting the rights of married women, particularly in matters related to marriage, property ownership, and divorce, contributing to greater equality and protection for married women in the United States. And helped also to approve laws that improved the conditions in mental institutions and established safeguards against wrongful confinement.
Bibliography
1 – Book ‘The woman they could not silence’ – Kate Moore – https://www.kate-moore.com/the-woman-they-could-not-silence
2 – Elizabeth Packard – https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/elizabeth-packard
3 – Elizabeth Packard – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Packard