"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times
Reportage
Tags
Description
Frank Smith's series, under the editorship of Louis Ruppel at the Chicago Daily Times, got national attention and was, according to Time, a real circulation-builder for the newspaper.
Reporters
Media History
The reporting was intended for these media types: Newspaper
Effects and Outcomes
Frank Smith's effort at Kankakee, Illinois led to new sanitation legislation in and prompted state-wide investigation of psychiatric hospitals. It followed Nellie Bly's infiltration of the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island in 1887. Subsequent such investigations included Michael Mok's Lasker prize-winning investigation for the New York World Telegram & Sun, in 1961 and Frank Sutherland's series for the Nashville Tennessean in 1974.
Articles, Books, Video/Film
I-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Reporter's Experience at Kankakee
July 15, 1935
This is the first article in the "Seven Days in the Madhouse!" series by Chicago Daily Times reporter Frank Smith. ...II-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Reporter Takes Kankakee 'Water Cure'
July 16, 1935
In this second installment to the series, Smith describes in detail his stay in Kankakee's hydrotherapy ward, where ...III-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Reporter's Night of Terror at Kankakee POOR SCAN - REDO
July 17, 1935
In his third installment of the series "Seven Days in the Madhouse," Frank Smith describes being finally released ...IV-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | 'Death Cup' Perils Kankakee Inmates
July 18, 1935
In this fourth installment of "Seven Days in the Madhouse" Smith runs into two patients who recognize him, nearly ...V-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times Seven Days in the Madhouse! | Railroaded to Kankakee as Insane
July 19, 1935
In the fifth installment of "Seven Days in the Madhouse!" Frank Smith speaks with Oscar, a fellow mental patient at ...VI-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Haunted by Kankakee Fire Hazards
July 22, 1935
In this sixth installment of his "Seven Days in the Madhouse!" series, reporter Frank Smith receives his clothes and ...VII-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Crazy Rhythm Dance at Kankakee
July 23, 1935
The seventh and one of the more amusing installments in his "Seven Days in the Madhouse!" series, here Frank Smith ...VIII-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Attempted Suicide at Kankakee Hospital
July 24, 1935
In this eighth article in the "Seven Days in the Madhouse!" series, Frank Smith reveals his conversations with ...IX-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Water Perils Inmates at Kankakee
July 25, 1935
In this ninth, and second to last, installment of the Times' "Seven Days in a Madhouse" series, Frank Smith details ...X-"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times | Freedom! Reporter Leaves Kankakee
July 26, 1935
In the tenth and final story about his week spent undercover at Illinois' Kankakee psychiatric hospital, Frank Smith ...