>> OLD CAPITOL HERITAGE
Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center (GOCHC) at the Depot, Inc. in partnership with Seeking Asylum LLC. hosted Central State Hospital (CHS) trivia night at The Brick on March 28.
The event was sponsored by Seeking Asylum LLC., a company owned by photographer Jessica Whitehead who is also a part of the GOCHC board of trustees. Whitehead originally debuted Seeking Asylum at The Depot on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Whitehead captured a year’s worth of photo exploration of the hospital into a 35 photograph gallery to advocate discussion of mental health and its treatment.
“I became an LLC on Dec. 30, 2022 and found a home for Seeking Asylum in the W.H. Smith Building in downtown Milledgeville for public viewing,” said Whitehead. “I had already hosted multiple gallery viewings at The Just Imagine Cottage and now it is open to the public on Saturdays. I am also actively working on a photography book that will include some light history and stories from people who lived/worked at Central State Hospital. Teaching people about the hospital, its history, and mental health remains very important to me throughout this process.”
As part of this goal and to support GOCHC’s heritage center renovations, Whitehead helped to plan and host the event. Central State Hospital Trivia Night sold tickets to raise money for The Depot Project. The depot building was built in 1891 and is housed on CHS grounds. The Depot Project is an ongoing restoration to turn the building into an interactive museum, called the heritage center, that will preserve Georgia and United States history from visits by the earliest Native American hunters, through the frontier and antebellum years, to the 21st century. One of these exhibits will be dedicated to the history of Central State Hospital.
“Funds from the tickets went towards the restoration of The Depot, which has been an ongoing project for GOCHC and is very important for the historic preservation of Baldwin County. Hosting the trivia night was a fun way to raise money for this project, spread the word about the project, and educate the community about Central State Hospital,” said Whitehead.
Leading up to trivia night, Seeking Asylum hosted a “Did you know?” series on its Facebook and Instagram. The series provided hints to upcoming answers to the trivia questions and promoted the trivia night.
“The did you know series? Helped to spread information about trivia night but also gave others a perspective on Central State Hospital’s history.
There is so much history related to its patients, its many buildings, its names, and so much more that people don’t know,” said Whitehead.
“By sharing that series we were also educating a wider audience, which is Seeking Asylum’s and GOCHC’s goal.”
Whitehead expressed her desire to spread information about Central State Hospital to prompt discussion about mental health. Before beginning her journey in photography, Whitehead worked in mental health for the majority of her life and was inspired by her late mentor, Dr. Greg Jarvie, who previously worked at Central State Hospital.
“Any discussion of Central State Hospital prompts discussion about mental health and its treatment in the public and by medical professionals,” said Whitehead.
“Alongside raising money, I wanted this event to be another avenue for opening these discussions. It’s always good for people to learn about the history of mental health and treatment.”
Central State Hospital was one of the world’s largest hospitals and Georgia’s first psychiatric hospital. It housed about 12,000 patients in the 1960’s who were referred to be ‘mentally-ill’ though these patients were commonly called ‘insane’ when the hospital was established. According to Whitehead’s “Did you know?” series, the first patient to enter the Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum (CSH’s original name) was Tillman B. of Bibb County on Dec. 15, 1842.
He died the summer after his arrival from ‘maniacal exhaustion.’
Another fact highlighted in the series was that in 1929, the Georgia State Sanitarium (another name) changed its name to Milledgeville State Hospital to reinforce the fact that the ‘insane’ were actually people suffering from mental illness.
“When creating the questions for trivia night, I wanted to explore a diverse range of Central State Hospital’s history.
I decided on six main categories referring to people, places, things, patient life, important dates and more fascinating facts,” said White.
“Our teams were pretty even of knowing the answers to learning new facts so it was great to see people both learning and showing their knowledge.”
Five teams participated in trivia night to battle it out over six rounds for prizes donated by The Brick. The winning team of trivia night was Steve, Teresa and Casey Chambers, Emilie Cook, and Walter Reynolds.
Along with their team, second and third place winners received prizes from The Brick including Brick t-shirts and food cards. During the game, The Brick also provided free appetizers or drinks for the players.
“We hope to host more trivia nights in the future. This inaugural trivia event was a success and it gives me hope for the future events we host,” said Whitehead.
Seeking Asylum is open to the public on Saturdays from 1:30 - 3:30 or by appointment at the W.H. Smith Building located at 118 S. Wilkinson St., Suite 13, Milledgeville, GA.
To schedule an appointment, contact seeking. asylum.book@gmail. com.