Asylum History: Who We Are - Meet Kate & Jordan

Hi there!

You may be thinking what a couple of weirdos .. and that's okay, we're probably actually weirder than you think. We'll cover why we're doing this blog and all the information we hope to cover in our next post. LAUNCHING ON THURS 10/27 (fingers crossed).

But for now, we want to introduce ourselves and let you know who we are!

Meet Kate:

Kate is based in Western Massachusetts.

I am a special education coordinator at an inner city school, but for the past twelve years I have been photographing and researching asylums and institutions.

I was born & raised 45 minutes south of Northampton State Hospital, the only asylum for the insane in the Western part of Massachusetts.

I received my Bachelor's and Master's degree from Elms College in Special Education and English and am working on a Master's in Creative Nonfiction. After college I started working at a residential treatment center for children and adolescents with mental illness. While working there I began to learn some of the history of mental health treatment, then decided to visit Northampton for the first time. After seeing the Kirkbride, I started researching asylum history & architecture.

I read and wrote down everything I learned, eventually crafting my first book, Behind the Walls: Shadows of New England's Asylums. Ten years later I released my first novel, a historical mystery set in Northampton State Hospital called Hospital Hill.

Follow me:

IG @katebroderick

Twitter @PoisonedPenner

Meet Jordan:

Jordan is based in Los Angeles, CA.

By day, I work at an entertainment company and do freelance development in unscripted TV, but my passion lies in researching asylum history.

I was born & raised in small town West Virginia, about 30 minutes from the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (or Weston State Hospital). I became fascinated with the building & wanted to know more.

I received my Bachelor's degree from WVU in Sport & Exercise Psychology, working with injured athletes returning to sport. While learning about the history of psychology, I was fascinated by treatments that are considered barbaric by today's standards, but at the time were modern medicine.

From there, I started researching asylum history & architecture. I now actively pursue my passion by traveling around the country to as many institutions as I can (active and closed) before they're demolished.