James Secker was admitted to the Norfolk Nebraska Lunatic Asylum on 6 September, 1814. According to Asylum records, he was given to fits of extreme behavior and uncontrollable physical displays of aggression. Refusing to accept his lot, Secker tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, to escape the confines of the Asylum.
For his transgressions, Secker was chained to his bed and treated with a “semi-starvation” protocol as an instructional method to help him behave in a more gentlemanly fashion. Having endured this kind of punishment for more than seven years, Secker fell ill on 22 August, 1821. In what would be his final hours, Asylum attendant Mr. Dalrymple, “bled” him and treated him with salts every four hours. Secker died the next day. He was 51 years old.
In the 1800s, patients in Nebraska Asylums were admitted for reasons that today would seem outrageous. The list included domestic trouble, disappointment in love, financial trouble, hepatic dullness, heredity, masturbation, intemperance, overwork, overstudy, religious excitement, sun stroke, and, in Secker’s case, epilepsy.
Although it’s hard to imagine that conditions could have been worse than what James Secker experienced, a century later these facilities began to practice shock therapy. Defying any type of rational explanation, mental health reforms did not take place in Nebraska until the mid-1950’s–almost a 150 years after Secker’s death.
Standing as a stark reminder of inhumane and reckless treatment, old Asylums across Nebraska whisper terrifying and tragic secrets to all who will listen.
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