"Colored Insane" Interview with Diana Martha Louis

·45 min·4 clips

Black women's voices were never meant to be recorded, so Diana Lewis had to dig for them in literary works and hushed words.

Madigan hosts Diana Martha Lewis, author of 'Colored Insane: Slavery, Asylums, and Mental Illness in the 19th Century'. Lewis is an assistant professor of women's and gender studies at the University of Michigan. She explains that her project began in graduate school with a course on the Georgia Lunatic Asylum, where she focused on Black women like Olivia Wood. Lewis uses the term 'body-mind', coined by Margaret Price, to challenge Western splits between physical and mental health. She discusses the lack of representation of Black female experiences in historical records, noting that their voices were often silenced. To uncover these perspectives, Lewis turned to literary works by African Americans. The conversation delves into the trauma of Black mothers separated from their children in asylums, which re-enacted the separations of slavery. Lewis connects this to contemporary issues like family separations in Minnesota. She reframes Harriet Tubman as a disability activist whose mental and physical health informed her work on the Underground Railroad and her founding of the Harriet Tubman Home for people with disabilities. Lewis also highlights Harriet Jacobs' slave narrative as a key source on the mental health impacts of slavery, including sexual abuse and confinement. She emphasizes the importance of listening to Black women's voices to understand broader systems like slavery and capitalism. Lewis mentions her next book will focus on Black women's intellectual thought on health, including topics like sleep and rest. Madigan concludes by recommending Lewis's book and encouraging listeners to support the show.

As heard by us

A serious conversation about Black mental health history that links 19th-century institutions to family separation today.

Madigan's conversation with Diana Martha Lewis traces Colored Insane, Slavery, Asylums, and Mental Illness in the 19th Century with steady care.

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Why you'd press play

If you want history that keeps circling back to family separation, press play.

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