Without a winter coat, preteen Mike Farnam tried to escape from Traverse City State Hospital. As he crossed the farm field, which had been closed less than a decade before in 1957, the snow was up to his waist. He approached barn #206 full of cows who were now managed by local farmers. He tried to lay near some heifers for body heat, like he’d done at home in Cadillac, but these cows were skittish. So at 3:00 am he turned himself into one of the farm houses.

Mike was put “in the cage” as punishment. (a seclusion room) It was known as “a place for cry babies.” His motto was, “Never Let Them See You Cry.” “I remember the cage as a very cold place.” Mike wrote on a forum post with others from Hall #18 at the Traverse City State Hospital.

There were three seclusion rooms on Hall #18. They seemed to always be full according to the residents who have written on the Kirkbride Forum Page. These 10 x 10 cells had no furniture. A patient would be let out four times a day to use the bathroom. According to Ronny, another young patient from Hall #18, one could stand on the hinges in two of the rooms and watch TV through the small window at the top of the door.

Mike had been committed to the Traverse City State Hospital as a seven year old in 1961. He was an epileptic. “Epilepsy was treated like leprosy back then.” Mike stated. There was very little understanding of this condition in the middle of the century. He wrote, “It was the last step in removing embarrassment from the eyes of society.” Mike’s many escape attempts had gotten him released back to his parents by 1966.

“Patients were used as guinea pigs for practicing and testing new treatments.” There were times when Mike was “pumped so full of med’s I couldn’t walk strait.” When he had a seizure, they would put him in a seclusion room. If he had another seizure while in the seclusion room, some of the staff members would come in and ‘knock’ him around. Mike reported still having visual scars from a belt that was used.

Epileptic seizures can be violent and disturbing to witness. They are exhausting for the one afflicted with this disease. At that time some people believed epileptic episodes were displays of demonic possession. Even left handed individuals were believed to carry the work of the devil and were treated so by nuns of the Catholic faith. When epileptics had seizures, others thought it was right to ‘beat the devil out of them.’ Dr. Thill, a lead physician for the youngsters in Hall #18, supported his staff in their conduct. Mike wrote, “Dr. Thill hated kids and was not afraid to show it.”

Dr. Thill’s favorite place was the office next to the painting of the seven dwarfs. Every day at shift change all the staff met there. The office had a half door with the top part usually left open. Dr. Thill could be seen sitting at an old wooden roll top desk. He kept the children’s files in the lower right hand drawer. His wooden chair was on squeaky rollers with big arm rests and could lean back.

Mike wrote, “I picture all these memories in black and white because that’s about all it was. About the only thing that was in color was the 7 Dwarfs painted on the wall.” This eerie image was recreated by a local artist as a tribute to the children of Hall #18 and is hung in the main entrance at the “Traverse City Commons.”

Our daughter, Charlotte, has epilepsy. I become jittery and sweaty as I picture her when I read about what has happened to Mike Farnam and others afflicted with this condition. Knowing about the kids in Hall # 18 has my tender nurturing instincts turning into a sour queasiness that has stayed with me. (Thankfully, Charlotte has been seizure free for eleven years now. )

There were kind staff members among the nightmarish ones. Mr. Martin, a teacher, was approachable and respectful. Mrs. Warmington was the head nurse on Hall #18 and #20. Tom, an attendant, was a friend. Mr. Curtice cared for the youngsters, but wasn’t allowed to hug them. It was a policy that the staff wasn’t permitted to show affection to the children of Hall #18.

Patients were issued 3 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 2 sweaters and one pair of shoes. These were leather shoes with solid soles. They never had tennis shoes. The clothes were labeled on the inside and kept in a wooden box on a labeled shelf in room #68. Bedding was changed once a week.

Daily Schedule: (Mike Farnum)
7:00 am Make beds army style – If it wasn’t done correctly, it would be torn apart and you’d have to remake it.
7:30 am Line up for breakfast – There were metal trays and silverware. I would have to lift my tray to get the food scooped onto it. At the end there would be dessert and a plastic cup for milk. We had to be very quiet. Mr. Norman would holler out until it was quiet.
8:00 am Scrape station – The silverware was counted. Then back to Hall #18 for cleaning and medication. The medication was changed to a liquid form to ensure the children were taking it. It tasted awful! The nurses would have the kids step into the hall so they wouldn’t spray reddish orange droplets onto their white uniforms if the youngster spit it out. Some kids ended up getting injections.
8:30 am Line up for school – We had to line up two by two in straight lines. Sort of like in the video “The Wall” by Pink Floyd.
4:00 pm Return from School – We had fun until dinner time. It always had to be quiet.
5:00 pm Dinner – Same as breakfast routine
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm We got our meds. In the winter we played in the hall and in the summer we could be taken outside to the bandstand and tennis courts- 2 by 2 in straight lines, of course.
On Wednesdays we went to a movie in the theater on the grounds. We always had a dance on Fridays. (Outside at the bandstand in the summer and in the theater in the winter)
7:30 pm Shower – This was one room with attendants watching. The towels were around the corner.
10:00 pm Lights Out

Mike wrote that due to his uncontrolled seizures and often being over medicated, he wasn’t allowed to participate in some of the social activities. School was a privilege. So instead of learning his day would be spent scrubbing floors and buffing them with paste wax.

Mike’s behavior was often ‘corrected’ by staff. He was slammed into walls and the floor for walking ‘funny.’ His gait was most likely due to being over medicated. His half day ‘time out’ punishment was often sitting in a wooden chair or being forced to stand facing the wall.

Children were only allowed one family visit per month on a Sunday. If it was your week for a visit, you would have to sit quietly in the day room and wait for the phone to ring at the nurses station. (2 rings) “As I waited,” Mike wrote, “I would get chills every time the phone range, hoping it was my family.” Mike’s family lived in Cadillac, 50 miles south. It took them two hours round trip. Visits were considered a privilege and were always being threatened to be taken away from Mike due to his many attempts at running away.

“Monday Monday” the song held special meaning for the kids from Hall #18. It was the saddest day of all. Those who had visitors were depressed and upset as well as those who didn’t have any. The classrooms were cold after having the heat turned off for the weekend. Mike wrote, “I think more people escaped on Monday than any other day.” Mike was one patient who tried to run away on several occasions.

Mike had a trusty transistor radio. He kept it inside a book where the pages had been cut out so he could keep his precious radio safe from being taken.

Many items, books and songs were banned. But Tom, one of the attendants, would sneak items in for the boys.

“Many sounds, smells/odors, thoughts and visions bring back memories of TCSH.” Most of these memories are like “old puzzle pieces without a connection.” Mike wrote. “I remember having to fight to protect myself. I remember rats/mice and roaches. I remember being forced to take liquid medication. It tasted awful. I remember it was always my fault. But I never let them see me cry.”

Fish was served every Friday. Mike wrote, “Maybe that’s why I do not eat fish anymore.” After his release he liked fishing, but always threw them back. He was never interested in cooking them.

Every time Mike hears a small prop airplane, he recalls the many tiny aircraft that would fly low over the hospital grounds trying to catch a glimpse of patients.

Mike remembers sweating while walking through Tunnel Four even though it was winter. (pictured above) The hot water pipes kept the campus toasty warm in the northern Michigan snow. The walls were covered in asbestos.

One time Mike was sleeping with his arm over the side of his metal framed bed and a rat bit his thumb. His digit held the scar years later.

Patients would dry banana peels on the radiators and then roll the dried pieces into cigarettes to smoke. As a kid, Mike said they all thought they would get high. To light these ‘cigarettes’ one would hold toilet paper wrapped around steel wool and stick it into the light socket or outlet. This would create sparks and light the toilet paper.

“One time we pulled the string up and there was a paper with scribbling on it. It scared the hell out of me. There were 3-4 of us, but we couldn’t figure out what it said or what it meant. It never went beyond the 3-4 of us.”

Every time the song, “Tom Dooly,” is played, it places Mike right back in a seclusion room.

The song, “We Got To Get Out Of This Place” by The Animals was banned by the hospital but Mike’s friend and fellow resident, Ronny, would play it on his guitar under the Hippie Tree. There was a large tree behind Building 50 with a picnic table in the shadow of the oak. If a patient had earned ‘ground parole’ he or she could walk the trails around the hospital compound. Many would gather under the “Hippie Tree.”

Today a different tree holds the name ‘Hippie Tree.’ It is located a half mile down a trail behind the Traverse Bay School administration building. This tree had been split when it was struck by lightning. People have painted the branches. Some believe there are mystical powers by this tree.

Ronny and Mike recommend the film, “A Child Is Waiting” from 1963 that depicts many truths about children in institutions. Judy Garland plays a teacher and Burt Lancaster is a psychologist in this production.

Mike was born in 1954. He was admitted voluntarily to the Traverse City State Hospital by his parents in 1961 at seven years old due to epilepsy. Mike attempted many escapes and was released in 1966. Mike wrote that his family never asked him about his experiences at the asylum. His family split up a few years after his release. He had seen his brothers and sister only four or five times since their parents divorce. Sadly, Mike passed away shortly after February 2011 when the posting on the forum ceased. Ronny was planning to dedicate his book, “Where The Buffalos Roam” to Mike. Unfortunately it has never been published. I wanted to be sure their stories were told.

Mike wrote, “My time at TCSH was like a boomerang in slow motion. It came back to me years later.”

Resources:
The Kirkbride Online Forum for residents of Hall #18
“Traverse City State Hospital” 2005 by Chase Miller
Where the Buffalos Roam by Ronny Larson’s webpage