About this episode

The episode explores the hidden cemetery of Northern State Hospital and the stories of its forgotten patients.

In this episode of Invisible Histories , hosts Cari and Elke visit the Northern State Hospital Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley, WA — a serene field off Highway 20, holding many unidentified graves of more than 1,600 people once confined to Washington’s largest mental institution. Some of the patients’ graves have visible numbers and initials, while many more have sunken under the thick grass or have been damaged by weather. We’re joined by John Horne , a local historian who has spent years painstakingly researching, mapping, and restoring the site. John shares stories of forgotten patients, missing records, and the evolving effort to honor those buried here — and reveals how advocacy, memory, and truth-telling intersect in the work of remembrance.   Learn more: Northern State Hospital webpage Friends of Northern State Hospital Facebook Page Northern State Hospital Cemetery Facebook Group Finding Lillian Documentary: The lost patients of Washington’s abandoned mental hospital Duwamish Poor Farm Memorial Project "Under the Red Roof, One Hundred Years at Northern State Hospital" by M J McGoffin. Northern State Hospital Wikipedia page Atlas Obscura article about Northern State…

People in this episode

Hosts: Cari Simson, Elke Hautala

Guest: John Horne

Topics covered

• mental health history
• cemetery exploration
• advocacy
• memory
• true crime
• historical research

Keywords

• Northern State Hospital
• cemetery
• mental institution
• historian
• unidentified graves
• advocacy
• memory
• Washington

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Friends of Northern State Hospital, Northern State Hospital, Northern State Hospital Cemetery, Duwamish Poor Farm Memorial Project, Northern State Hospital Wikipedia page, Atlas Obscura, Seattle Times

Books & works: Finding Lillian Documentary: The lost patients of Washington’s abandoned mental hospital, Under the Red Roof, One Hundred Years at Northern State Hospital

Places: Northern State Hospital Cemetery, Sedro-Woolley, WA

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