Unclaimed

Join Ancestry's Lisa Elzey and volunteer genealogist Phyllis Zegers as they peel back the curtain and explore what went into making "Unclaimed". An Oregon resident and key researcher in the making of the podcast, Phyllis Zegers brings new insight into the history of Oregon State Hospital's "Room of Forgotten Souls", and more in this special epilogue. You can also watch the video version of this episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel now. For decades, thousands of stories lay hidden in the Oregon State Hospital's "Room of Forgotten Souls," holding approximately 3,500 copper canisters of unclaimed cremains from patients who died there and in surrounding institutions, some as far back as 100 years ago. Fifteen years after its discovery, an online database and memorial have brought these cremains to public attention, reuniting hundreds with living relatives. Still, many secrets remain. “Unclaimed” delves into these untold stories using Ancestry's tools, archival records, and genealogy research with host Amy Standen. Learn about newfound siblings, the mystery of a famous poet's missing matriarch, and life at OSH through medical records and descendant accounts. The series reveals how Ancestry is uncovering family secrets and reuniting forgotten ashes with modern-day descendants.

“July 5th, 1910. Kid, Addison. Colored. Number 1681. Sits all day with head down. If spoken to, answers only… in whispers.” This was the description from a doctor’s evaluation of Addison Kidd, one of the few Black patients at Oregon State Hospital around the turn of the 20th century. Kidd’s story has largely been lost to time… until now. Kidd lived at OSH from 1904 to 1931. He was transferred there from the Oregon State Penitentiary, after being subjected to brutally inhumane treatment and accused by officials of “playing crazy”. Born right around the end of the Civil War as the child of formerly enslaved parents, he and his siblings were likely the first generation in their family born with the freedom to leave the South. Addison went west, where he would make front page headlines and ultimately lose his freedom altogether. Kidd’s story, including his criminal record, brutal treatment at the penitentiary, and his controversial diagnosis as mentally ill, is surprisingly well-documented in newspapers from the time. Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.(host of Finding Your Roots on PBS), regional experts at Ancestry like Nicka Sewell-Smith, and volunteer genealogist Phyllis Zegers reconstruct Kidd’s biography, filling in missing chapters in historical records. While detailing the significance of genealogical research and the particular challenges historians face when researching African American history, they give dignity and understanding to an otherwise forgotten man. Ultimately locating a living descendant, these discoveries restore the humanity of a man who was silenced by history.

Independent genealogy researcher Phyllis Zegers uncovers a startling connection among the thousands of unclaimed ashes at the old psychiatric facility Oregon State Hospital. With the help of Ancestry genealogists, the remains of a forgotten patient, Ernestine Plath, are identified as those of the paternal grandmother of famed poet Sylvia Plath, whose novel The Bell Jar chronicles a young woman’s struggle with mental illness and her commitment to a mental institution. This episode of Unclaimed dives deep into the discovery and confirmation of this hidden chapter of mental illness in an otherwise well-documented American literary family's story. We also hear from curators at the OSH Museum of Mental Health, who talk about commitment laws affecting women deemed “mentally ill” in this era—how a woman could be committed by her husband or family on the grounds that she struggled with “domestic disagreement,” or “disappointment in love." So many of these cremains have yet to be researched and connected to the present day. What other discoveries are still to be made? What other stories are on the brink of being forgotten forever?

A locked room held the ashes of over 3,000 unclaimed cremains of forgotten patients from the Oregon State Hospital. In the series premiere of "Unclaimed", volunteer genealogist Phyllis Zegers uses century-old asylum ledgers and archives to uncover their identities. Her deeply personal mission aims to restore dignity and memory to those who died in the institution and were left behind, successfully reuniting hundreds with their families. Join her quest to connect with living descendants and finally bring their long-lost relatives home.