THE UPSIDE OF A BREAKDOWN
A Man, A Museum, A Mental Institution and the Power of Resilience
In 1937 my great grandfather, Henry Collins Brown, shared his mental health journey with the world in his memoir A Mind Mislaid. His story is one of triumph and the cycles of life. Henry was the “Human Interest Historian” of New York City in the late 1800s and early 1900s and the founder of The Museum of The City of New York. After a grueling journey to start the museum of one of the great cities in the world, he was cast aside for a younger man from outside of New York. This resulted in a full-on nervous breakdown and three years of recovery in Bloomingdale Mental Asylum in White Plains, NY. This is the remarkable account of his journey back to wellness. People still struggle with the stigma of discussing our mental health journeys (which we all have). Imagine the nerve in the 1930s. We are sharing Henry’s story as a tribute to a great man who loved his city, created something great (The Museum will celebrate its centennial in 2023), and was bold and courageous in his battle with mental health issues and his willingness to share to help all then and now!
Enjoy his story!
Tim Brown
p.s. Here is an interview on “THE WIRED” Podcast about the “Upside” journey. https://www.remedylive.com/thewiredpodcast/episode-26-timothy-brown
p.p.s The journey continues - Enjoy this Blog post from Input Fort Wayne from 7/13/2022
AND
This presentation to the Brentwood, New York Library Genealogy group from 12-03-2022: