In 1790, Stephen Girard did exactly that. Without a medical examination by doctors (merchants and friends served as the jury), Mary was declared a "lunatic." She was not sent to a hospital. She was locked inside a tiny, windowless cell in the attic of their sprawling mansion on Water Street in Philadelphia.
The Insanity of Mary Girard is a 1976 one-act play by Lanie Robertson, based on the true historical account of a Philadelphia woman committed to an asylum in 1790. Plot Summary The Insanity Of Mary Girard Pdf
But the play—and the desperate search for its PDF—has resurrected her. Every time a student highlights a line about a woman being silenced, or an actress performs Mary’s final speech into a dark auditorium, the legal machinery of 1790 is put back on trial. In 1790, Stephen Girard did exactly that
To truly understand the gravity of the text found in one must understand the historical reality it mirrors. While Mary Girard is a fictionalized character, her plight echoes the documented experiences of thousands of women throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The Insanity of Mary Girard is a 1976
Stephen Girard got the last laugh. He died in 1831, leaving millions to found Girard College, an orphanage for "poor, white, male orphans." For decades, his reputation as a humanitarian was taught in Philadelphia schools.
by Lanie Robertson is a haunting one-act play that blurs the lines between historical fact and psychological nightmare. Based on the tragic true story of Mary Lum Girard, the play explores themes of gender politics, the mistreatment of the mentally ill, and the fragile nature of sanity. The True Story Behind the Drama