Mrs. E.P.W. Packard

Mrs. Elizabeth Packard, the wife of a Calvinist minister and mother of six children, was wrongfully committed in 1860 to the Jacksonville, Illinois asylum, because her husband claimed her religious views had convinced him she was insane. At that time, the Illinois law permitted a man to institutionalize his wife "without the evidence of insanity required in other cases."

Mrs. Packard wrote, lectured, and lobbied on behalf of the rights of women and those alleged to be insane. She championed to change the commitment law in four states and passing a married women's property law in Illinois.

View Mrs. Packard’s Book for Adoption Here