Join Laura Keyes, as Elizabeth Packard, for this informative and inspiring presentation on “Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard – The Woman Who Wouldn’t Be Silenced,” on Saturday, April 20, from 2 – 3:30 p.m., at the Kankakee County Museum in Small Memorial Park, 801 South Eighth Avenue in Kankakee.
Tickets are $10 for general admission or $8 for museum members and may be purchased online at www.kankakeecountymueum.com or by calling the museum at 815-932-5279, Thursday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard was committed to the Illinois State Hospital (the state mental asylum) in 1860 and was kept under lock and key for three years, all the while protesting her sanity. While her husband, Theophilus, insisted to everyone – Elizabeth’s children, extended family, neighbors, friends, and the asylum employees – that in fact she was insane, Elizabeth was able to obtain her release.
But her battle did not stop there. Conscious of the fact the current law allowed married women to be placed in asylums by their husbands without the benefit of a formal trial or medical examination, Elizabeth started a campaign to change that unjust law. Hear from Elizabeth Packard in April 1864, while the Civil War raged around the nation, and her private war was raging in her soul.
Presenter Laura Keyes graduated from UW-Madison with a Master’s Degree in Library Studies and is a lifetime member of the Association of Lincoln Presenters. Laura recently won the Excellence in Performing Award from that association. For additional information, visit www.LauraFKeyes.com or www.facebook.com/HistoricVoices.