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Full Answer

How long was Mr Wilson in Cherry Hospital?

Through it all, Mr. Wilson managed, somehow, to keep his sanity. Today, at 95, he is finally being taught to sign. After almost 68 years , he may be released from Cherry Hospital. "He's a survivor," says John Wasson, a social worker who, as Mr. Wilson's guardian, is fighting to improve his life.

Where was Junius Wilson committed?

So Junius Wilson was committed to what was then North Carolina's asylum for black people, the State Hospital in Goldsboro, 50 miles southeast of Raleigh.

How many toilets did Wilson have?

They had only two toilets and drank from one water barrel. Twenty-two years went by before Mr. Wilson saw his family again. On June 5, 1947, his father, Sidney Wilson, and sister, Carrie Gill, visited and asked for his release. It was not granted, and they did not return.

How many years did Wilson spend in the asylum?

In the foot-high stack of medical records, only a handful date to Mr. Wilson's first 40 years at the asylum. Among them are Judge F. A. Daniels' order committing Mr. Wilson and a three-page transcript of the Nov. 18, 1925, inquisition, at which Mr. Wilson's guilt seems to have been taken for granted.

What happened to Mr Wilson?

But in September 1990, the hospital petitioned the courts to declare him incompetent. Mr. Wilson, the hospital said, could not communicate well enough to make decisions about his life and )) well-being.

How long were patients locked in the Bull Pen?

That building was "dank, dark and fetorious [fetid]," according to a state inspection in 1948, and patients were found locked in cages for long periods. One man had been kept in the cage for about four years, the inspection said. On the second floor, as many as 70 patients were jammed into a room called the "bull pen.".

When was Mr. Wilson castrated?

Shortly after his arrival on Nov. 21, 1925, Mr. Wilson was castrated. Medical records from more than a half-century later called the operation "therapeutic.". Mr. Wilson spent years -- the records don't disclose how long -- HTC locked in the building for the criminally insane.