A Tragic End at the Asylum
The harrowing death of a former Stanford student at the Steilacoom asylum.
Hubert Spicer, of Seattle, committed suicide at the Steilacoom asylum Monday by severing the jugular artery. Spicer, who had been a student at Stanford University until last October, reportedly left the university because he felt the lectures were a 'purgatory.' The act was carried out in full view of guards and inmates; he held his coat labels tight with one hand while using the other to inflict the wound under his collar, eventually being discovered only when blood flowed from his trouser leg.
“He left because he felt the lectures were a purgatory to him.”
This reporting reflects the stark and often dehumanizing language used in the 1890s when discussing mental health, a far cry from modern sensitivities regarding institutional care and suicide prevention.
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