Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to PorchlightUSA. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
ILM451011; October 11, 1945 Jacksonville
Topic Started: Apr 13 2007, 05:07 PM (439 Views)
PorchlightUSA
Member Avatar
Administrator
[ *  *  * ]
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/496umil.html

Unidentified Black Male


The unknown man was discovered on October 11, 1945 in Jacksonville, Illinois
Unable to communicate, deaf and mute teenager


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Case History
Police found John Doe in the early morning hours of October 11, 1945, in Jacksonville, Illinois.
Unable to communicate, the deaf and mute teenager was labeled “feeble minded” and sentenced by a judge to the Lincoln State School and Colony in Jacksonville.
He remained in the Illinois mental health care system for over thirty years and died at the Sharon Oaks Nursing Home in Peoria on November 28, 1993, Officials believe he was 64 when he died of a stroke.
Deaf, mute, and later blind, the young black man survived institutionalized hell: beatings, hunger, overcrowding, and the dehumanizing treatment that characterized state institutions through the 1950s.
In spite of his environment, he made friends, took on responsibilities, and developed a sense of humor. People who knew him found him remarkable.
He had a straw hat he loved to wear, and he took a backpack with his collection of rings, glasses and silverware with him everywhere.

After reading a story about John Doe in the New York Times, acclaimed singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote and recorded “John Doe No. 24” and purchased a headstone for his unmarked grave.
Award-winning journalist Dave Bakke has written his story in the book; God Knows His Name
The True Story of John Doe No. 24



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source Information:
http://www.siu.edu/~siupress/titles/f00_ti.../bakke_name.htm
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...agewanted=print
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
PorchlightUSA
Member Avatar
Administrator
[ *  *  * ]
http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...pic=20461&st=0&
Attached to this post:
Attachments: 496UMIL.jpg (8.1 KB)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
PorchlightUSA
Member Avatar
Administrator
[ *  *  * ]
December 5, 1993
John Doe No. 24 Takes His Secret to the Grave
JACKSONVILLE, Ill., Dec. 4— The mystery of John Doe No. 24 outlived him.

There were few clues when he was found wandering the streets of Jacksonville in 1945, a deaf, blind teen-ager. There were no answers when he died last week.

He was unable to speak, his relatives could not be found and he was put in an institution. He became John Doe No. 24 because he was the 24th unidentified man in the state's mental health system.

Officials believe he was 64 when he died of a stroke last Sunday at the Sharon Oaks nursing home in Peoria.

"It's just sad to think that you could disappear, and no one would miss you," said Glenn W. Miller, the nursing home administrator. "You wonder how often it happens."

The man's caretakers believe diabetes made him lose his sight, and records indicate he was severely retarded. But workers at the Smiley Living Center in Peoria, where he spent the last six years of his life, remember a proud man, more intelligent that standard tests showed.

They remember the tantalizing hints to his identity -- the way he would scrawl "Lewis" and his pantomimed, wild accounts of foot-stomping jazz bars and circus parades.

"It was so obvious from what he pantomimed that he had quite a life at one time," said Kim Cornwell, a caseworker. "Like a grandfather, he could probably tell funny stories. We just couldn't reach out enough to get them." Straw Hat and Backpack

After he was found in Jacksonville, John Doe No. 24 spent 30 years at the Lincoln Developmental Center, a state home in Lincoln. He was then transferred several times before going to the Smiley home in 1987.

He had a straw hat he loved to wear, and he took a backpack with his collection of rings, glasses and silverware with him everywhere. At Christmas parties he danced to vibrations from the music.

Last Christmas the staff at Smiley bought gifts for residents who did not have relatives or other visitors. They bought him a harmonica.

"He just grinned from ear to ear," said Donna Romine, a nurse.

In August he had surgery for colon cancer. When he came back from the hospital, he had trouble eating and was depressed. He was transferred to the nursing home in October.

At a brief graveside service last Wednesday in Jacksonville, a woman asked if anyone had any words to say. No one did.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/05/us/john-...agewanted=print
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
« Previous Topic · Illinois Males Pre-1969 · Next Topic »
Add Reply