3813 - Madness and Justice: Women Who Fought the System and Won Reforms (Jill Parks)
Course Description
Instructor: Jill Parks
This class explores the stories of three remarkable women who helped expose and reform the treatment of women in mental institutions. Dorothea Dix documented the shocking conditions in asylums and advocated for more humane care, leading to the establishment of mental hospitals. Elizabeth Packard was wrongfully committed to an asylum by her husband for expressing her own opinions. After Securing her freedom, she became a powerful advocate for legal reforms and patients' rights. Nellie Bly famously went undercover in a mental institution, exposing abuse and neglect through her investigative reporting and prompting immediate reforms. Together, their efforts transformed public awareness and helped improve the treatment of individuals with mental illness.
Bio: Jill Fein Parks was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She holds a BA degree in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and did graduate work in education at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. She taught in the public schools for several years in Rhode Island, Arizona, and Florida. She left teaching to become the first female switchman for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Salt Lake City in the early 1990's.
Ms. Parks became politically active while at the University of California, Berkeley, protesting the war in Vietnam. After moving to Rhode Island in the early 1970's, she became a leader of the Pro-Choice Movement giving speeches around the state, debating, and publishing articles. Due to her involvement in Pro Choice activities, she was followed by the FBI for months. She received her FBI file of over 100 pages from the Freedom of Information Act. She helped organize marches in Washington DC and around the country for the Equal Rights Amendment and for the Right to Choose.
In 1986 Ms. Parks ran as a socialist candidate for US Senate in Washington.
In 2015, Ms. Parks participated on a visual arts tour of Cuba with The University of New Mexico Latin American & Iberian Institute and Tamarind Institute. She shared her experiences at a Lunch and Learn at OLLI.
She has taught several classes at OLLI since her retirement in 2012 from Kaiser Permanente as HR Manager. She is also a co-leader of the OLLI Book Club.