10“menopausal…psychosis”： W. R. Dunton Jr., “Mrs. Packard and Her Influence Upon Laws for the Commitment of the Insane,” Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin 18, no. 199 （October 1907）： 422.
11“settled down to”： Ibid.
12“a minor league”： “A Sane Lady Such As I: Part II,” Jacksonville Journal Courier, June 18, 1967.
13“couldn’t keep her”： “A Sane Lady Such As I,” Jacksonville Journal Courier, June 11, 1967.
14“I am determined”： EP, PHL, 145.
15“We should set”： EP, GD, 4:10.
16“effective crusader”： Walter E. Barton, The History and Influence of the American Psychiatric Association （Washington: American Psychiatric Press, 1987）， 64.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to start by thanking the radium girls, the subjects of my first American history book and my absolute heroines. Without them, I never would have had the opportunity to tell Elizabeth’s story. Ladies, you contributed so much to the world. In a way, this book, too, is another of your legacies. Thank you. All of you. Always.
I am also indebted to my publisher, Sourcebooks, which consistently demonstrates such incredible faith in me as a writer. My dream team of editors: Grace Menary-Winefield, the book’s first champion; Shana Drehs, the midwife who helped me find its shape as it came into the world; Bridget Connolly, who read so many versions; and last but by no means least Anna Michels, who helped to hone the book with clarity and wisdom. Thank you all for your enthusiasm, patience, and expertise. Thank you to Sabrina Baskey, Brenda Horrigan, and Heather Hall for their work on the text. And thank you to Jillian Rahn for her work on the pages.
To the entire team at Sourcebooks—including but not limited to Liz Kelsch, Valerie Pierce, Margaret Coffee, Lizzie Lewandowski, Dominique Raccah, Caitlin Lawler, and everyone else!—thank you for so generously lending your remarkable individual talents to getting this book into readers’ hands, and for your passion for both my work and yours. I’ll be forever grateful.
As I will be to my readers. You are the best. Thank you for your hearts and heads and for reading these stories with such appetite. I hope you will all enjoy this latest book.
I want to thank two University of Wisconsin students, Katherine Pouba and Ashley Tianen. It was in their essay, found online, that I first read about a woman named Elizabeth Packard. I also want to thank the other writers who have previously shone a spotlight on her. Thank you to Myra Himelhoch for her insight, Phyllis Chesler for her groundbreaking revelations, and Linda Carlisle for her thorough bibliography, which provided many helpful starting points for my own journey with this remarkable woman.
Very special thanks are also due to author Barbara Sapinsley. Barbara, your academic generosity in donating your decades of research on Elizabeth to the Oskar Diethelm Library has provided a treasure trove for all those who now come after you. Thank you for your diligence and for persevering when all doors were slammed in your face. The world benefits greatly from the valuable legacy you’ve left us.
A book of this nature is nothing without its research. I’d like to thank three authors whose books were especially insightful—Elaine Showalter, Jeffery L. Geller, and Maxine Harris—but above all I am indebted to those expert librarians who assisted me in uncovering the bones of Elizabeth’s experiences through the historical records. Particular thanks are due to Elizabeth Antaya of the Shelburne Free Public Library, Ellen Keith of the Chicago History Museum Research Center, and Hillary Peppers, Chris Ashmore, and Sarah Snyder of the Jacksonville Public Library in Illinois, all of whom generously went the extra mile—and more—to assist me in my research.
Grateful thanks also to: Marisa Shaari and Nicole Topich at the Oskar Diethelm Library in New York; John Rathe at the New York Public Library; Paul Friday at the New Hampshire Historical Society; Robbin Bailey and Ashley at the Concord Public Library; Jessica Murphy and Heather Mumford at the Francis Countway Library; Karen Trop at the Houghton Library; Beth Carroll-Horrocks at the State Library in MA; Sharon Parrington Wright at the Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA; Ashley Cataldo, Dan Boudreau, Beth, and the team at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA; Wendy Essery at the Worcester Historical Museum; Laurie Nivison at the Deerfield Memorial Libraries; Leslie Fields at Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections; Cynthia Harbeson and Katherine Whitcomb at the Jones Library, Amherst; Blake Spitz at UMass Amherst Libraries; Courtney Posing at the Manteno Public Library in Illinois; Curtis Mann at the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois; Catheryne Popovitch at the Illinois State Archives; Jennifer Bonjean at the Morgan County Circuit Court; Johanna Russ, Glenn Humphreys, Michelle, and Roslyn at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago; Sally J, archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society; Emily A. Schroeder, archivist at the Kennebec Historical Society; Sherry DeVito of the Illinois State Medical Society; the team at the Kankakee County Museum, including Jorie Walters and Jack Klasey; and to the Illinois Historical Society too.