Unclaimed

Behind The Screen: Unclaimed (Epilogue)

Join Ancestry's Lisa Elzey and volunteer genealogist Phyllis Zegers as they peel back the curtain and explore what went into making "Unclaimed". An Oregon resident and key researcher in the making of the podcast, Phyllis Zegers brings new insight into the history of Oregon State Hospital's "Room of Forgotten Souls", and more in this special epilogue. You can also watch the video version of this episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel now. For decades, thousands of stories lay hidden in the Oregon State Hospital's "Room of Forgotten Souls," holding approximately 3,500 copper canisters of unclaimed cremains from patients who died there and in surrounding institutions, some as far back as 100 years ago. Fifteen years after its discovery, an online database and memorial have brought these cremains to public attention, reuniting hundreds with living relatives. Still, many secrets remain. “Unclaimed” delves into these untold stories using Ancestry's tools, archival records, and genealogy research with host Amy Standen. Learn about newfound siblings, the mystery of a famous poet's missing matriarch, and life at OSH through medical records and descendant accounts. The series reveals how Ancestry is uncovering family secrets and reuniting forgotten ashes with modern-day descendants.

Episode 6 - Meet The Randalls (Finale)

Thomas Randall passed away at Oregon State Hospital in 1967. He had suffered from epilepsy since receiving a head injury in his youth, and in a last-ditch effort for treatment, had checked himself into OSH. Randall’s ashes were among those stored for decades in what became known as the “Room of Forgotten Souls”. Years later, his children Becky and Tim made a shocking discovery: they found three half-sisters: Sue, Pam, and Debbie. A decades-long journey ensued in their effort to make contact with their half-siblings. But that wasn’t the only revelation the Randall Family encountered. When the five siblings finally connected, they uncovered a shocking secret: the ashes initially delivered to the Randall family from OSH were not those of their biological father. At OSH, thousands of people died and were never claimed by their families. The Randalls thought they had received their father’s ashes, but the remains of Thomas Randall were rediscovered in the “Room of Forgotten Souls”. There had been a mistake, one that took 50 years to come to light. The wrong ashes had been sent to the Randall family, and Thomas's remains had been left unclaimed all along.  In this final episode of this season of Unclaimed, travel with the siblings as they gather for a family reunion in rural Oregon to finally claim their father, understand his tragic life with epilepsy, and find profound healing and closure. Listen to the siblings recount memories of their father—including the challenges his epilepsy presented at work and at home, learn about how epilepsy was seen as a mental illness back then, and look at OSH through the lens of that period in time. For some of the kids, the cremains present the first real opportunity for them to get to know each other, and their father.

Episode 5 - The Ashes of Addison Kidd

“July 5th, 1910. Kid, Addison. Colored. Number 1681. Sits all day with head down. If spoken to, answers only… in whispers.” This was the description from a doctor’s evaluation of Addison Kidd, one of the few Black patients at Oregon State Hospital around the turn of the 20th century. Kidd’s story has largely been lost to time… until now. Kidd lived at OSH from 1904 to 1931. He was transferred there from the Oregon State Penitentiary, after being subjected to brutally inhumane treatment and accused by officials of “playing crazy”. Born right around the end of the Civil War as the child of formerly enslaved parents, he and his siblings were likely the first generation in their family born with the freedom to leave the South. Addison went west, where he would make front page headlines and ultimately lose his freedom altogether. Kidd’s story, including his criminal record, brutal treatment at the penitentiary, and his controversial diagnosis as mentally ill, is surprisingly well-documented in newspapers from the time. Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.(host of Finding Your Roots on PBS), regional experts at Ancestry like Nicka Sewell-Smith, and volunteer genealogist Phyllis Zegers reconstruct Kidd’s biography, filling in missing chapters in historical records. While detailing the significance of genealogical research and the particular challenges historians face when researching African American history, they give dignity and understanding to an otherwise forgotten man. Ultimately locating a living descendant, these discoveries restore the humanity of a man who was silenced by history.

Episode 4 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

In 1975, Dr. Dean Brooks, superintendent of Oregon State Hospital, made the controversial decision to allow a Hollywood crew to film on-site at OSH. The film crew of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) observed patients receiving electroshock therapy and participating in group therapy sessions, and even spent the night in the hospital wards. Believing it would spark a vital conversation about mental illness and the abuse of power, he gave producer Michael Douglas and the cast unprecedented access as a chance for producers and actors to see what life was really like inside a psychiatric hospital. Eventually, the rest of us would see it too. For the past three episodes, Unclaimed has told stories about the patients who died at Oregon State Hospital, and whose remains were never claimed by their families. There are thousands of these cases, rediscovered inside what became known as the Room of Forgotten Souls. Listen as Michael Douglas, Dr. Dean Brooks, and others detail its legacy within the hospital’s complex history—just in time for Cuckoo’s Nest’s 50th anniversary this week.  Also, learn how the 1960s were a time of upheaval in the mental health establishment, and how radical reformers like Brooks viewed and ultimately transformed the institutions they oversaw.

Episode 3 - The Plath Family and The Bell Jar

Independent genealogy researcher Phyllis Zegers uncovers a startling connection among the thousands of unclaimed ashes at the old psychiatric facility Oregon State Hospital. With the help of Ancestry genealogists, the remains of a forgotten patient, Ernestine Plath, are identified as those of the paternal grandmother of famed poet Sylvia Plath, whose novel The Bell Jar chronicles a young woman’s struggle with mental illness and her commitment to a mental institution. This episode of Unclaimed dives deep into the discovery and confirmation of this hidden chapter of mental illness in an otherwise well-documented American literary family's story. We also hear from curators at the OSH Museum of Mental Health, who talk about commitment laws affecting women deemed “mentally ill” in this era—how a woman could be committed by her husband or family on the grounds that she struggled with “domestic disagreement,” or “disappointment in love." So many of these cremains have yet to be researched and connected to the present day. What other discoveries are still to be made? What other stories are on the brink of being forgotten forever?