mental asylums in the country and it# operated for some 93 years.

Thousands## of Black patients came through over# the years and many of them died there.

NBC News correspondent Antonia Hylton began# looking into the facility a decade ago during## her first year of college.

I spoke with# her recently about her findings which,## she details in a new book, "Madness:# Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum."

And I asked her why she wanted to tell this story.

ANTONIA HYLTON, Author, "Madness: Race and# Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum": It was my year, and I On the one hand, it was an academic obsession,## a passion for the history of mental health.

I think, because I come from a very big,# tight-knit family.

I'm one of seven kids.

But the one topic that always seemed off-limits# when I was growing up was mental trauma and## mental illness.

And that's because I came from a# family with a long history of dealing with those## issues and loved ones, relatives who had spent# time in institutions not unlike Crownsville.

And so when I finally was out of my own as# a young adult, it was my moment to explore,## to try to find myself, my family,# a bit of my history reflected## somewhere.

And I stumbled across -- upon# a footnote about Crownsville Hospital.

And I didn't know then what this would become, but# I knew that I had found something really special## and really important, a key piece of Black# history, of the history of psychiatry.

But,## really, it's an American story, a story# that I think implicates all of us.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell me about what you# uncovered, though, because you go on,## as you mentioned, a decade-long# journey uncove talking to people who work there, family members# of folks who were You basically document the story# of a chronically underfunded,## perpetually short-staffed facility surrounded# by hostile neighbors sub overt and violent racism as many other# institutions and resources for Black## people at the time.

What was the impact# of that on the people who were there?

ANTONIA HYLTON: Crownsville is this# complicated institution that comes to## reflect all of these evolving battles in our# country in its early years, And one of the things that was most# shocking to me that I found when I## first embarked on all this research# was that this is the only in the state of Maryland and quite# possibly the only hospital in the## history of the United States that forced its# own pati And this is because doctors at the time had# very particular beliefs about Black people## and their minds, their mental well-being.

Many# of them believed that emancipation was a mistake## and that Black people weren't able to handle# freedom, and that this rise in mental illness,## in emotional disturbances that they were# witnessing in the years after emancipation,## they figured, well, it must be# because they can't handle freedom.

No one seemed to pause and ask, well, what# effect might have en Americans?

And so they create these segregated# institutions from the very beginning with this## idea that Black people are different and# therefore need to be treated differently,## and that the solution, part of the therapy,# the treatment is to put them back to work.

And so these patients in 1911 are brought into a# forest, and they're not just carrying some water## or sandbags and helping some contractors out.

They# are pouring cement.

They are moving railways.

They## are building massive structures from the ground# up.

And they are working side by side through the## day and night with contractors and electricians# to build a hospital that, once it's complete,## they're going to be marched inside and# they're going to become its first patients.

And so I often share that story with people# so that they understand that th e beginning, the genesis of a story that# comes to reflect so much of how Black people## are then treated.

And the hospital's# founding, it represents that moment## after emancipation.

It comes to represent# fights over integration, civil rights,## the fight for Black people's complete and honest# representation and participation in this country.

AMNA NAWAZ: You document a number of horrific,# quite frankly, accounts, acts of violence in## Crownsville, abuse of patients, inhumanity# that really just takes your breath away,## but there's also moments of bravery and# real humanity, in particular from some of## the Black staffers at the facility who really# fight for people who aren't getting treatment.

Does any one person or any# one story stick with you?

ANTONIA HYLTON: Oh, man, there are a few.

There's this group, this clique of Bla some of the very first Black people that get# the opportunity to work at Crownsville.

For its## first several decades, it's a hospital that's all# Black patients and exclusively white employees.

Then integration comes, and, slowly,# more and more Black local community## members are able to get jobs and to treat# people who don't just look like them,## but in many cases went to school# with them, rode the bus with them,## lived down the street from them.

They notice# that many patients don't have clothes,## so they go home and they gather their own leftover# clothing, and they bring it to the hospital.

They notice that some of the male patients don't# have belts and their pants are falling down all## day and they're not able to live with dignity.

So# they go and they make their own makesh very simple acts like that for decades it# seemed no other employee had thought to do.

And so they start to transform the culture of the## hospital just because they# see those pati AMNA NAWAZ: You dug into your# own family history as part of## your reporting as well and the# reluctan to talk about a lot of the mental# health issues throug You write this: "In my family, the stories# range from regular depression to anxie to alcoholism and schizophrenia.

We were warned# about how much diabetes there was in our family## medical history.

It would have helped to know# about the number of mental breakdowns too."

How has this changed how you look at# the stigma surrounding mental health## conversations, particularly# around communities of color,## where there are fewer resources and these# are often issues we ANTONIA HYLTON: It gave me more empathy,# because there was a time when I was very## angry at some of my family members.

I had# tried to have conversations with them.

I remember being in high school and asking# my parents if I could have a therapist, because I was feeling very down at school.# And they said, no, that's not something that## Black people do.

Therapists don't treat# Black people well.

You can't trust them.

And I felt like they'd shut# me down and turned me away,## and they were old-school and they just didn't# want to hear about my life and my exper But once you reckon with this history,# when you see the way in which they were## excluded from real therapy and mental health# care treatment, or when th how harmful it at times could be, you start to# understand why maybe did my grandparents and## my parents think this system wasn't for them, that# it wasn't safe for their children to engage in it.

AMNA NAWAZ: The book is "Madness:## Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Antonia, thank you so much.

ANTONIA HYLTON: Thank yo