This is a selfie of Clyde and Elsie Siggins, who worked at the Michigan Asylum for the Insane in Kalamazoo, around the turn of the 20th century.
Clyde was a serious photographer, and a surviving album of roughly 100 photos provides an exceptional window into the work lives and infrastructure of a vast, 19th century “insane asylum.” (The Siggins Album is housed in the Local History Room of the Kalamazoo Public Library, which kindly allowed me to make high resolution scans.)
The Siggins photographs document the exteriors of most of the structures on both the main and Asylum Lake campuses. They also include many interior shots at both locations. Interior settings include broad galleries, furnace rooms, sitting rooms, dormitories, a wine cellar, etc. along with the staff who lived and worked in them. It’s a fantastic portrait of the relatively young population who served in “live-in” positions at a turn of the century asylum.
Below is a zoom-and-enhance approach to one of Clyde's dormitory selfies, leading to one of his excellent photos of staff in an asylum hall.
