Join curators for a tour of the new exhibit, Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back: The Continued Struggle to Treat Mental Illness in America, currently on display in the Eckenhoff Reading Room.
This exhibit explores both societal and medical treatments of mental illness in the US from the 18th century to today. It highlights institutional confinement, medical and pharmaceutical treatments, the development of child psychiatry, and the shift to police as mental illness first responders. Patterns of advancement and retreat carry through each case, showing the struggle to properly treat mental illness continues today.
View Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back online.
Details
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
12:00 – 1:00 PM
Meet at the library circulation desk.
Galter Health Sciences Library
320 E. Superior Street
Chicago Campus
This exhibit was created to complement the National Library of Medicine’s traveling exhibit, Care & Custody: Past Responses to Mental Health, on display in the Galter Library atrium February 9-March 21, 2026. Details about that exhibit are available here.
Upcoming "Curator Tour of Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back: The Continued Struggle to Treat Mental Illness in America" classes
Meet at Galter Library circulation desk
Tue, February 24 12:00 PM CST