This week, Able South Carolina (Able SC) and Historic Columbia officially unveiled People, Not Patients, a collaborative project funded by SC Humanities that documents the lived experiences of people with disabilities and mental health conditions who were confined at the former South Carolina State Hospital, known colloquially as “Bull Street.” Spanning the institution’s history from its 19th-century opening to its closure in the early 2000s, the project centers the voices and experiences of those often omitted from the historical record.
As the former institution’s campus undergoes significant redevelopment, Able SC — a disability-led organization — identified an urgent need to ensure the stories of patients were not eclipsed by architectural history or clinical accounts from physicians.
"There is still much to learn and share about our disabled community that was impacted by the South Carolina State Hospital," said Able SC CEO Kimberly Tissot. "With this collaborative project, we seek to elevate the stories of those who lived on Bull Street. By keeping their experiences at the center of the story, we challenge the history of dehumanization and ask how we can do better today."
The project features a diverse range of historical biographies and modern audio recordings, highlighting several key themes:
Diverse Experiences: Historic Columbia, with advisement from Able SC, curated stories from historical records reflecting a broad spectrum of race, age, gender, and socioeconomic class, illustrating how various conditions — from postpartum depression and anxiety to Autism, developmental disabilities, and physical disabilities — led to confinement.
Modern Testimony: Able SC collected powerful firsthand accounts from former patients and staff who are still living today. These recordings feature the participants' experiences from the mid-to-late 20th century. They reveal a sobering reality: despite the passage of time, many patients continued to face mistreatment and systemic neglect until the facility's final days.
Institutional Parallels: Research indicates that the core issues of dehumanization remained consistent throughout the hospital's multi-century operation.
The release of People, Not Patients serves as more than a historical retrospective; it is a response to today’s growing movement to revive large-scale institutionalization. Able SC argues that resources are better spent on proven home and community based services rather than costly institutionalization, which has been proven to lead to mistreatment.
Able SC calls upon advocates and policymakers to recognize that people with disabilities must be directly involved in the policy-making surrounding their care. To preserve the fundamental rights of dignity and independence, South Carolina must heed the warnings from centuries of documented mistreatment at the Bull Street institution.
The project reveal was held on March 24 at The Laundry at Bull Street, featuring:
Featured Guests: Former patients, representatives from SC Humanities, the SC Department of Mental Health, the SC Developmental Disabilities Council, and others.
Program: A formal presentation of the project led by Able SC and Historic Columbia, followed by a community discussion on the future of disability rights in the state.
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