Under Yazoo Clay

iHeartPodcasts and Mississippi Museum of Art•www.iheart.com

Under Yazoo Clay dives deep into the generations of family secrets around Mississippi’s former “lunatic asylum.” In 2012, a construction crew in Jackson, Mississippi discovered human remains at the site of the state’s university hospital. They would eventually turn out to be one of over 7,000 patients, who had died at the old asylum and been buried on its grounds. Reporter Larrison Campbell travels to Jackson to meet the families trying to get answers about their ancestors. And she tries to understand just how this “forgotten” chapter of history came to be forgotten.

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Episodes

Ever True to Thee

The Mississippi State “Lunatic Asylum” opened its doors in 1855, right before the Civil War. That timing would shape the next 80 years of the old asylum’s life. Almost 30,000 patients would pass through its doors. We know some of their stories, but what about the old asylum’s? Episode 4 tells the history of Mississippi’s first state hospital, the promises that were made -- and why they were broken. And Dr. Jennifer Mack reveals that not everything that got buried in...

Mar 27, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Not Where We Go

Growing up, all Noah Saterstrom knew about his great grandfather was that he had been an optometrist. Those were the only words his grandmother could say about him before she’d start crying. Later, Noah discovers that the reason his family had erased this man was that he’d been sent to the state lunatic asylum. Noah decides to break the generations of silence with a show about his grandfather’s mental illness at the Mississippi Museum of Art titled “What Happened to Dr. S...

Mar 20, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 3

Like They’re Reaching Out to Me

Larrison meets Wayne Lee, whose own grandfather was buried in the asylum cemetery. Unlike other descendants, though, Wayne has a skill that he believes has led him to his grandfather’s unmarked grave. Wayne tries to discover if what sent his grandfather into the asylum was even a mental illness, and we learn just why these answers have been hidden for so long. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 13, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 2

A Southern Ethos

In Jackson, Mississippi, in 2012, a construction crew found human remains in the backyard of Mississippi’s biggest hospital. They turned out to be from a long-forgotten chapter of the state’s past–the old “lunatic asylum.” The asylum closed its doors in 1935 and that building, along with its cemetery where 7,000 former patients had been buried, was abandoned. Reporter Larrison Campbell travels to Jackson, where a show by the artist Noah Saterstrom has brought nation...

Mar 06, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Introducing: Under Yazoo Clay

When human remains are found at the site of Mississippi’s biggest hospital, it unlocks generations of family mysteries. From the Mississippi Museum of Art comes a podcast about mental illness, secrets and a forgotten history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 27, 2025•3 min