Patton State Hospital, San Bernardino, California: a clinical consultation among doctors at which the patient is not allowed to say anything. Drawing by D.R. Wilder, ca. 1954.

[1954?]

1 drawing : pencil ; sheet 30 x 23 cm

Staff meeting A junior doctor says "This subject complains of an occasional headache,-- Doctor, -- I believe an amputation would be in order, therefore. An' besides it would provide experience for we internes.". The other doctor says "Hmmm -- I agree, doctor"

One drawing of twelve in a sketchbook inscribed "Dudley R. Wilder". There is a record of a Dudley Raymond Wilder (1916-1957) who worked as a commercial artist in California from the 1930s to the 1950s and served as a staff sergeant in the US Marine Corps in 1943-1944. The quality of the drawings, and some of the military references, suggest they could well be by him, possibly in the last years of his life where confinement preceded an early death at the age of 41

Wellcome Collection 2046873i