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Crownsville Hospital: From Lunacy to Legacy is a feature-length documentary film highlighting the history of the Crownsville State Mental Hospital in Crownsville, MD. Drawing on many documentary works such as “The Thin Blue Line” and “Night and Fog” for inspiration, the film utilizes archival footage, animation and original music to unfold the story and evoke a mood. Both exterior and interior present-day footage and photos have been combined with exterior/interior archival footage and photos to capture the changes to the hospital through its 96-year lifespan. In addition, interviews with historians and former hospital workers as well as patients help to round out the experience.

Constructed in 1910, Crownsville State Hospital, formerly known as the Hospital for the Negro Insane of Maryland, was the third asylum in the U.S. designed to house only African-Americans. In 1962, Crownsville began to accept all mental patients regardless of their race. Crownsville Hospital Center closed its doors on June 30, 2004 and has since sat vacant.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I am very excited about the completion of this project and would not trade its 5-year production schedule for anything. I consider it my greatest life lesson and achievement and I am so pleased to now be sharing it with the rest of the World. I used to live within two miles from hospital and would drive past its dilapidated buildings often. Every time I did, it cried out for its story to be told. It was a film waiting to happen and I am grateful for the opportunity to be its vessel.

Most of the talent and crew involved with this project donated their time and their efforts. This film would not have been possible without their creativity, experience, and positive attitudes. What the audience is left with is a historical snapshot that captures the ambiance of a state mental facility, its surrounding 500-acre campus, and the lives it touched. This is truly the first film of its kind on the subject and I am very proud.

Thank you for watching the film.
- R. Todd Stevens