Disability Ecologies
In the 1850s, county governments across the Midwest established what were then known as “poor farms.” These were residential institutions for county “dependents” which included those unable to work, for reasons of disability or otherwise. In the 1970s, Johnson County, Iowa supervisors initiated what would become a decades-long attempt to preserve their county poor farm’s historic structures. Their actions encouraged education and reflection of the history of mental health care.Disability Ecologies digs through the past of poor farm institutions and their vast connections in order to fathom their ongoing significance in our world of today. The now named Johnson Co...
From Soil to Seeding Local Foods, Part Two
Presenting: From Soil to Seeding Local Foods
Content:
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Jason Grimm Malik Salsberry Ilsa DeWald April Lawyer Felicia Pieper Scott KoepkeHighlights
Join Emerson as they talk with the newest generation of GROW farmers, on why this work is meaningful, how food justice and food sovereignty overlap and depart, and what’s grown on site, beyond all of the vegetables. Emerson reflects on the relationships created and sustained through volunteer work, which takes them into the world of preservi...
From Soil to Seeding Local Foods, Part One
Presenting: From Soil to Seeding Local Foods
Content:
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Scott KoepkeCarly McAndrews Alfred Matiyabo Ilsa DeWald Rod Sullivan Jason GrimmHighlights
This chapter brings the story of the historic poor farm full circle, by documenting the work of GROW Johnson County. Co-founded in 2015 by John Boller, Scott Koepke, and Bob Andrik, GROW’s initial vision was to meet community needs around food access in Johnson County. Despite Iowa’s status as a predominantly agricultural state, food insecurity only continues to...
A Witness Tree on the Land, Part Two
Presenting: A Witness Tree on the Land
Content: cemeteries and death care, the politics of restoration, land development, logics of “cure”
Featuring:
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: V Fixmer-Oraiz Rod Sullivan Dr. Jennifer Mack Chant Eicke Geoff Mouming Jason GrimmHighlights
This episode picks up with the preservation challenges of the early 2000s, as Johnson County debated what should happen to the publicly held land. Proposals for development varied from a golf course, a new county jail, housing development, a...
A Witness Tree on the Land, Part One
Presenting: A Witness Tree on the Land
Content: forced removal, colonialism,
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Geoff Mouming Chant EickeHighlights
This chapter tells the story of the Historic Poor Farm’s land from the point of view of a 250 year old Bur Oak on the southern edges of the property. Geoff and Emerson walk through the restored natural areas for Emerson’s first close-up of “Oakland,” a regenerating savanna of oak trees. The legacy tree that initiated the trek might tell stories about...
Dignity Delayed, Part Two
Presenting: Dignity Delayed
Content: historic records
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Mary Helen Kennerly, Seen & Heard Facilitator, DAC Member Becky Dewing, Johnson County Historic SocietySupervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass Kim Painter, Johnson County Recorder Kevin Kolsto, DAC Member Julie Watkins, DAC Co-Facilitator and Events Manager for Historic Poor Farm Supervisor Rod SullivanHighlights
Join Emerson as they highlight the dedication of the Healing Trail, and the events leading up to its opening. Seen and Heard visits the asylum and takes stock...
Dignity Delayed, Part One
CHAPTER THREE, PART ONE
Presenting: Dignity Delayed
Content: discrimination, medicaid cuts
Featuring:
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Mary Helen KennerlyHighlights
This chapter tells the story of how the Disability Advisory Committee came into being because of a random encounter between V Fixmer-Oraiz and Seen and Heard, an activity group focused on disability advocacy. Join Emerson as they explore how Seen and Heard’s self-advocacy joins a long legacy of disability rights organ...
Poor Farm Pathways, Part Two
Presenting: Poor Farm Pathways
Content: insanity diagnosis; eugenics; Bedlam; Snake Pit; “wellness farms,” animal confinement
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Julie Watkins, Events Manager, Johnson County Historic Poor FarmDr. Jenell Johnson, Professor of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dr. Aimi Hamraie, Canada Research Chair in Technology, Society, and Disability, York University Hallie Ableman, PhD Candidate in American Studies, University of IowaHighlights
Conversations with disability studies scholars, whose work intersects with poor farm themes: medical diagnosis, what design practices tell us about...
Poor Farm Pathways, Part One
Poor Farm Pathways, Part One
Content: “idiotic,” asylums; confinement; “insanity law”
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Julie Watkins, Events Manager, Johnson County Historic Poor FarmMichael Hoenig, Project Coordinator, University of Iowa Center for Disabilities and DevelopmentDr. Jennifer Mack, Lead Bioarcheologist, Asylum Hill Project, University of Mississippi Medical CenterHighlights
This chapter picks at some key questions–why did people come here? Were the people who lived here “bad”? Join Emerson to dive in the unexpected ways poor farm histories reveal connections between agricultu...
History is a Story, Part Two
Presenting: History is a Story, Part Two
Content: asylum, "insane," cemetery
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Guests: Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2022-present), & former Project Manager for the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm Master Plan (2017-2021)Supervisor Rod Sullivan, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2004-present)Kim Painter, Johnson County Recorder Will Thomson, Armadillo ArtsMichael Hoenig, Project Coordinator, University of Iowa Center for Disabilities and DevelopmentDr. Jennifer Mack, Lead Bioarcheologist, Asylum Hill Project, University of Mississippi Medical CenterHighl...
History is a Story, Part One
Presenting: History is a Story, Part One
Content: "insanity," asylums, eugenics
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2022-present), and former Project Manager for the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm Master Plan (2017-2021)Supervisor Rod Sullivan, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2004-present)Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2016-present)Carly McAndrews, Farmer, Trowel & Error Farm Alfred Matiyabo, Farmer, Africando Farm Kim Painter, Recorder, Johnson County of Iowa Pauline Kirkpatrick, Former Employee of Johns...Disability Ecologies Trailer
Featuring:
Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram Special Guests: Malik Salsberry, Farm Manager, GROW Johnson CountyScott Koepke, Garden Bridge Outreach, and co-founder of GROW Johnson CountyClaire Trettin, 2025 Seasonal Farm Apprentice, GROW Johnson CountyTranscript
For a full transcript of the trailer, visit: disabilityecologiespodcast.buzzsprout.com
Credits
Episode written and narrated by Emerson Cram, University of Iowa. Recorded with Riverside FM. Sound editing by Nic Arp.
Funding
Research, writing, and production of this project have benefitted from generous support from multiple sources, including: th...
