Carla Joinson

Carla Joinson was born in St. Louis, Missouri and later moved to southern Illinois. She began writing when she was eight years old, primarily short stories which bored her mother to tears when she was forced to read them. Later in life, Carla explored many types of writing and ended up with at least a dozen failed novels. However, she did work steadily as a freelance writer and editor, and eventually settled into a comfortable niche writing for trade publications about issues concerning human resources. Carla also enjoyed a lifelong passion for history, and eventually went back to school to earn a graduate degree in history. After five years of research, she wrote Vanished in Hiawatha: The Story of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. This little-known episode in Native American history explores one of the worst abuses created by the U.S. government's assimilation policy and the disregard for Native culture on which it rested.

Carla's interest in the history of mental illness and its treatment inspired her to continue research into this topic. Her first book of a series, Little Lunatics: Children in America's Madhouses (1850-1930) will be released soon.