Junius Wilson (October 8, 1908 – March 17, 2001) was a deaf American who spent almost 70 years as a patient in a state mental institution despite not being mentally ill. Born in Castle Hayne, North Carolina, he attended a segregated school for deaf black children in Raleigh. He and other students were never taught American Sign Language (ASL) so they developed their own sign communication called "Raleigh signs", a form of Black American Sign Language. In 1925 a neighbor who felt uncomfortable around Wilson made an apparent false report to police that Wilson had attempted to rape his wife. Since he could not communicate with jail staff and family members did not relay the fact Wilson was deaf, it was assumed he was insane. During a lunacy hearing a judge deemed Wilson mentally ill and a danger to himself and others. At the age of 17 he was sent to the State Hospital for the Colored Insane, now known as Cherry Hospital, in Goldsboro. Wilson spent several years in the criminally insane ward until he was sterilized and castrated based on a state eugenics program. Wilson became reserved and submissive which aligned with the goals of racial eugenics during the Jim Crow era. He was transferred to the hospital's farm colony where he worked without pay for more than three decades. His father and a sister attempted to have him released in 1947, but they were turned away. It was the last time anyone in his immediate family attempted to visit him. Deinstitutionalization greatly reduced the number of patients at the hospital, but patients like Wilson were seen as good workers and unable to live on their own. Staff members did not think Wilson was mentally ill but changed his patient status to involuntary commitment to align with new laws. He would often grow frustrated with staff members who only communicated with him via gestures. He was unable to relay his thoughts or feelings since no one bothered to learn his previous history using Raleigh signs. In 1981 an evaluator with knowledge of ASL attempted to communicate with Wilson, the first time this had happened with a staff member since his arrival in 1925. Despite being told Wilson should receive care from people who knew sign language, no changes were made. Wilson suffered a stroke in 1986 which weakened his dominant signing hand, further hindering his ability to communicate. Wilson's legal guardian and an attorney began contacting state government officials in 1991 to make immediate changes to Wilson's care, including ASL education for staff members, in an attempt to rectify the decades of ableism, paternalism, and racism he had experienced. A settlement was reached in 1992 to guarantee personalized medical care following coverage in news media. A family member of the man who accused Wilson of rape filed a lawsuit on Wilson's behalf, but it was eventually dismissed. Wilson's guardian negotiated a new settlement which guaranteed round-the-clock medical care and a relatively small financial amount. At the age of 85 Wilson was moved out of the hospital's locked ward and he lived in a small cottage on the hospital property. Wilson died in 2001 and was buried at Wayne Memorial Park cemetery. The media attention Wilson received spurred changes to how state institutions treated deaf patients and how eugenics had affected thousands of residents. One of Wilson's bicycles was included in a display at the National Museum of American History to mark the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Early life
Childhood and schooling
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