'Insane emigrants' in transit: Psychiatric patients' files as a source for the history of return migration, c. 1910

This article highlights a source that can contribute to the history of migration and mental health: the case records of Eastern European emigrants who tried to enter America at the beginning of the twentieth century, but were refused entrance because of their alleged insanity. Some of these unfortunates ended up in the Netherlands, on their way back home, having travelled to the United States through Rotterdam with the Holland-America Line. Psychiatric patient files were analysed relating to 85 ‘insane emigrants’ who were admitted to Maasoord, a psychiatric hospital near Rotterdam. This article offers an evaluation of the possibilites of this type of source material and makes a plea for more research into the experiences of ‘insane emigrants’ in transit.