Mississippi State research is part of PBS documentary on mental health

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STARKVILLE, Miss. — Research by a Mississippi State University professor and two students will be included in a PBS documentary, “Mysteries of Mental Illness.” The four-hour series premiers June 22.

The university says parts of the second episode were filmed on the Starkville campus in 2020. The segments show the students and professor Molly Zuckerman who are part of a group conducting research about patients who died at the Mississippi State Asylum, which operated from 1855 to 1935 in Jackson.

In this May 9, 2018 photo taken in Starkville, Miss., Mississippi State University anthropologist Anna Osterholtz holds a map outlining the 66 unearthed graves at what was the graveyard of the Mississippi State Asylum in Jackson, Miss. Officials in Mississippi believe the remains of as many as 7,000 former patients at the asylum could be lying in an empty, grassy field on the university campus. By studying the remains anthropologists can see how marginalized populations’ health was directly affected by structural factors like poverty and racism. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
In this May 9, 2018 photo taken in Starkville, Miss., Mississippi State University anthropology major Adara Rutherford, holds a transverse cut of a femur, taken from one of the occupants in the 66 graves unearthed at what was the graveyard of the Mississippi State Asylum in Jackson, Miss. Officials in Mississippi believe the remains of as many as 7,000 former patients at an asylum could be buried on what is now the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s property. By studying the remains anthropologists can see how marginalized populations’ health was directly affected by structural factors like poverty and racism. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
In this May 9, 2018 photo shot in Starkville, Mississippi State University anthropologist Anna Osterholtz holds a portion of a pine casket from one of the graves unearthed at what was the graveyard of the Mississippi State Asylum in Jackson, Miss. By studying the tree rings in the wood, researchers can determine an approximate date when the casket was made and put into use. The University of Mississippi Medical Center has established a consortium to study the remains of what could be as many as 7,000 former patients buried on the university’s campus. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
In this May 9, 2018 photo taken in Starkville, Miss., Mississippi State University anthropologist Molly Zuckerman holds a portion of a mandible extracted from one of the graves unearthed at what was the graveyard of the Mississippi State Asylum in Jackson, Miss. The jaw at left, is from another dig and is used for scale. Officials in Mississippi believe the remains of as many as 7,000 former patients at the asylum could be lying in an empty, grassy field on the university campus. In May 2016, university officials established a consortium to exhume the remains and study them. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
In this May 9, 2018 photo taken in Starkville, Miss., Mississippi State University anthropologist Molly Zuckerman holds a portion of a pine casket from one of the graves unearthed at what was the graveyard of the Mississippi State Asylum in Jackson, Miss. By studying the tree rings in the wood, researchers can determine an approximate date when the casket was made and put into use. The University of Mississippi Medical Center has established a consortium to study the remains of what could be as many as 7,000 former patients buried on the university’s campus. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
In this May 9, 2018 photo taken in Starkville, Miss., Mississippi State University anthropologist Molly Zuckerman holds in her right hand a portion of a mandible extracted from one of the graves unearthed at what was the graveyard of the Mississippi State Asylum in Jackson, Miss. In the left hand are bone fragments, that have crumbled after decades buried in Mississippi’s clay and humid climate, making it difficult to provide any information. Officials in Mississippi believe the remains of as many as 7,000 former patients at the asylum could be lying in an empty, grassy field on the university campus. In May 2016, university officials established a consortium to exhume the remains and study them. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
In this May 9, 2018 photo taken in Starkville, Miss., Mississippi State University anthropologist Molly Zuckerman, stands amid boxes containing the remains of 66 patients unearthed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s property in Jackson, Miss. Officials in Mississippi believe the remains of as many as 7,000 former patients at the asylum could be lying in an empty, grassy field on the university campus. “The individuals present this amazing snapshot of life and health and human biology in Mississippi during a really tumultuous time spanning from before the Civil War into Reconstruction and into Jim Crow,” said Zuckerman. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)