Edna, Wilma, Sarah and Helen Morlok were a set of four identical quadruplets born in Lansing, Michigan in 1930.
Throughout their lives, they became the subject of public spectacle and later scientific study after they were diagnosed with schizophrenia as young adults.
Author Audrey Clare Farley has written a new book telling the story of these sisters called Girls and their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America.
WKAR's Sophia Saliby spoke with Farley about the book and the quadruplets.
Interview Highlights
On who the Morlok sisters were
I write in the book: "From the day they were born, they belonged to other people," which goes to show how swiftly the public laid claim to them. So for instance, within hours of their birth being announced, people began to gather outside the hospital, trying to get details about them. When they moved home and the city gave them a home to live rent-free, people would come round the clock, peer in the windows, expecting to see their diapers changed or see their mother perform some kind of trick.
On the research done on the sisters
Soon after [National Institute of Mental Health] was formed, there was a researcher who wanted to look at the genetics of schizophrenia, specifically by studying twins. So, this study was newly underway when they got word that there weren't just twins or even triplets, but quadruplets who had all been diagnosed with the disease, and the researchers really couldn't believe their ears. And they swiftly arranged for all four of the sisters to travel to Bethesda, [Maryland] to be studied where they were studied for three years and then later brought back for follow up studies.
On connecting with Sarah Morlok, the only sister still living
There's a little anecdote that I love to tell about her which is that we had been on the phone and she was going through all of her big highlights. And she said, "I knew so many songs on the piano by ear, and I knew this and that." And we get off the phone and she immediately calls back and says, "Hi, honey, did you know that I could type so many words per minute when I was a secretary?" And I had to assure her, you know, we're gonna get your accomplishments in the book, all of your stats, and of course also capture the way that you and your sister even through all of these hardships bore one another's burdens.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: Edna, Wilma, Sarah and Helen Morlok were a set of four identical quadruplets born in Lansing, Michigan in 1930.
Throughout their lives, they became the subject of public spectacle and later scientific study after they were diagnosed with schizophrenia as young adults.
Author Audrey Clare Farley has written a new book telling the story of these sisters called Girls and their Monsters. She joins me now. Thank you for being here.
Audrey Clare Farley: Thank you so much for having me.
Saliby: To start, who were these sisters?
Farley: Yes, they were four girls born in 1930 to much fanfare. I write in the book: "From the day they were born, they belonged to other people," which goes to show how swiftly the public laid claim to them.
For instance, within hours of their birth being announced, people began to gather outside the hospital, trying to get details about them. When they moved home and the city gave them a home to live rent-free. People would come round the clock, peer in the windows, expecting to see their diapers changed or see their mother perform some kind of trick. And so you know, as you've said, they really were a spectacle from day one.
I write in the book: "From the day they were born, they belonged to other people," which goes to show how swiftly the public laid claim to them.
Saliby: And why did you decide to write a book about them? I don't think you're native to mid-Michigan or to Michigan in general, so how did you find out about these women?
Farley: I learned about them from Robert Kolker's book Hidden Valley Road which was a best seller a few years ago, also about a big family, many of the children were diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he had a few pages about the quadruplets.
And I was encouraged by my mother to do more research on them which I did. And immediately there appeared these images of the girls from their years as a singing and dancing quartet.
And they really looked to me like the JonBenéts of a bygone era, just perfectly coiffed and put together. There was such a pageantry to these photographs of them, and I was just so allured that I had to learn more.
Saliby: Can you talk about how research on the sisters, specifically when it comes to their diagnosed schizophrenia, how did that contribute to how the field of psychology, you know, really changed throughout the 20th century?
Farley: Well, they were brought to the attention of the National Institute of Mental Health in the 1950s which was a newly formed institute. And NIMH was part of the broader National Institutes of Health which were more focused on hard science or biological diseases.
And so, there was this pressure from the early founding of this institution to be a hard science. And in the case of mental health, that meant the biology, the genetics of mental illness. And so, soon after NIMH was formed, there was a researcher who wanted to look at the genetics of schizophrenia, specifically by studying twins.
So, this study was newly underway when they got word that there weren't just twins or even triplets, but quadruplets who had all been diagnosed with the disease, and the researchers really couldn't believe their ears. And they swiftly arranged for all four of the sisters to travel to Bethesda, [Maryland] to be studied where they were studied for three years and then later brought back for follow up studies.
Saliby: Reading this book, it's quite a sad story. These women suffered abuse and poor care throughout their lives from really both their family and the community, society in general.
You know, you talked to the one sister who is still alive, and it seems she kind of wanted to move beyond the tragedy. Can you speak on that experience of connecting with her?
Farley: Yes. So, when I had begun to write the book, I actually didn't know that she was alive. And when I learned that she was, of course, I was thrilled because there was this new research avenue opened up. But also, I felt a great weight of responsibility to tell the story in a way that was respectful and that honored her.
And so, while I was forthcoming with her about the direction of the book, I said, "This isn't going to be like the puff pieces that were written about you for most of your life. It's going to tell about schizophrenia and the way that researchers have failed in many ways to understand that condition and to help you." And she really became receptive to that framing, but she also wanted to have all of her accomplishments and achievements in the book.
So, there's a little anecdote that I love to tell about her which is that we had been on the phone and she was going through all of her big highlights. And she said, "I knew so many songs on the piano by ear, and I knew this and that." And we get off the phone and she immediately calls back and says, "Hi, honey, did you know that I could type so many words per minute when I was a secretary?" And I had to assure her, you know, we're going to get your accomplishments in the book, all of your stats, and of course also capture the way that you and your sister even through all of these hardships bore one another's burdens.
Saliby: Audrey Clare Farley is the author of the book, Girls and Their Monsters. Thank you for joining me.
Farley: Thank you so much.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
