Edith Lake Wilkinson

Edith Lake Wilkinson (August 23, 1868 – July 19, 1957) was an artist who lived and painted in Provincetown, Massachusetts, during the early decades of the 20th century until she was committed to an asylum for the mentally ill in 1924.

Edith inherited an estate of approximately $35,000 (worth around $500,000 today) which was administered by local Wheeling attorney George J. Rogers.

She had expressed an interest in moving back to Provincetown (an idea Rogers tried to discourage) and began studying French in anticipation of a possible trip to Paris.

On March 22, 1924, Edith was admitted to the Sheppard Pratt Institution, an asylum for the mentally ill in Baltimore, Maryland [1] in what was described as a "paranoid state".

In March 1935, Edith was transferred to Huntington State Hospital in West Virginia, still described as paranoid and now, at age 66, showing early signs of dementia.