Freeman's Lobotomy Was Not Just a Surgical Need, It Was a Performance Art

Over the course of a very long career, Walter would perform more than 3,439 lobotomies in 55 hospitals and 23 states. The longer Freeman worked as a solo lobotomist, the more he leaned into the performance art side of the field. He delighted in reporting how other lobotomy demonstrations made a Columbia University professor emeritus of neurology weakened with faintness. At least 490 of his patients died as a result of his services.