Life
Major Points in Blumberg's Childhood and Adolescence
Born in 1948 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Stephen Blumberg's early life was marked by a fascination with the past and a tendency to withdraw from the present. As a child, he grew close to an antique dealer who accompanied Blumberg in exploring abandoned homes that were scheduled to be bulldozed. By the age of 12, Blumberg was already taking things from these homes, and the dealer saw no harm in helping him salvage items before they were lost forever. However, Blumberg's father repeatedly destroyed the items that his son brought home, which caused Blumberg increasingly to withdraw into himself.
Blumberg's desire to collect and preserve objects from the past only grew stronger as he entered adolescence and his teenage years. His grandmother and great-grandmother, both named Carrie, had a significant influence on him. They lived in a large, old Victorian home that was filled with antiques and curiosities. In school, Blumberg was an isolated and solitary figure, escaping into books and spending little time with his peers. His grades began to suffer but he found solace in his walks to and from school on which he collected items from old buildings.
Blumberg's behavior became increasingly erratic over time, and he was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital twice in 1965 due to psychiatric concerns. He was diagnosed with schizophrenic ideation and was in and out of different psychiatric hospitals between 1966 and 1969. In 1968, Blumberg graduated from Marshal High School in St. Paul, but he refused to walk across the stage to receive his diploma. The same year, Blumberg’s father bought him an apartment in Minneapolis. There Blumberg started to amass a collection of antiques as well beginning to raid libraries, setting the stage for criminal activities that would come to define his life.
Childhood & Mental Illness
In his early childhood, Stephen Blumberg was surrounded with many adults battling some form of mental illness or instability. Blumberg’s mother, Jeanne, was diagnosed as schizophrenic and had many delusions of being persecuted. Jeanne was reported to have set fire to her husband and son’s clothing when angry and was even reported to have attacked her husband once with a knife (Basbanes, 1997). Jeanne's husband and Stephen’s father, Dr. Henry Blumberg, was also affected by mental illness in the form of intense depression and possible Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr. Blumberg had served in World War II, and he exhibited symptoms of PTSD such as intense nightmares. Dr. Blumberg was also described as having bouts of suicidality, and he once even threatened his own son’s life. Blumberg’s grandmother Carrie also showed indications of mental instability, most likely due to depression. Carrie abused medications and alcohol to cope with the loss of one of her children. Additionally Carrie’s husband, Reuben, had a family history of mental illness (Basbanes, 1997).
Considering Blumberg’s family history of mental illness, it is less surprising that he also showed symptoms of mental instability throughout his lifetime. As a child, Blumberg spent his time breaking into unoccupied homes in order to steal items such as old stained-glass windows and door knobs. In schools he attended, Blumberg was isolated with few, if any, friends and was thought of as strange by the other children on account of his love for old items. He also began forming relationships with older individuals with questionable reputations, such as one man in jail whom he corresponded with through letters. Blumberg was admitted to various mental institutions or inpatient facilities over the course of his childhood and adolescence, and leading to his being assessed and diagnosed as schizophrenic.
Unfortunately Blumberg had little to no control over whether or not he would come face to face with such mental health struggles, since schizophrenia is highly heritable through genetics and the intense behaviors displayed by the adults around him as he grew up can be considered risk factors that could trigger the onset of the disease. Looking at the adults in his life and their struggles with mental health provides a context for Blumberg’s own challenges and some clues about why he may have done some of what he later did.