The Pennhurst State School [was] a large 800 acre, 2400 bed state-owned and state supported institution devoted to the study, care, treatment, education and vocational training of mentally retarded or defective boys and girls whose parents are legal residents of the eastern half of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The institution [was] simultaneously a hospital, a school and, in many respects, an almost completely self-operating community. The children at this institution [were] neither insane nor criminal, although certain mentally defectve chlidren may in later years become criminal if their proper placement and management be delayed too long.
FACTS TO KNOW ABOUT PENNHURST STATE SCHOOL & HOSPITAL
- Opened on November 23 rd 1908 The only two buildings erected at the time of opening were 'T'inicum and 'Q'uaker The youngest Institution of it's kind in the state of Pennsylvania Designed for the Feebleminded and Epileptic 'P'hiladelphia was designed as a teacher's building. Was used as the Administration building until the opening of the 'A'dministration Building standing today 'Q'uaker building was designed as a school building. Was used as a Low-Grade Cottage 'R'ockwell building was designed as an Industrial building. Was used as a school building 'F'ranklin was designed as a Dining Room. Was used as a Chapel and Amusement Hall until the Assembly Hall we know today was erected The 2 nd floors of 'F'ranklin, 'N'oble and 'G' building (Dietary) were used as employee quarters. Some conditions at the time:
-The Maniac with Delusions of Persecutions
-The Religious Paranoiac
-The Paretic with Delusions of Grandeur
-Amentia
-Moral Imbeciles
-Reformatory Cases
-Criminals
-Dementia Praecox
-Dementia Senilis
-Paretic Dementia
-Acute Mania
-Chronic Mania
-Melencholia
-Melencholia Agitatia
-Criminal Insane
-Insane Criminal
-Common Prostitutes
Entertainment was held every Thursday evening during the Entertainment Season Choir practice was every Friday Evening Chapel Sunday Evenings and Mornings in the Summer Season Picnics in the Grove on Saturday Afternoons with ice cream, lemonade and cake In 1912 the population was 793 Patients total Many inmates were Sterilized and could not reproduce There was no age limit to those admitted, although the school was advertised for children Many patients suffered from:
-Adnoids
-Hypertrophied Tonsils
-Occulsions of Auditory Canal
-Polypoid Growths
There were 4 Superintendents within a year and a half Sometime between 1924 and 1926 the name changed from The Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for the Feebleminded and Epileptic to Pennhurst State School and Hospital July 4th 1925 the Flag Pole was Erected and a Celebration was had In 1922 there were a total of 1183 Patients total Patients with temporary contagious disease were contaminated in the "secret" dormitories above the Halls until well again to reduce infection of other patients and staff In 1925 Doors were put on the tunnels to lower the amount of patients wandering around between buildings The patients used to sneak off and walk the rail road tracks to the store and buy snacks In the snow, the patients were required to shovel the pathways Patients would work in the Cafeteria, Laundry and perform all types of jobs to earn token for the Canteen 'Bright' patients would help change diapers and bathe the 'slower' patients After being in a hall and going to school, patients would transfer to Penn Hall to learn social skills. There they would be transferred to the Rehab House to learn how to cook and clean and go to work on time. They would live in the Independent Community thereafter Seclusion wards were on M-1, U-2, K-1, K-2, V-2 and I-2 One patient was burned by a hot bath One patient was thrown out of a window One patient stole of a bottle of Thorozine, drank the entire bottle and died the next day One patient was hung on the porch which began the Investigation of Pennhurst
A Call for Preservation at Pennhurst: Honoring a Forgotten Past, Investing in a Better Future
Reared against a cloud-studded sky high above a graceful curve in the Schuylkill River, a mysterious, hauntingly beautiful, seemingly forgotten place casts its shadow into the valley below. It is the fabled Pennhurst State School and Hospital. Its venerable administration building, the formidable red brick Jacobean Revival monument pictured here, has presided over the sprawling campus for over a century. At its height, Pennhurst was a self-sustaining community, with its own farms, power plant, and fire company, and though a major local employer, its population dwarfed that of surrounding towns. The Pennhurst campus is not merely a beautiful and historic place, it was the setting of countless private and deeply personal stories that tell the tale of how we as a people have treated those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In the process of collecting stories about life and work at Pennhurst, nearly everyone offers the same refrain: a memorial, both to the suffering and the kindness played out at Pennhurst, ought to permanently remain on the site and in the landscape of our cultural memory. Preservation at Pennhurst is a fitting tribute.
But while preservation honors our past, it also ensures a better future. There are very real and significant environmental and economic benefits that come with preservation. Those benefits - and the options for adaptive reuse - increase exponentially the more of the campus we preserve.
Though the entire Pennhurst campus, built predominantly in 1903 - 1906, was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, time, vandals, and vagrants have taken their toll. Recently, the property was sold and there are fears that what remains of the Pennhurst property will be sacrificed to the onslaught of suburban sprawl. The long endured policy of forgetting about Pennhurst - its residents, its story, cannot persist.
Join us in overcoming complacency and putting aside notions that preservation here is impossible. A long list of other success stories with buildings in much worse shape than those at Pennhurst shows preservation is possible and we can do it if our efforts are concerted. We are presented with a variety of options for preservation of the campus. While there has been significant deterioration, the buildings are structurally sound. A program of adaptive reuse could offer profitable new life as well as provide a lasting, living memorial.
GoPetition.com Preserve Pennhurst's Administration Building as a Memorial Preserve
PreservePennhurst.com A Website Dedicated to Preserving Pennhurst