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Facing my fears in 2015 |
Pennhurst State School & Hospital 1908-1987
Located in Chester County, Pa - Pennhurst was once a home to people, who our good state decided, didn't matter. These souls needed to be tucked away, out of site, out of mind.
A common misconception is that Pennhurst was a place meant for the criminally insane.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Pennhurst was originally a segregated community meant for the physical and mentally handicapped. A common belief was that someone labeled as "Retarded" would someday become a criminal. So these people were placed into Pennhurst to try and teach them a vocation. It was thought that residents would benefit from being with others like themselves. But in fact, many residents regressed. Lack of staff and money took its toll on patient care. Overcrowded conditions grew worse. Orphans were added to the mayhem.
Children lived at Pennhurst. Many of them grew up within the compound, lived to adulthood and eventually died there. It's not hard to walk around in one of the buildings, and imagine what a child's life consisted of. Concrete walls. Floors. No homelike comforts. It can be pretty depressing when you view it that way.
Pennhurst was a huge complex of massive brick buildings with an upper and lower campus for the men and women. Everything for daily living was within the compound, a school, hospital, auditorium, laundry, dietary and of course, housing - also called "Cottages" - sounds homey, doesn't it? But if was anything but comfortable.
Thank you!
*Author Tamera Lawrence
Ghosts of Mayflower: A Pennhurst Haunting
Pennhurst Ghosts of Mayflower II
(amazon.com)
