Tag Archives: Epileptic

Letchworth Village for the Developmentally Disabled and Epileptics & Cemetery

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Letchworth Village – New York State Custodial Institution for Epileptics and the Intellectually Disabled.

1916 Letchworth Village State Custodial Institution For Feeble-Minded and Epileptics.
Letchworth Village Cemetery Names – Find A Grave.
Legend Tripping in Letchworth Village – AbandonedNYC – Will Ellis.

Letchworth Village

Letchworth Village

Photograph courtesy of The Museum of disABILITY History

“Letchworth Village was established in 1912 to alleviate overcrowding at the existing state institutions of New York. Because the institution admitted people with developmental disabilities and people with epilepsy, a complex system of classification was established for both living arrangements and the educational training methods. Significant efforts were undertaken to ensure that the institutional atmosphere resembled a calm country village and emphasis was placed on the students’ happiness. Letchworth Village also focused on scientific research and Dr. George A. Jervis received international acclaim for his studies on phenylketonuria (PKU) in the 1930s.”

There is a plaque at the cemetery that has all the names of the patients who are buried there. I do not know if the town or any particular group maintains the cemetery.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO They’re Buried Where? by Seth Voorhees

THE BAD NEWS: Thousands Remain Nameless! 6.15.2015.

THE GOOD NEWS: One Man Is Remembered! 6.14.2015.

 

1912-1920 Eugenics in New York State

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This is the story of Frank Osborn, a twenty-two year old man who was chosen to be sterilized by the Board of Examiners of Feeble-Minded (including idiots, imbeciles and morons), Epileptics and Other Defectives in the State of New York in 1915. Frank had committed no crime. He was feeble-minded, which in today’s terms would mean he was developmentally disabled. Frank had the intelligence of an eight year old and had been an inmate at the Rome State Custodial Asylum, Rome, New York, since 1907. Previous to that time, he had been an inmate at the Rochester Industrial School at Rochester, New York. Frank must have born about 1893. I do not know when or where he died, or where he was buried.

The whole point of Eugenics was to stop the defective population (insane, feeble-minded, criminal), from procreating. Frank Osborn was not sterilized because the New York State statute was ruled unconstitutional. What I find disgustingly amazing is the attitude of doctors, lawmakers, and men in general toward women. On page 19 of the testimony given by Dr. Charles Bernstein (The Trial of FRANK OSBORN 9.17.1915), clearly states that a seventeen year old woman had been gang raped but because she was feeble-minded and had been sterilized, the incident was not handled by authorities. “The fact that she was sterile made the authorities feel that it was not a matter for them.” 

To read more about Eugenics in New York State, please click on:
EUGENICS – New York State Timeline 1912-1920

Definitions:
1.Salpingectomy – surgical excision of a fallopian tube.

2. Ovariotomies – surgical incision of an ovary. (Not sure if this procedure is the same as Oophorectomy – the surgical removal of an ovary, called also ovariectomy.)

3. Vasectomy – surgical division or resection of all or part of the vas deferens usually to induce sterility.
(SOURCE: Definitions by Dictionary and Thesaurus – Merriam-Webster Online: http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

4. Eugenics – is the applied science of the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population, usually a human population. It is a social philosophy which advocates for the improvement of human hereditary traits through the promotion of higher reproduction of more desired people and traits, and the reduction of reproduction of less desired people and traits.

5. Dysgenics (also known as Cacogenics) – is the study of factors producing the accumulation and perpetuation of defective or disadvantageous genes and traits in offspring of a particular population or species. Dysgenic mutations have been studied in animals such as the mouse and the fruit fly. The term dysgenics was first used as an antonym of eugenics – the social philosophy of improving human hereditary qualities by social programs and government intervention.

6. Defendant -is any party required to answer a plaintiff’s complaint in a civil lawsuit, or any party that has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. (Respondent is the parallel term used in a proceeding which is commenced by petition).

7. Respondent -is a person who is called upon to issue a response to a communication made by another. In legal usage, this specifically refers to the defendant in a legal proceeding commenced by a petition, or to an appellee, or the opposing party, in an appeal of a decision by an initial fact-finder.

8. Plaintiff – also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. In other words, someone who tries to sue. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy, and if successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order (e.g., an order for damages).

9. Appeal – is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision. The decision maker to whom the appeal is made may be a court, a board, a tribunal or even a single official. Generally, only the party aggrieved below has standing to appeal.
(SOURCE: Definitions by Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

1907 Eugenics

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The mid-nineteenth century was the dawn of scientific thought and research concerning evolution and the human condition. Three men made an influential mark in history with their provocative theories which are still debated today. These men were: Charles Darwin, “natural selection;” Herbert Spencer, “survival of the fittest;” and Sir Francis Galton, “nature versus nurture.” Galton invented the term “eugenics.” Eugenics is the science of selective breeding in order to manipulate the gene pool and improve the human race. In other words, only certain members of society should be allowed to procreate. One of the goals of the Eugenics Movement was to rid the United States of the dregs of society: the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes by means of forced sterilization.

15 states enacted Eugenics legislation in America: Indiana, Washington, California, Connecticut, Nevada, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oregon, and South Dakota. Eugenics began on March 9, 1907, with Indiana being the first state to enact a law, and ended on December 13, 1921, with Oregon proving the law unconstitutional. But that wasn’t the end. Wisconsin’s law was still active on January 1, 1922. From 1913 to January 1, 1921, the state of Wisconsin performed 76 forced sterilizations on inmates at the Home for Feeble-Minded at Chippewa Falls: 15 males (Vasectomy); and 61 females (Salpingectomy).

New York State passed a Eugenics Law on April 16, 1912, Chapter 445; Declared Unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Albany County, March 5, 1918, and by Appellate Division July 1, 1918; and Repealed by the State Legislature, May 10, 1920. Forty-two operations were performed in the State of New York “while the statute was in force, but none of them was performed under this statute; all were performed by special arrangement with the patients and their families under the laws and customs governing ordinary surgical operations.” An agreement was made between the inmate who was targeted for sterilization and the inmate’s family, for permission to perform the needed operation that would make the life of their loved one more comfortable, leaving them to lead a productive, “normal” life. One vasectomy (1) was performed at the Auburn State Prison; twelve salpingectomies (2) at the Buffalo State Hospital; and twenty-four salpingectomies (2) and five ovariotomies (3) by the Gowanda State Hospital at Collins. Buffalo State Hospital opened in December 1880 and Gowanda State Homeopathic Hospital (Collins Farm) opened on August 9, 1898. Both were for the care of the mentally ill and were located in Erie County, New York.

These are the people mentioned in the book as being considered for sterilization and/or involved in litigation. According to my research, none of them were sterilized, with the possible exception of Peter Feilen.

Washington:
Peter Feilen, convicted rapist, inmate; ordered vasectomy, Washington State Penitentiary Walla Walla.

William Henry Harrison, inmate; ordered vasectomy, Washington State Penitentiary Walla Walla.

John Hill, inmate (stole hams for his family); ordered vasectomy, Yakima County, Washington.

Chris McCauley, alias Harry Taylor, inmate; ordered vasectomy, State Reformatory, Monroe, Washington. Formerly at Washington State Penitentiary Walla Walla.

New Jersey:
Alice Smith, epileptic: ordered salpingectomy; State Village for Epileptics at Skillman.

Iowa:
Rudolph Davis, twice convicted of felony; ordered vasectomy; Penitentiary at Fort Madison.

New York:
Frank Osborn, feeble-minded; ordered vasectomy; Rome State Custodial Asylum.

Nevada:
Pearley C. Mickle or Mickie, convict; ordered vasectomy, Elko County.

Michigan:
Nora Reynolds, inmate; ordered sterilization, Michigan Home and Training School at Lapeer.

Oregon:
Jacob Cline, convict; ordered sterilization, Oregon State Penitentiary.

ALL of this information was taken from the book Eugenical Sterilization in the Untied States by Harry Hamilton Laughlin.

Fountain Of The Ages by Charles Haag

Fountain Of The Ages by Charles Haag

Keep The Life Stream Pure

Introduction
Dr. Harry H. Laughlin, Eugenics Associate of the Psychopathic Laboratory of the Municipal Court of Chicago, and Eugenics Director of Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cold Springs Harbor, N. Y., has rendered the nation a signal service in the preparation of this work, “Eugenical Sterilization in the United States.”

Since the rediscovery of Mendel’s Law of Heredity and the recent advances made by the biologists and psychopathologists in respect to the causes of mental and physical defects in the human race, with the consequent revelation of the great role played by heredity as a producing cause, the science of eugenics has become of vital importance.

“Eugenics,” says Professor Irving Fisher, “stands against the forces which work for racial deterioration, and for improvement and vigor, intelligence and moral fiber of the human race. It represents the highest form of patriotism and humanitarianism, while at the same time it offers immediate advantages to ourselves and to our children. By eugenic measures, for instance, our burden of taxes can be reduced by decreasing the number of degenerates, delinquents and defectives supported in public institutions; such measures will also increase safeguards against crimes committed against our persons or our property.”

America, in particular, needs to protect herself against indiscriminate immigration, criminal degenerates, and race suicide.

The success of democracy depends upon the quality of its individual elements. If in these elements the racial values are high, government will be equal to all the economic, educational, religious and scientific demands of the times. If, on the contrary, there is a constant and progressive racial degeneracy, it is only a question of time when popular self-government will be impossible, and will be succeeded by chaos, and finally a dictatorship.

Dr. Laughlin is well qualified for the work he has undertaken. For twelve years he has been in immediate charge of the Eugenics Record Office (founded in 1910 by Mrs. E. H. Harriman and since 1918 a part of the Carnegie Institution of Washington), located at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York. There he is engaged in organizing and conducting eugenical investigations. He is, also, Expert Eugenics Agent of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization of the House of Representatives of Washington, D. C., and recently organized the exhibits of the Second International Congress of Eugenics in New York City.

As a product of scientific research the book will have permanent value. The importance and usefulness of the work is not to be gauged by the extent of its circulation. Enough copies will be published to reach the leaders of the medical, legal and clerical professions, the press and members of legislative bodies.

The Municipal Court of Chicago, which has for years made an intensive study of crime prevention, punishment and suppression, feels privileged to be able to make another notable contribution in this field.

The courts have special functions to perform in the suppression of crime. The first of these is to enforce the laws impartially and justly. Incidental to this duty much original information comes to the judges of our courts, and it has been the policy of the Municipal Court to make public such incidental information, as the relationship between degeneracy and crime and their relationship to heredity, through the reports of its Psychopathic Laboratory. In the performance of this duty the Municipal Court of Chicago has pointed out the need of the permanent segregation of incorrigible defectives, which serves three purposes: First, the protection of society from the individual offender; second, the protection of the individual from himself, and, third, the restriction of propagation of the defective type due to heredity. The alternative to segregation is to continue to do what we have been doing, that is, incarcerate the offender for a time, more or less brief, and then permit him freedom to repeat his offense, and to propagate his kind.

Segregation is necessary, even though sterilization were invoked. Sterilization protects future generations, while segregation safeguards the present as well. The segregation of incorrigible defectives on farm colonies as a measure of crime prevention is urgently needed in the State of Illinois. However, in a number of states, fifteen up to the present time, experiments have been made with sterilization. The two theories of segregation and sterilization are not antagonistic, but both may be invoked.

With the intention of covering every phase of crime prevention, the Municipal Court of Chicago publishes this work as an important contribution to that cause.

We desire to make acknowledgment to the sculptor, Charles Haag, for the use of his “Fountain of the Ages,” to illustrate the significance of heredity and the continuity of the blood stream. Harry Olson, Chief Justice.

Preface
This volume is intended primarily for practical use. It is designed to be of particular service to four classes of persons: First, to law-makers who have to decide upon matters of policy to be worked out in legislation regulating eugenical sterilization; second, to judges of the courts, upon whom, in most of the states having sterilization statutes, devolves the duty of deciding upon the constitutionality of new statutes, and of determining cacogenic individuals and of ordering their sexual sterilization; third, to administrative officers who represent the state in locating, and in eugenically analyzing persons alleged to be cacogenic, and who are responsible for carrying out the orders of the courts; and fourth, to individual citizens who, in the exercise of their civic rights and duties, desire to take the initiative in reporting for official determination and action, specific cases of obvious family degeneracy.

The work is designed also as an historical record of the several types of activities which characterized the early days of modern eugenical sterilization, and of the later working out, through legislation, litigation, experimental administration and scientific research, of a conservative state policy in reference to eugenical sterilization as an aid in protecting the country’s family stocks from deterioration.

The facts here reported have been secured, and the analyses and principles here given have been worked out during the past ten years. The present study was begun by the author in 1911, as secretary of a committee appointed by the Eugenics Section of the American Breeders’ Association “to Study and to Report on the Best Practical Means for Cutting Off the Defective Germ-Plasm in the American Population.” Of this committee, Mr. Bleecker Van Wagenen was chairman. He reported a summary of the first year’s work to the First International Congress of Eugenics in London in 1912. In February, 1914, under the authorship of the secretary, it issued bulletins 10-a and 10-b of the Eugenics Record Office, entitled respectively, “The Scope of the Committee’s Work,” and “The Legal, Legislative and Administrative Aspects of Sterilization.”

The statistics reported in this work are brought down to January 1, 1921, and the legal records to January 1, 1922. Great care has been taken to insure completeness and accuracy of record and fact throughout the study, and an attempt has been made to cover the whole field of policy, legality and practice.

Thanks are due for hearty co-operation in securing the facts needed for this work, to the superintendents of the custodial institutions in which eugenical sterilizing operations have been performed, to state officials who willingly supplied copies of official records, to judges of the courts of law before whom seven sterilization statutes have been tested, to the attorneys-at-law who have generously given legal advice and opinions, to many physicians who have been consulted in reference to the medical aspect of the problem, to the scientific field investigators of the Eugenics Record Office, to surgeons who have furnished case-records of persons sexually sterilized, and to authors and publishers of the several text-books on anatomy and surgery who have kindly permitted quotations in reference to the technique of given sterilizing operations.

Besides these many persons who have so generously aided the investigations, special obligations are due to Dr. Charles B. Davenport, Director of the Eugenics Record Office, for many constructive suggestions and for constant encouragement throughout the investigations, and to Hon. Harry Olson, Chief Justice of the Municipal Court of Chicago, for kindly writing the foreword, for rendering an opinion on the legal aspects of sterilization, which appears as Section 1 of Chapter IX, and for publishing the whole of these studies under the auspices of the Psychopathic Laboratory of his court.

Harry Hamilton Laughlin. Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, N. Y., January 1, 1922.”

(SOURCE: Laughlin, Harry Hamilton, Eugenical Sterilization in the Untied States, Psychopathic Laboratory of the Municipal Court of Chicago, 1922, Pages v-viii).

Definitions:
1. Salpingectomy – surgical excision of a fallopian tube.

2. Ovariotomies – surgical incision of an ovary. (Not sure if this procedure is the same as Oophorectomy – the surgical removal of an ovary, called also ovariectomy.)

3. Vasectomy – surgical division or resection of all or part of the vas deferens usually to induce sterility.
(SOURCE: Definitions by Dictionary and Thesaurus – Merriam-Webster Online: http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

4. Eugenics – is the applied science of the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population, usually a human population. It is a social philosophy which advocates for the improvement of human hereditary traits through the promotion of higher reproduction of more desired people and traits, and the reduction of reproduction of less desired people and traits.

5. Dysgenics (also known as Cacogenics) – is the study of factors producing the accumulation and perpetuation of defective or disadvantageous genes and traits in offspring of a particular population or species. Dysgenic mutations have been studied in animals such as the mouse and the fruit fly. The term dysgenics was first used as an antonym of eugenics – the social philosophy of improving human hereditary qualities by social programs and government intervention.
(SOURCE: Definitions by Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

1912-1920 Eugenics in New York State.

1920 Margaret Sanger & Eugenics.

1922 Eugenics – New York State.

1907-1909 New York State Feeble-Minded & Epileptic Institutions (Rome)

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Besides having state insane asylums for the mentally ill, New York State had other institutions for the “care and treatment of its mental defectives.” The medical records and places of anonymous burials of these people, many of whom were children, are unavailable to the public. They are: The Syracuse State Institution for Feeble-Minded Children, (New York Times – Syracuse Asylum), Syracuse, Onondaga County, NY, established in 1851; The New York State Custodial Asylum for Feeble-Minded Women, first opened in 1878 as a branch of the Syracuse State Institution for Feeble-Minded Children, but made an independent institution and located at Newark, Wayne County, NY in 1885; Craig Colony for Epileptics, Sonyea, Livingston County, NY, established in 1892; The Rome State Custodial Asylum, Rome, Oneida County, NY, opened May 1, 1894; Letchworth Village, for the care of feeble-minded and epileptic persons, Thiells, Rockland County, NY, established 1911.

The following excerpts and pictures were reprinted from The Annual Report Of The Board Of Managers Of The Rome State Custodial Asylum for the years 1907, 1908, and 1909.

1907 RSCA Inmates Glee Club

1907 RSCA Inmates Glee Club

1907
FUTURE POLICY.
“We again recommend, as did we last year in our annual report, that arrangements be perfected as soon as possible for separating the sexes and removing all the females from this institution, leaving this a colony purely for males, and that we continue to develop our system of farm colonies for the brighter male inmates to the extent of establishing at least ten such farm colonies with 1,000 acres of land. With such extension of farm lands, we are very sure that we would be in a position to produce all the vegetables required for the maintenance of the asylum as well as all the milk and butter required for the institution.

We continue to feel the necessity, more than ever before, for a separate building for the care of the criminal class of feeble-minded, in which such criminal class may be separated from our general population and be taught trades, and receive the benefit which such continuous occupation will afford them, as well as the institution be benefited through the products of their labor in the manufacture of boots, shoes, clothing, brooms, mats, etc.” (26)

1907 TB Pavilion Exterior

1907 TB Pavilion Exterior

ADMISSIONS.
“The number of admissions during the year, 261, is the largest number by more than 100 that has ever been admitted in any one year’s history of the institution.

The opening of the new ward building J for male inmates, on April 1, 1907, made possible the admission of this large number of cases during the year. Of the number admitted 233 were males and 28 females. It is interesting to note that of the total admissions nearly one-half were under 21 years of age and that 68 were between 16 and 21 years of age, 100 were between the ages of 5 and 16, and 5 below the age of 3. Here again is evidenced the fact that the cases are coming to us at younger ages than heretofore, and this is very desirable as it is during this younger age that most can be done for the feeble-minded, especially the custodial class, toward training them in habits of cleanliness, industry, domestic work, etc.

Of the number admitted during the past year an especially large percentage has been of the more feeble class, as paralytics, with quite a number of cases of tuberculosis, as a result of which we have had more tuberculosis in the institution during the past year than at any time in the previous history of the institution.

Of the admissions this year, 71 came from Greater New York, 61 from county homes, 60 from Syracuse school, 11 from orphan asylums, 9 from reform schools, and 48 direct from their homes.

This tendency of the reform schools indicated above, to transfer their defectives direct to this asylum, again makes it necessary for us to regard the need at this institution for a separate department for the care of the criminal class of feeble-minded separate from our general population. The importance of this can only be fully appreciated through constant daily association with the care of the custodial class of feeble-minded when associated with the criminal classes.

1907 TB Pavilion Interior

1907 TB Pavilion Interior

APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION.
We continue to receive, almost every day, applications for the admission of additional cases, and while we stated last year we had 500 applications on file, and during the past year we have admitted 261 cases, still the number of applications on file, for suitable cases for care and treatment here, is over 400, this 400 not including the more than 100 applications which we have received for the admission of epileptics, insane feeble-minded, etc.

However, in this connection, we are of the opinion that were all females to be removed from this asylum, thus creating accommodations here for an additional 300 male inmates in the buildings now occupied by female inmates, and were we to continue our plans for farm colonies for the brighter class of boys to the extent of about 20 per cent, of our population, we will be in a position to accommodate all the applications which we receive for male inmates and thus, when the repairs are completed which are under way at the present time, and the additional repairs contemplated as per our requests for next year of the Legislature, no additional buildings will be required in connection with the main asylum group of buildings for the care of additional cases, with the exception of the separate building of the criminal class as previously referred to.

DISCHARGES AND TRANSFERS.
There were seven males and three females discharged during the year. Of this number four boys were discharged because they were sufficiently improved that they could earn their living and care for themselves outside. Two other boys were discharged to the custody of their families, their parents feeling that they were sufficiently improved that they could be of assistance at home and were practically in a normal condition, and the remaining male was a paralytic and was taken home by his family for home care. Of the females, two were transferred to Newark Custodial Asylum and the other girl was discharged as having been sufficiently improved to be able to properly care for herself and earn her own living.

It continues to be our policy to refuse to discharge all females except as above noted, that is, that no feeble-minded female shall be returned to her family or allowed her freedom after having once been committed to our custody, except that the courts order same, as we believe it should be the policy of the State, after having these cases once committed to its care and custody, that they should retain them, for the protection of society in general and for the economic interests of the State, as well as for the protection of the individual, it having been our experience that when these cases are taken out they are sure to drift into immorality and crime and in the course of a short time application is made to us for their return to the institution, the individual having not only lost all benefit which he had derived from the care, training and treatment here, but also was in much worse condition, both physically and mentally, than when taken away from the institution.

DEATHS.
The death rate during the year was about 4 ½ per cent., there having been 46 deaths, of which number 34 were males and 12 females. The number of deaths from tuberculosis during the year was 10 males and 2 females, this being about the same number as during the preceding year and being about the same percentage of deaths from tuberculosis as the average for the preceding twelve years, that is, about one-third of the deaths is due directly to tuberculosis.

We have had during the year several isolated cases of typhoid fever. However, only one of these cases died and there has been no evidence of the condition spreading or becoming general in nature. The State Board of Health was called upon to assist us in ferreting out the source of infection if possible. However, as the cases were very isolated, no two occurring in one department of the institution and the cases were all confined to inmates, there seemed to be no one source of infection, and as our water supply, milk supply and food supply was free from infection no special importance was placed upon the fact that an occasional one or two isolated cases of typhoid existed in the institution.” (29-32)

ROME STATE CUSTODIAL ASYLUM TRAINING SCHOOL FOR ATTENDANTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN.
“For training attendants in the physical care of the feeble-minded and the physically infirm, and also in the manual, mental, moral and industrial training of the feeble-minded.

The Rome Custodial Asylum is entirely owned and maintained by the State of New York for the care and treatment of feeble-minded and idiotic persons, the following classes being cared for: All of both sexes below the age of seven; all of both sexes between the ages of seven and fourteen who are physically infirm (the ablebodied feeble-minded children who can use language between the ages of seven and fourteen are sent to the Syracuse School for feeble-minded), and cases past the age of fourteen, both sexes, with no further age limit.

The asylum, with its population of 750 (soon to be 1,000) cases, cares for many children, many physically infirm, as cripples, paralytics and bedridden cases, many of the feeble-minded juvenile delinquent class and many adults, among which are a considerable number of the State reformatory classes.

The course of training shall cover two years, of fifty-two weeks each. The first shall be devoted to the training of attendants in all that pertains to the physical care of the physically infirm and mentally enfeebled, and the second year shall be devoted to the training of attendants in the physical, mental, moral and industrial training of the feeble-minded.

For entrance to the school, the applicant shall be twenty-one years of age, and come recommended by two responsible persons who have known the applicant for at least two years, in addition to which the applicant shall file an application, the statements in which are to be sworn to as follows: . . .” (61)

This job paid $20.00 per month for males; $16.00 for females. The hours were: 6:15 AM to 6:00 PM and 6:15 AM to 7:30 PM, on alternating days with one hour off duty every afternoon.

SOURCE: Thirteenth Annual Report Of The Board Of Managers Of The Rome State Custodial Asylum At Rome, N.Y., For The Year Ending September 30, 1907, Adopted At Annual Meeting December 2, 1907, Transmitted To The Legislature February 12, 1908, Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers, 1908, Pages 26, 29-32, 61.

1908 The American Association for the Study of the Feeble-Minded. In Session at the Asylum June 22 – 25, 1908

1908 The American Association for the Study of the Feeble-Minded. In Session at the Asylum June 22 – 25, 1908

1908-2 Employees Building

1908-2 Employees Building

1908-3 Bailey Farm Colony

1908-3 Bailey Farm Colony

1908-4 Ward D-3

1908-4 Ward D-3

1908-5 Ward E-12

1908-5 Ward E-12

1908-6 Inmates Orchestra

1908-6 Inmates Orchestra

1908-7 Exhibition Of Fancy Work

1908-7 Exhibition Of Fancy Work

1909
SEPARATION OF SEXES.
“The separation of the sexes is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, move that can be made in the direction of economy in management of this asylum, both from the standpoint of a reduced per capita cost of maintenance as well as the betterment of the service. Such separation will allow the inmates the whole freedom of the buildings and grounds, and thus they will require much less supervision when at work or at play to keep them from encroaching on the grounds occupied by the opposite sex, (no fence or partition can prevent the passing of notes or conversation which leads to secret meetings and planned escapes).

1909-8 Brush Farm Colony

1909-8 Brush Farm Colony

Such freedom for the inmates allows of their greater usefulness in doing errands, also in being left to work alone at tasks which they can well do with no supervision. And, too, this freedom from constant supervision, thus throwing the inmate on his own resources and calling into play his own judgment, better qualifies him for the next task, as I have had many opportunities of observing (notwithstanding the overdrawn observation frequently stated that the feeble-minded have no judgment. True, they apparently have none when they are never allowed to use it, and they will continue to show none so long as some supervisor continues to constantly judge for them).

1909-9 Bailey Farm Colony

1909-9 Bailey Farm Colony

Some one may suggest that the damage to property and morals resulting from lack of constant supervision will more than offset any saving that may result in salaries, but to this I say we seldom see a feeble-minded boy when given a suitable task become destructive or meddlesome, even if he is not closely supervised, and I daily see boys at the farm colonies left in the fields to plow, harrow, plant, hoe, etc., with the farmer only occasionally calling around to direct and supervise, and it is seldom indeed that such boys do damage or injury.

1909-10 Inmates Band

1909-10 Inmates Band

Amusements and entertainments have been continued during the year as usual, and all this is made possible through the liberal response received to our annual holiday appeal to relatives and friends of inmates. Such funds have allowed us to place pianos on all the wards and to furnish a liberal supply of music for the band and orchestra as well as an occasional new musical instrument, as mandolins, guitars, horns, violins, etc., for the use of the patients, and I take this opportunity of thanking in behalf of the inmates all who have thus showed their especial interest in the asylum and its work.

1909-11 Inmates Orchestra

1909-11 Inmates Orchestra

I wish to again express my appreciation of the loyal support accorded me by my associate officers and employees, and to most sincerely thank the members of the Board for their continued interest and devotion to the uplift of humanity as exemplified in the work of this asylum.

Respectfully,
CHARLES BERNSTEIN, Superintendent.” (26-28)

SOURCE: Fifteenth Annual Report Of The Board Of Managers Of The Rome State Custodial Asylum At Rome, N.Y., For The Year Ending September 30, 1909, Adopted At Annual Meeting December 6, 1909, Transmitted To The Legislature January 12, 1910, Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers, 1910, Pages 26-28.

 

1909-12 Inmates Choir

1909-12 Inmates Choir

1909-13 Inmates Mandolin and Guitar Club

1909-13 Inmates Mandolin and Guitar Club

1909-14 Boys Kindergarten

1909-14 Boys Kindergarten

1909-15 Physical Training

1909-15 Physical Training

1909-16 Calisthenics

1909-16 Calisthenics

1909-17 Babies Kindergarten

1909-17 Babies Kindergarten

1909-18 Primary School Work

1909-18 Primary School Work

1909-19 Grammar School Work

1909-19 Grammar School Work

1909-20 Class In Chair Caning

1909-20 Class In Chair Caning

1909-21 Primary Sewing

1909-21 Primary Sewing

1909-22 Primary Sewing

1909-22 Primary Sewing

1909-23 Sewing Class

1909-23 Sewing Class

1909-24 Sewing Class

1909-24 Sewing Class

1909-25 Class In Ironing

1909-25 Class In Ironing

Photographs:
SOURCE: Thirteenth Annual Report Of The Board Of Managers Of The Rome State Custodial Asylum At Rome, N.Y., For The Year Ending September 30, 1907, Adopted At Annual Meeting December 2, 1907, Transmitted To The Legislature February 12, 1908, Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers, 1908.

SOURCE: Fourteenth Annual Report Of The Board Of Managers Of The Rome State Custodial Asylum At Rome, N.Y., For The Year Ending September 30, 1908, Adopted At Annual Meeting December 7, 1908, Transmitted To The Legislature March 2, 1909, Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers, 1909.

SOURCE: Fifteenth Annual Report Of The Board Of Managers Of The Rome State Custodial Asylum At Rome, N.Y., For The Year Ending September 30, 1909, Adopted At Annual Meeting December 6, 1909, Transmitted To The Legislature January 12, 1910, Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers, 1910.

Museum Of disABILITY great resource!