84 Comments Posted by MICHELLE

I would like to have a copy of every photo to make a video for VIMEO would you allow it Send the photos to princesswhosamacallit@aol.com

the patients were abuse so much they live in there own crap

Lynn,

You are correct , for the most part... You did in fact leave out the "bad" things that were going on inside the school. Please keep in mind these children were outcast by their family, doctors & society. There was no explination why these children were the way they were. There were very many horrible explainations (which today do not make sense) of what was wrong with them. Although many were taken care of, a lot of them were horribly tortured. The things that went on there were inhumane.

I can appreciate you ripping people new asses because of their ignorance of the Dever school but please do not allow yourself to fall into the same catergory.

As for your "btw comment"... they were in fact military, i guess you could call them jails, during WWII. They housed German & Italian prisoners.

Good luck with your further research before you decide to say who is ignorant and who is not.

I live in Maryland and i actually visited this hospital with a group of friends. It was a very dark path leading up to the hospital and very creepy and quiet. When we finally reached the hospital it was just very dark and earie. I have been to alot of abandoned places but for some reason i just didnt like the feeling i got there. And the one building we went to the very top floor and it was soooo hot on that floor and none of us knew why..it was fall so it wasnt hot outside. And we heard alot of noises as well...didnt see anything but it just felt like something was there.

This was a patient ward when I volunteered there - so many years ago. And the room at the end was a sort of porch where you could play games or read. There was no 'theater' there in those years...

wow you can delete that i didnt realize it was so long sorry

How could someone help with a problem no one truly understood these ppl wernt treated badly out of hate they were not understood how can a care giver teach a child with a disability when their caregiver them self didnt understand the the problem these people who worked there did what they could with what they had they were not funded properly so yes they were fed but not properly because they didnt have the funds yes they were bathed but not as much as the proberly should have been with lack of staff the world gave up on the people of pennhurst because they were not understood parents didnt have the understanding and suport that we have today parents thought they were helping their child by putting them there but what i dont understand everyone says the parents prob didnt know what the conditions were like in the ward i understand that but how come most of these parents just left their kids there they never visted them they abandoned them so all in all the parents were more then likely ashamed back then not understanding and the way the rest of the world looked at a problem it was better to hide it away and forget about it so i dont just blame pennhurst because pennhurst was not built to be a problem it was built to help and understand but no one had the education about disabilities that we have today i blame the parents for giving up on their children and forgetting them i blame the state for not funding if they had the funding and the parents and communities help would they have suffered probably not even though they may not have understood the problem they would have been able to feed them and aducate them as well as possible and with the parents help but back then no one wanted to learn or spend money it was easier to forget and throw the key away.. i am drawn to pennhurts i watched my nana die from her disabilities that know one understood we took great care of her but if we would have known then what we know now im not saying she'd still be alive but i do believe she wouldnt have passed so soon i understand the probelm with them not having the funding but why wouldnt know one fund i understand being scared of something you dont understand but why wouldnt a parent take the time to learn about it instead of ignoring it there are so many things i dont understand and so many people i would love to talk to. we were tough people with retardations were no diffrenet then us back then they were tought its not normal its not right we need to get rid of them we might not understand it today but then thats the way it was so yes its not right these people should not have been treated the way they were but back then thats how they understood things and took care of things i am happy that we know where these disabilites come from how to help them and work with them i am happy we dont hide them in shame i have three kids non with any problems but as a parent i am always ready for what may come i would never be ashamed of my children my daughter is adhd but i will not medicate her i have all the time in the world and patiants to deal with her and teach her what she needs to learn yes she does act un exceptable at times but i would never hide her from the world how will she ever learn how to act if shes not seeing it with her own eyes its just so hard to believe that a person could be ashamed of their child enough where they give up on them i dont understand that that is your baby your child your life how could you do such a thing i dunno i guess i have issues and i am going to post this it probably doesnt make any sense but this is how i feel
!!

Looks like the old skating rink I used to go to in the 80s!

Why red walls?

This is awesome. I love this picture, and when I see it I feel like I'm there watching the rain falling.

Ive been in here Im pretty sure. I live next to the place, used to walk around in here all the time. These pictures show the place at its best! certaintly a eerie place, especially the tunnels in the basements

what they did to those people was wrong. just because they were born with issues doesn't mean they should have been treated like animals. They would pull people's teeth out if they would bite someone. The pain will never leave the people's lives that were there. it just proves how alot of our society creates an issue with people that don't act or look like us. it's quite sad.

how far back do these buildings date and were they build by the hospital or were they already there?

who owns the building and property now?

thorugh out cases that pennhurst was haunted. they hvae very much provein that such meditcation event were done here . i for one thing this place in hell on land