313 Comments Posted by andrew

This was the lecure hall for medical students training at Byberry. They would come in here for lectures on mental health. Also, that graffiti of the cat (or lion or whatever it is) on the left has always creeped me out.

Which auditorium is this? There were three auditoriums: the old ballroom above the old women's (c-building) dining room, the Furey Ellis Hall (large auditorium), and the lecture hall (small auditorium).

Yeah, this is the old women's infirmary. The state built a large tuberculosis building (N-10) in the '50s, but when TB was nearly eradicated, they no longer had a need for that building. So, since N-10 was filled with medical equipment, they turned that into the new infirmary. This building was left vacant until demolition in 2006.

I was looking at some old blueprints of the auditorium, and apparently there is a way out onto the catwalks from the same floor as the projector room.

I worked in a theater like this last year, and I hated going up and down those spiral stairs. I have always had a fear of heights.

W-6 was known as the "senile ward" at one time. It housed the older patients with dementia (inc. alzheimers) along with its twin building, W-7.

This picture was made by WPA workers when building the administration building. They were comparing the work that the patients did for no money (along with the terrible conditions they were kept in) to slaves.

i am a college student wrapping up my final year of school and making a short documentary on the history of Fernald for a project. If there are any
former employees (or even residents on here) on here who would be willing to share any stories or information about Fernald I would me most grateful.

-Andrew
ajohnson1109@wsc.ma.edu

More fires have been started AFTER Pennhurst was clused than while it was open. Maybe they should've closed down the school and left the fire station open.

What building is this in? All the laundry was done in the laundry building, so if this isn't that building, then I don't know what this is.

Although I am Presbyterian, my dad grew up in the Baptist church. I went with him to his church a few times and they had a landscape portrait of a river in the front; apparently lots of Baptist churches have these. The rectangular object at the front looks like one of these. This room might've been used for religious services on Saturdays & Sundays. Also, I noticed a projector screen lying on the floor on the stage. It might've been put down to show movies.

I work with theater technology, and I have worked in many theaters. This was probably just a small auditorium or lectures or even small shows. The other theater was probably for more elaborate productions.

Also, those seats look really uncomfortable. >(

I think that metal door on the left might be for a fire hose or something. Although why they need a fire hose in a tiled room that is almost always wet is besides me.

It seems dangerous to have tile in all these rooms. With patients walking around and slipping on the tile, there would be inguries.