Comments

Firstly TA did not stand for Theraputic Activities. That would be something that was offered to the clients. This was a mandatory class that staff attended to supposedly help us with all the negativity that was being directed at staff. Because staff morale was so low..because not all the staff was barbaric like you want to believe. It was a futile attempt to bolster morale and it was pretty lame. Warm fuzzies are lame.

And secondly in the 11 years I worked there I did not witness the atrocities that you believe took place on a daily basis. Things had improved and most likely if we would have remained open would have continued to improve. I NEVER said things were less than ideal throughout the history of Pennhurst. What I said was when I worked there it wasn't that bad. And that's great that your friend has done extensive research but has she ever worked there? I think not. Has she ever worked in an institutional setting? Probably not. Sometimes first hand knowlege can be believed. It's ok.

we'll leave the light on for ya

As a child I played with children at Letchworth as most of my family worked there. grandmother cooked there. Mother worked in M cottage. They wore clothes, had sheets. Mom use to hire girls from there to help with ironing, housework. Grandfather had one of the men once a week, paid him plus gave him bags of soda, snacks, etc. to take back. Same guy, cannot remember his name.
Mom use to say you could hardly keep them out of each others bed. You would do your checks and have to get them separated and in their OWN beds.
She said many of the "girls" in her cottage were put there by their rich families= lesbians, boy-crazy, just acting out. Remember the US really did not have a policy for mentally ill until the 50's.
While the infirmary she said was terrible. and the worse, I remember "Bruno" running up and down the road "driving" holding his steering wheel. You could not wave to them if they waved to you because they would follow you home.
Also, while apparently there were atrocious things done to some patients by some of the facility attendants, doctors, nurses, etc., there were also crimes perpetuated on some in the neighboring community by male patients. cannot say what for the respect of my deceased family member, but use your imagination. sort of like a letchworth gang banger. I get homesick looking at these pictures. Used to bowl at letchworth, went to the halloween party, christmas party, and play with the kids (hey, I was a kid! too)

so glad you are back motts

I worked their

How is it that I wasn't aware that lonely chairs are a typical/standard/expected thing to be encountered in places like this until I read the comments just now??

Roof certainly seems possible, Grumpy. Depends on what kind of room this was in, probably not the roof if patients had access to it. If it was a staff-only room, though, then the roof is probably the most likely answer.

Correct me if I'm wrong, guys, but couldn't it also be possible that patients with more severe mental and/or psychological disabilities/illnesses/whatever could have been responsible for a couple of those fires? Like, if they somehow found a way to create a spark, or did so on accident or something...? Just thought I'd throw that out there since it crossed my mind.

Evane's right, especially about the abuse part. Apparently there were even cases of staff members raping (or at least trying to rape) patients. Don't know how true those stories are, but they have circulated.

To add to what silkster said about the no-longer-present shower curtain and the window, I just feel the need to say that my GOD, I hope that room wasn't on the first floor!

Personally, I have to agree with Orchard Lunar. I first learned about this place while I was having an online conversation with a friend and when she brought it up and started telling me about it, all I could think was how tragic it all was and how awful it must have been.

I have since learned that if a child either couldn't walk or hadn't learned how before being admitted, they were laid down on the floor during "recreation" time (for lack of a better term) and just left there, and the rest of the time, they were put in cribs and just ignored. Some lost control of their bowels, or never had control of them to begin with, and as a result, ended up just going to the bathroom IN THE CRIBS, and were just left laying there in their own filth, eventually drawing flies, which landed ALL OVER these children and crawled all over them, and there was nothing they could do but lay there in their own feces.

NOW TELL ME AGAIN, BlackSheepMarcia, that the stories are exaggerated. Tell me again that they are made up. Tell me again that these people were "influenced" because of a mental disability. Tell me again with absolute certainty. Tell me again, and then defend this place like you've been doing. Tell me and defend, Marcia, but I will not, I CANNOT believe what you are saying after reading what I have and after the stories my friend told me, and she has done extensive research on this place and its history and what went on here. And people like you who actually defend such a nightmarish, hellish place must truly be either mental yourselves, brainwashed, or just flat-out monsters with hollow cavities in your chests where your hearts should be.

I love you

I love how you wait and capture the picture at the right moment

Looking at it, what you're seeing is essentially a giant threshing machine. The massive blades will chop up and slice apart the coke, removing it from the coal, 'chaff', chuff, and assorted bits of rock. You'd have that machine way off in a corner of the planet, and it would be the loudest thing in the entire factory, even louder then the KER_KLUNK of the drill presses. Normally, it'd be surrounded by a cage, but it appears to either have been taken down, fallen down, or rusted away.

I'd take a travel chair & a book, sit here, read & enjoy the sun & air. This is such a calming image.