4,537 Comments for Pennhurst State School

Very sad and tragic picture;makes me wonder more than ever what happened to the children who lived here.

Its hard to imagine that they would just classify a child as retarded and then just sit them in a chair stareing out of a window . If anything is going to effect them mentally its isolating them in such a horrible and inhummane manor. Im not suprised that many patients regressed to a far worse state.

Scary picture...yea,interrogation is what comes to mind,not examination.

This made my eyes water...so incredibly sad.Great shot,but very disturbing.

When I saw this photo, I wondered what else they may have shoved in those 'coal' burners. Thank you Motts for your wonderful photos and comments.

This is a "Pictronic 500" X-ray machine manufactured by Picker X-Ray. I'm not sure the vintage, but it was definitely made before 1967 and is classified as an "antique." My guess of its date is '50s sometime. It appears to match a machine for sale at this link:

http://www.medical-equipment-classifieds.com/classifieds/view-ad-792.html

These mirrors, and the dehumanizing effect they must have had on the people who lived here, are mentioned in the Lou Chapman report you linked to on the front page of this section.

We had furniture of this same make and style in my dorm at the University of New Mexico in the early 1990s, but they were obviously very old at that time. We used to call them "Gumby chairs" and "Gumby couches."

Taking your comments to heart, this area seems the scariest of all. Everyone here must have left horizontally or not at all. May they be in peace now.

Sadly the condition of the documentry isn't in much better shape than Pennhurst itself, the Audio is impossible to follow at times. I see there is a Pennhurst Documentry in the works, perhaps some restoration will be done.

there is a NPR interview online at :
http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2004/07/20040708_b_main.asp
Michael D'Antonio and Fred Boyce one the former "State boys" at Fernald are featured, this would be very interesting to anyone who wants to understand better what went on in places like Pennhurst.

interesting contrast between the ridgid uniformity of the lights and disaray of the benches.

amazing how this picture of a chair can stir such feelings of lonelyness

I often wonder why equipment like this was just left to rot.

I wonder why it was painted over... the colors are still quite vivid.

Amazing shot.