A reminder to my readers that when I created this blog I invited everyone to submit their thoughts here for all to consider. I promised to publish informative and well-written articles regardless of my agreeing with the positions taken.
The following was sent to me, and here it is unedited:
The Final Indignity
The name Pennhurst is infamous in the disability rights movement – not once, but twice.
Pennhurst opened in 1908 as a school for people with physical and mental disabilities. By the time it closed in 1987, it had become an iconic symbol of segregation, overcrowding, abuse, and neglect. In a momentous victory, a Federal Court order mandated Pennhurst’s closure for violating the constitutional rights of the residents, who had done no harm to anyone. The people who left Pennhurst went to small family-like homes with 24-hour support and services, where their lives were enriched in practically every way we know how to measure. (See Temple University’s landmark Pennhurst Longitudinal Study, 1985.)
In 2010 and 2011, infamy has once again tainted the name of this place in our community – for the Halloween attraction known as the Pennhurst Asylum. The attraction:
- uses imagery of people with mental and physical disabilities, which abuses the memory of the 10,400 Pennsylvanians who lived and mostly died under horrendous conditions.
- mistreats the buildings that deserve preservation.
- and finally, insults the community itself by being the worst kind of “neighbor” imaginable.
Once Pennhurst was finally shut down, it sat abandoned for two decades until entrepreneur Richard Chakejian purchased the property and turned it into a haunted house along with Randy Bates, haunted house expert. They maintain that it doesn’t play on the site’s history. Yet they concurrently legitimize the attraction’s tagline, ”the Fear is Real,” by citing facts (some of them even true) about the Pennhurst’s past. The distortion of history and myth trumped up to make money worked well for the Blair Witch. The only problem is that Pennhurst’s people were real. Last Halloween, Pennhurst Asylum opened its doors for $25 a head and the haunted house was attended by thousands – such a success that it has reopened this year and expanded. There is fear at Pennhurst, once again. And once again, it’s based on ignorance.
Pennhurst deserves sacred memorialization and preservation. Out of national shame came national triumph– though very few people know about it. It was at Pennhurst that the right of all children to attend American public schools was won in 1972. The “Right to Education” has had a profound impact on all children with disabilities and their families. It happened right here, and it happened because of the outrages at Pennhurst. Secondly, it was Pennhurst where the nation finally learned that there is a “better way” to support people with developmental disabilities, not in large institutions but in small, family-like community homes.
The Pennhurst Historic Marker, placed last year on Route 724 near Bridge Road, tells of Pennhurst’s national importance. We encourage our neighbors to visit that Marker, read the words on it, and think about ways to preserve and memorialize what happened here. It was tragic for many years, but the story also includes hope and progress.
In this light, it is most shameful that the current attraction is causing so much disruption and dismay among the neighbors. The township that is considering permanent zoning changes might also demand common decency in its deliberations – as well as a more appropriate use of this historic site. This second round of infamy is not good for our locality the way things stand – it is, in fact, the final indignity.
Emily Smith Beitiks, Ph.D Candidate, University of Minnesota
James W. Conroy, Ph.D, Center for Outcome Analysis, Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance
(Editor’s note: Feel free to comment or submit your thoughts. In this instance, I agree with the premise of this article. I will publish the opposite positon, inviting real debate and not hysterical reaction.)
I would simply like to point out something I find to be incredibly ironic. You are expending significant energy to try to shutdown this halloween event. And yet, it has done more to raise awareness that Pennhurst exists, was a real hospital, and is a site where terrible things have happened than any other campaign I’m aware of. I lived here for years before I knew about it. I have many friends who have asked me about it because of the “Asylum” display. I know many more people who have gone to the event, or their website than are even aware that your website exists. More people know about Pennhurst because of 2 months of this event over the last two years, than as a result of all of your effort. Think about that for a while.
Rather than simply criticizing the event, have you tried teaming up with the organizers to add as much education of the public as possible? As disgusting as you find it, this event has been very successful (which indicates that not everyone shares your disgust). It’s intended to be in good fun, and has positives, even if it is a bit insensitive. Rather than focusing all your energy on dismissing it. Perhaps a better approach would be to take advantage of it. I’d bet you could get good literature in the hands of a few thousand people if you tried. You might even be able to raise funds for a more permenant tribute and memorial to what happened there.
It’s not the ideal situation. And I’m not totally in favor of the event. But would you prefer that the site go back into oblivian with no one even realizing it’s there? Or would you prefer a disjointed, somewhat insensitive event meant to entertain – that happens ONE month out of the year – if it results in ELEVEN months of an improved awareness and memorial of the true horrors that took place there? Personally, I’ll take the good that comes from the bad.