Mansfield Training School and Hospital

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Coordinates: 41°48′24″N 72°17′47″W / 41.80667°N 72.29639°W / 41.80667; -72.29639
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Mansfield Training School and Hospital
Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.87001513[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 22, 1987

The Mansfield Training School and Hospital was a

historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.[1]

History

The hospital opened in Lakeville in 1860 as the Connecticut School for Imbeciles at Lakeville. Its name was changed to the Connecticut Training School for the Feebleminded at Lakeville in 1915. Two years later, it merged with the Connecticut Colony for Epileptics (founded at Mansfield in 1910) and acquired its present name.[2]

When it opened in 1917, the merged institution had 402 students in residence. By 1932, the resident population had grown to 1,070. During the

Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918/1919, around 200 out of 300 patients contracted the Spanish Flu. 30 would die and all care would be placed onto one doctor, Dr. LaMoure, and one nurse.[3] Staffing levels increased during the 1960s as philosophies on the treatment of mental disability changed, and there were 1,609 residents and 875 full-time staff as of 1969. During the 1970s and 1980s, many residents were relocated from dormitories to on-campus cottages or to group homes located around the state. By 1976 the resident population had dropped to 1,106, and by 1991 just 141 people remained as residents.[4]

In 1993, after numerous

outpatient facilities and other institutions.[4] After the closure, some dilapidated buildings were demolished. Other buildings were split between the Bergin Correctional Institution and the University of Connecticut.[4][5]

Abuse

The school has had a number of abuse and mistreatment allegations, Glady Burr, for example, filed a lawsuit in 1979 for $125 million because of the abuse she faced.[6] She claimed denial of civil rights as well as being used to slavery. She was also wrongfully committed to the facility, her mother did not want to care for her and had tests on her mental state manipulated. She was awarded $235K. The 1978 lawsuit Conn. CARC v. Thorne [7] alleged unconstitutional treatment of patients. This included subpar living conditions, care quality, and residential placement. The state of Connecticut would continue investigation into the 90s when they found DNR (do not resuscitate) labels being inappropriately placed on patients. This would lead the downfall of the institution. Residents would be moved to community-oriented homes, representing a new approach to the treatment of disabled people emerging. There was a shift towards placing disabled people into the community, instead of outcasting them around this time. The institution utilized "treatment" now understood as cruel, such as straitjacket and lobotomies. There are also, of course, local rumors about the facility from hauntings to other abuse of patients.

Historic district

The "Mansfield Training School and Hospital" was listed on the

epileptic seizures
. Children housed in the institution hand-molded the concrete blocks used to construct barns on the farm property.[8]

The caretaker's residence was featured on the SyFy channel's Paranormal Witness on September 28, 2011, as a location of alleged paranormal activity.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Brief Descriptions of Connecticut State Agencies: Mansfield State Training School and Hospital". Connecticut Public Library. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  3. ^ Landry, David. "The Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919 2020 Republished Article Series > The Influenza Epidemic of". Mansfield Historical Society. Mansfield Historical Society. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Juliane Silver (2010), Finding Aid RG 170:001, Mansfield Training School Inventory of Records, Connecticut State Library website. Revised November 29, 2010.
  5. ^ "The Dean's Almanac: Here's to Ewe, UConn". January 8, 2007. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  6. ^ Brooke, James. "42 MISSING YEARS: THE PUZZLE OF GLADYS BURR". New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  7. ^ "Case: Conn. ARC v. Thorne". Clearing House. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Jan Cunningham and John Herzan (March 10, 1987). "NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Mansfield Training School and Hospital / Mansfield Training School". National Park Service. and Accompanying 16 photos, from 1986
  9. ^ "The Haunting of Mansfield Mansion". SYFY Official Site. November 16, 2017.
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