Browse Items

“I lost my vision at-- I was 26 months old. I was struck by lightning.” When it was time to go to school, Pauline Ulrey’s ophthalmologist did not want her to go to the Indiana School for the Blind. “I don’t know his line of reasoning, but that was…

This photo of the entrance to Muscatatuck State Developmental Center was taken in 2005. That was the same year the institution closed, the last person living at Muscatatuck having been placed into a community residence on April 22, 2005. The Center…

Building No. 12 was constructed in 1940 at a cost of $31,644. It remained in use as an administration building for Muscatatuck State Developmental Center until the Center's closure in 2005. The institution, located in Butlerville, Indiana, became…

Building No. 22 was built around 1940 to house women working as attendants at Muscatatuck State School, as the institution became known in 1941. (Prior to that year, it was known as the Indiana Farm Colony for Feeble-Minded Youth.) Male and female…

“One of the first things that she said was ‘I want a lawyer.’” Patty Cook recounts her experience with a teenager who had severe cerebral palsy and had been given a communication device for the first time. Patty was first hired at Muscatatuck State…

"We had three boys and five girls and they literally thought they owned the place." Ann Bishop came to Muscatatuck in September of 1954. She started as a head nurse, became assistant director of nursing, and then was a module director/mental health…

"The very first day of leaving him there, it was just like somebody tore my heart out," recalls Steve Ward. His son Steven entered Muscatatuck State Developmental Center around 1990. Steven was 14 and had had a brain tumor since the age of two,…

"I had all the jobs." When Leland Verrick was at Muscatatuck State School, later Muscatatuck State Hospital and Training Center, it was not yet illegal for residents to perform the same duties as the hired staff. Leland says he bathed, diapered, and…

“One of the first things that she said was ‘I want a lawyer.’” Patty Cook recounts her experience with a teenager who had severe cerebral palsy and had been given a communication device for the first time. Patty was first hired at Muscatatuck State…

"We had three boys and five girls and they literally thought they owned the place." Ann Bishop came to Muscatatuck in September of 1954. She started as a head nurse, became assistant director of nursing, and then was a module director/mental health…