Fort Wayne State School

Fort Wayne State School

Institutions

In 1887 Indiana state legislators enacted a law providing for the establishment of the Indiana School for Feeble Minded Youth in Fort Wayne, one of the first institutions in the nation serving people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Construction of the school, depicted in this photograph, began that year and it opened in 1890. Previously the Asylum for Feeble Minded Children had been established in 1879, operating until 1887 as part of the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home in Knightstown, Indiana. The relocated institution was known as the Fort Wayne State Developmental Center when it closed in 2007.

Center on Aging and Community, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, and Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities

asylumprojects.org

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Indiana, Allen County, Fort Wayne

1890-