Pennhurst State School and Hospital
Updated April 19, 2020 | By Matthew Christopher
Pennhurst's story echoes that of many of the asylums and institutions. Built in 1908 with high hopes and a sprawling campus that had everything a community could need - including a barber shop, a greenhouse, a fire station, a movie theater, and a general store - Pennhurst rapidly devolved into a site synonymous with well documented overcrowding and neglect that caused the adults and children who resided there to regress further and further from functionality. In 1968 a disturbing documentary featuring the site titled 'Suffer the Little Children' was produced wherein a visibly distraught reporter chronicled abysmal conditions including one interview where a doctor openly admitted to giving a bully among the residents the most painful injection he could concoct to deter him from abusing others. Ultimately it was closed in 1987 amid a storm of charges of physical and sexual abuse, improper restraint and seclusion, corruption, mismanagement, and neglect.
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Pennhurst's story echoes that of many of the asylums and institutions. Built in 1908 with high hopes and a sprawling campus that had everything a community could need - including a barber shop, a greenhouse, a fire station, a movie theater, and a general store - Pennhurst rapidly devolved into a site synonymous with well documented overcrowding and neglect that caused the adults and children who resided there to regress further and further from functionality. In 1968 a disturbing documentary featuring the site titled 'Suffer the Little Children' was produced wherein a visibly distraught reporter chronicled abysmal conditions including one interview where a doctor openly admitted to giving a bully among the residents the most painful injection he could concoct to deter him from abusing others. Ultimately it was closed in 1987 amid a storm of charges of physical and sexual abuse, improper restraint and seclusion, corruption, mismanagement, and neglect.
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