Permanently closed is a documentary that investigated the mysteries surrounding the institution Letchworth Village. This now abandoned lot, has had a lot of attention in the past years. In the recent years it was featured on the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures, an episode of the TV series of Elementary, and was one of the main inspirations for season 2 of American Horror Story: Asylum. Most famously, Letchworth was featured in Geraldo Rivera’s expose “The Last Disgrace” in 1972. The shows focused on Letchworth’s reputation for experimenting on its patients as well as mass mistreatment of patients. Many believe that there are many unsettled souls still haunting the grounds in Rockland County. Permanently closed will show audiences the entire story behind this institution and its chilling legacy that continues to captivate audiences today. Since its opening in 1911 Letchworth Village was clouded in mystery. This expansive residential institution sprawling over 130 acres housed the physically and mentally disabled of all ages from newborns to adults. In the beginning it was seen as a model institution for the treatment of the developmentally disabled, a humane alternative to high-rise asylums. It was seen to have great potential and …show more content…
Most of the patients were under the age of 16. Visitors observed malnourished and sickly children. Many of these children were subject to testing and cruel neglect. Patients were forced to live in cramped dorms due to overcrowding. By the 1950s there were over 4,000 patients living in Letchworth. In the 1940s photos were taken that revealed the true nature of what was going on behind closed doors. It was not until Geraldo Rivera’s expose in 1972, that people started to pay attention to what was happening at institutions across the country, especially at
From the moment Lucy Winer was admitted to Kings Park on June 21, 1967, following several unsuccessful suicide attempts, she experienced firsthand the horrors of mental institutions during this time period in America. As Lucy stepped into Ward 210, the female violent ward of Building 21, she was forced to strip naked at the front desk, symbolizing how patient’s personhood status was stripped from them as soon as they arrived into these institutions. During her second day at Kings Park, Lucy started crying and another patient informed her not to cry because “they’ll hurt her”. This instance, paired with the complete lack of regulations, instilled a fear in Lucy that anyone at this institution could do anything to her without any punishment, which had haunted her throughout her entire stay at Kings Park. Dr. Jeanne Schultz was one of the first psychiatrists to examine Lucy and diagnosed her with chronic differentiated schizophrenia. In an interview with Dr. Schultz decades later, Lucy found out that many patients were
In Mary Downing Hahn’s “The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall,” Downing Hahn shows that sometimes the best of people who deserve the best end up getting the worst. In this companion book, you will see the difference between the two main characters; Sophia and Florence. You will also find out about the setting and what dangers can go on at Crutchfield Hall. You will see what something in the book symbolizes, including the cat and the mice, and the cold. I will show you Sophia’s mind and her thoughts, and what she is planning on doing, more about her death, and possibilities of what could’ve happened.
In examining and learning from her story through the lens of Doctoring, we can inform our own practice and However, many or most of the people involved in her story felt as though they committed no wrongdoing, and indeed likely felt good about providing care for a poor black woman. It is a little frightening to consider that we might one day do things as physicians that will be considered as wildly unethical in our practice as the actions of researchers and physicians that affected Henrietta and her family. It is certain that we will be affected by our biases, that we will fumble, and that we will make many mistakes as we try to find our footing as physicians. However, I would argue that the crucial first step lies in the words that Rebecca Skloot used to begin her retelling of Henrietta’s story.
Ghosts and goblins are lurking around every corner. Mysterious creatures are waiting to jump out of every shadow. The boogieman and his accomplices are posted under the bed and in the closet, counting the minutes until children go to sleep so that that can attack and scare the life out of them. We all grew up with these fears in the back of out heads. There is always at least one person and one building in every town, whether it be small or large, with a story... a history of mysterious, paranormal behavior. The little town of Canton, Missouri is no different.
The first hospital was built in a quiet farming town later named Kings Park. In 1885, officials of what was then the city of Brooklyn established the Kings County Farm on more than 800 acres to care for the mentally ill. Kings Park was only a small part of what would later become a giant chain of connected mental hospitals on Long Island, each with over 2,500 patients at one time.(Bleyer,2)
Windham, Kathryn Tucker, and Margaret Gillis Fish. “The Face in the Courthouse Window.” 13 Alabama ghosts and Jeffrey. 1969. Reprint. Huntsville, Ala.: Strode Publishers, 1976. Print.
The authors name is Audrey Young and she has received her bachelor’s degree in history from University of California, Berkeley, and an M.D. from the University of Washington, in Seattle. She is board certified in internal medicine and was Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. She currently practices hospital medicine at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington. She has also published several other books such as, House of Hope and Fear: Life in a Big City Hospital, published in 2009, and
Asylum: A History of the Mental Institution in America. Dir. Sarah Mondale. Stone Lantern Films, Inc. 1988. Film.
The new asylums. Dir. Miri Navasky. Perf. Sigmon Clark, Fred Cohen. WGBH Educational Foundation: 2005. Film.
Both 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale are dystopian novels, however, these books are a lot more complex than mere portrayals of dystopia, it can be argued that they are explorations of dystopia rather than mere portrayals. In order to explore dystopia, many themes must be considered, such as; feminism, love and repression. Nonetheless, it is apparent that human characteristics are the driving point of the two novels, predominantly, the depiction of human resilience. In an imperfect world, it is important to have certain qualities which, if plentiful, it can mean success, whereas if it lacks, it can mean failure, this characteristic is resilience. The protagonists in each novel, Winston in 1984 and Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale face situations which leave them both in disarray, and both even consider suicide. The authors tentatively highlight human resilience, its limits and most importantly its strengths into the two novels.
He further states that socially related matters are controversial and therefore qualify to be subjects of documentary film (Nichols 2010). The ridges history in our case is a social topic and therefore controversial especially in Athens Ohio. Its acts as a reminder of the hospital that once existed in the area and the activities that led to its closure. Many people both the public in United States of America, Ohio university students and citizens in other nations will be able to understand the history behind the vacated premises today and also why some of the facilities are being used by Ohio University. People until now doubt some stories and facts about the Ridges, and that makes everyone seeks for the truth about such historical place. The reason behind doubting some information is that many rumors are spreading around from different people who have different beliefs and background. By interviewing individuals and taking pictures of the ruins representing the current condition of the renowned hospital in form of a documentary, the documentary film may be of great assistance to the Ohio university medical students specializing in mental health and criminology students in seeing the institution in another perception. Therefore, we believe that addressing the history of the ridges to be the best topic to cover in our documentary
They needed healthy men, and I am somewhat healthy, so I just had to do it. I had to talk to others to see what is happening in their point of view, and I also had to see their opinion about these things. I figured that I needed to talk to a man named Dr. Waldo. Since he was a doctor, I asked him what was happening, what he saw. The look on his face was unbearable to stand, anyone who looked at him would be terrified at what he was about to say. He told me that it was a terrifying experience, and that 1,800 to 2,500 men were dying in December-June, he also said that there were many diseases such as smallpox ( when Dr. Waldo was experimenting, I was one of them to be experimented on, and now I’m immune to it), dysentery, typhoid, and pneumonia.(Busch, 147) By then, even I was shaking, I knew that it would be hard, but it was a risk that I was willing to
A combination of overcrowding, state budget cuts, and indifference resulted in inhumane conditions. Geraldo recounts the shocking smell upon first entering the institutions, it “smelled of disease, death, filth, urine and feces” he calls it ''the defining moment of ...
Award-Winning author Laura Hillenbrand writes of the invigorating survival story of Louie Zamperini in her best selling book, Unbroken. Louie Zamperini was an ambitious, record-breaking Olympic runner when he was drafted into the American army as an airman during World War II. On the mission that led him to embark on a journey of dire straits, Louie’s plain crashed into the Pacific Ocean, leaving only him and two other crewmen as survivors. Stranded on a raft in shark infested waters, without any resources or food, and drifting toward enemy Japanese territory, the men now have to face their ultimate capture by Japanese, if they survive that long. Louie responded to his desperation with dexterity, undergoing his plight with optimism and confidence, rather than losing hope. In this memorable novel, Hillenbrand uses a vivid narrative voice to divulge Louie’s tale of endurance, and proves that the resilience of the human mind can triumph through adversity.
How do people go missing? Well, there are many explanations to this question. Kidnappings, disappearing by choice, death at sea, running away, and so many more things can answer how people go missing. However, maybe there is a more important question. Why do people go missing? A child goes missing in the United States every 40 seconds. With adults and children together just in the United States that equals about 2,300 every day and over 800,000 every year. The worldwide estimate is that over 8,000,000 people go missing annually. Most of the cases are resolved, but not all of them. “So at the end of 2012, of those 661,000 minus the canceled, we had 2,079 cases that remained at the end of the year unresolved.” explained Todd Matthews, the director of communications of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.