How does a state funded school become a dark hiding place for society to store its differently abled with no classes, no care, and no hope? Join us as we discuss one of the most disgusting institutions in American history made famous by Geraldo Rivera's investigative piece Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace. Spoiler: State funded institutions usually go bad because of state funding.

Sources used:

https://criticaldebateshsgj.scholasticahq.com/article/141852-willowbrook-state-school-institutional-abuse-medical-ethics-and-the-rise-of-disability-rights-in-the-united-states

https://kidstogether.org/institution-horrors-willowbrook/

https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialSciences/ppecorino/MEDICAL_ETHICS_TEXT/Chapter_7_Human_Experimentation/Case_Study_Willowbrook_Experiments.htm

https://research.uams.edu/irb/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/01/Willowbrook-study-summary.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7335725/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-b/symptoms-causes/syc-20366802

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-a/symptoms-causes/syc-20367007

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Krugman#:~:text=4%20References-,Early%20life,University%20of%20Richmond%20in%201934.&text=He%20did%20his%20undergraduate%20work,(7706)%3A966%2D7.&text=Richmond%20in%201934.-,Education%20and%20career,New%20York%20University%20(NYU).

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/90/1/iv/57690/INTRODUCTION?autologincheck=redirected

This institution had an incredibly long run and made a lot of people who needed help very miserable. This facility which began as a place to care for those in need eventually became a prison and a hunting ground for the predators who drew a paycheck and those who became their preferred henchmen. Join us as we delve as deeply as we can handle into such a dark topic.

Sources referenced:

https://neurologytoday.aan.com/doi/10.1212/00132985-200412000-00017

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/sites/g/files/vyhlif12301/f/file/file/fernald_center_history.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25130086?seq=1

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spoonful-sugar-helps-radioactive-oatmeal-go-down-180962424/

https://news.mit.edu/1994/fernald-0511

https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-05-21/shocking-report-spotlights-mass-history-of-mistreating-disabled-people

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-deep-dark-secret/

https://www.amazon.com/State-Boys-Rebellion-Michael-DAntonio/dp/074324513X Book: The State Boys Rebellion by Michael D’Antonio

https://below-the-surface.github.io/main.html

https://fernaldstateschool.com/buildings- to see the list and pictures of the buildings on the campus

https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-6/supporting-material/goddard-on-iq

https://www.verywellmind.com/history-of-intelligence-testing-2795581

https://faculty.uml.edu/darcus/47.269/MATERIALS/fernale_globe1993.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20battery%20of,harm%20blood%20and%20the%20spleen.

https://news.mit.edu/1994/concern-0112#:~:text=A%20third%20calcium%20study%2C%20also,0.75%20microcuries)%20of%20radioactive%20calcium)

https://archive.org/stream/humanradiationex00unit/humanradiationex00unit_djvu.txt

If there was an award for the most misleadingly named institution in American history, the Fairview Training Center would be hard to beat. Originally pitched as a school for vulnerable youth with mental and developmental disabilities, the only thing Fairview actually trained people in was survival. It rapidly devolved from a place of learning into a state-funded child prison. The vulnerable kids became inmates, and the staff exploited their labor and took joy in their torment. Its like a mirror universe Hogwarts with Dementors instead of caretakers and the parents had to PAY to get their children out!

Sources, as usual:

https://www.opb.org/article/2020/11/16/oregon-history-in-the-shadow-of-fairview-documentary/

https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/pdf/00s/08/08-Fairview_Report.pdf

https://www.wral.com/story/salem-cold-case-solved-decades-after-teen-found-murdered/17089079/