All Blog Posts
Restoration of Institutional Cemeteries
November 29, 2011
By David Mack-Hardiman, Contributor For the past five years, employees and individuals associated with People Inc. have been engaged in the restoration of three cemeteries in the Southern Tier. More than 2,000 graves were discovered for residents of the J. N. Adam Developmental Center, The West Seneca Developmental Center and, The Gowanda Psychiatric Center. Volunteers toiled away in the summer sun, recording each grave, gently cleaning the stones, edging around the markers and, uncovering tho…
Early State Schools of New York
November 16, 2011
By Thomas Stearns, Contributor Our publications department at the Museum of disABILITY History is currently in the midst of several fascinating projects. One of which is a book that explores the history behind the first publicly funded institutions of New York State that provided care and education for people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities. *During the era when these institutions were established (1851 – 1912), people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities were generically…
Comics Enter the Fight Against Polio
November 9, 2011
By David LoTempio, Contributor (All images researched and provided by Steven Bennett) Polio—scourge of children and microscopic hidden enemy of parents—was a frequent national health issue in America through the first 50 years of the twentieth century. The virus killed 2000 children in New York City alone during the 1916 epidemic and left thousands more paralyzed across the United States. Epidemics during the summer were an annual event. In response to the epidemics plaguing the country, Pre…
Did you know...
November 2, 2011
By Melissa Royer, Contributor In my quest for information regarding helping services of the past, I have learned many interesting facts relevant to disability history in New York that fuel my interest and pursuit of knowledge in long forgotten days. Did you know… …The first New York State School for people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities was opened in Albany, N.Y. at the former “Bulls Head Tavern.” The year was 1851 and it was known as the Idiot Asylum or the Asylum for Idiots. …