All Blog Posts in "Personal Recollections"
Haunted Misperceptions
April 26, 2013
By David Mack-Hardiman, Contributor
While the computer age has revolutionized the world and forever changed the way that information is received, it has also given almost unlimited ability for people to stretch the truth, distort reality, and give imaginary thoughts a non-fictional spin. Hidden behind pseudonyms and user names, people are given an unchecked license to lie.
A few years ago, I was trying to find more information about the Wheater Road Cemetery in Collins, NY, whi…
Shattering the Stigma of Institutionalization
March 15, 2013
By David Mack-Hardiman, Contributor
The fall of 1928 was an exciting time for John and Molly and their young family in Whitesboro, New York, a sleepy town outside of Utica. Molly was expecting their fifth child and their older children were eagerly looking forward to the change of seasons and holiday season.
Born in New York City, John was orphaned at an early age and was raised by members of his extended family in Central New York. He was a book keeper for a local business, vo…
A Place in the Sun: The Story of Camp Cornplanter
January 3, 2012
By David Mack-Hardiman, Contributor Deep within the Allegheny National Forest of Northwestern Pennsylvania, lie faint reminders of the first residential camp for persons with disabilities in North America. There are pieces of stone embedded in the landscape. Some of these are pieces of a huge stone fireplace which framed the left side of the dining hall in the photograph above. Others are pieces of concrete which lay where the playground once stood. The paths, full of aromatic pine boughs, a…