Documents

• 1908 - 1926 - History of Pennhurst by Robert Smilovitz - A report submitted by Robert Smilovitz, Former Assistant Superintendent of Pennhurst.
• 1924 - 1926 - Report of Pennhurst State School - A report that appears to be prepared for Government review listing all financial and general operations of Pennhurst in the early 1900's. NOTE: Please be patient.  Will take a while to load due to size
• 1940s - Pennhurst Information Booklet  - A booklet designed to give the family of a retarded child an idea of how the Pennhurst School is run.
• 1954 - Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - Pennhurst State School - An informational booklet given to parents by Pennhurst when shopping around for schools to send their child.
• Feb 15, 1966 - Newspaper article from the Pocono Record detailing an incident with Dr. Jesse Fear.  .JPG here.
• 1968 - Progress and Careers at Pennhurst - A booklet detailing current state of Pennhurst in 1968 for potential employees.
• May 21, 1968 - Case Study of a Resident #1- A case study that gives a broad range of insights into the life of a young Pennhurst resident.
• Nov 5, 1969 - Minutes from a Foreman's meeting.
• Jan 13, 1970 - Minutes from a Foreman's meeting.
• April 1971 - Training News including a guided development chart designed for suggested skills for a Pennhurst resident
• May 5, 1971 - A memo regarding Resident Emergencies and how to handle them.
• May 6, 1971 - Personnel Disciplinary Actions - Crime and Punishment at Pennhurs for employees.
• Oct 8, 1974 - Case Study of a Resident #2 - A case study that gives a broad range of insights into the life of a Pennhurst resident.
• March 17, 1978 - The Beginning of the End of Pennhurst - Court ruling document from the original court case against Pennhurst along with stipulations mandated by the court.
• Sept, 1978 - The Complete Geographical Guide to Pennhurst - This is a complete geographical layout of Pennhurst as it was in September of 1978.  Includes a map with each building broken down by residents and what it was used for.
• Feb, 1979 - Pennhurst's Modified Abuse Policy - Modifications to Pennhurst's abuse policy updated less than a year into the Pennhurst court case.
• Jul 16, 1979 - Viewpoints of Court Case - Assistant Superintendent's viewpoints of the then on-going Pennhurst Court case.
• Sept 9, 1979 - Client Profiles - 29 High level profiles representing the more profoundly retarded residents.  Describes Level of Retardation, Medications, General Description, Major Problems, Major Strengths & Current Programs.
• Nov 8, 1979 - Annual Assessment of a Resident - (Large .pdf - may take some time to load) An in-depth yearly assessment report of a resident.
• Nov 27, 1979 - Another letter from the Assistant Superintendent to editor of a newsletter.
• Dec 10, 1979 - Editors response to Assistant Superintendent's letter dated Nov 27, 1979.
• 1980s - Newspaper Photographs - Photographs of Pennhurst used in various local newspapers in the 1980s.
• Jan 10, 1980 - Quaker Hall Incident - Sleeping on the job.
• Jan 24, 1980 - Various comments made by the Assistant Superintendent regarding a consultation report.
• Jan 25, 1980 - Assistant Superintendent's complaints about an article in a Mentally Retarded Newsletter. It is apparently a reprint of an article that had already been published. You can read the original complaint here.
• Jan 30, 1980 - Racial Slur Incident - An example of mental abuse exhibited by a nurse towards a female black resident.
• Feb 11, 1980 - Lou Chapman's Report - A report written by Lou Chapman (who by the way is a female - never heard Lou as a female name except short for Mary Lou) who stayed at Pennhurst in October of 1979 for 48 hours. This was done to get an 'outsiders' view of the hospital by request of Dr. James Hirst, Director of Psychological Services & Chief Advocate of Human Rights. Keep in mind that this was 6 years after a group of residents filed a lawsuit against the state.
• Feb 11, 1980 - Comments on OMR Proposed Order - Special Assistant's comments on a proposed change in the system used to educate and house people with mental health issues.
• Feb 21, 1980 - Comments on Lou Chapman's Visit - A two page follow-up on the report above written by the Special Assistant to the Superintendent on February 21, 1980.
• March 19, 1980 - Transfer Request - Mr. Ferleger's attempt at getting resident files to help with a transfer.
• April 1, 1980 - Memo issued regarding proper documentation at Pennhurst.
• May 5, 1980 - Issue with Lou Chapman seeing something she wasn't supposed to see during her visit to Pennhurst
• May 14, 1980 - Fuzzy - The Special Assistant to the Superintendent's request to a folk singer for permission to use song lyrics to a song called "Fuzzy" by Claudia Scmidt for a newsletter he was in charge of.  As the scan is in handwritten form which is hard to read, here are the lyrics.
• June 5, 1980 - Issue with Humphrey Unit not keeping accurate documentation of progress/restraint use.
• June 19, 1980 - A work order request to place a hand railing along one of the tunnel passageways.
• July 17, 1980 - Follow-up to a report by a Dr. Clements listing category of drugs given to a group of residents.
• Oct 15, 1980 - A report by the Assistant Superintendent detailing the appropriate use of restraints.
• Nov 18, 1980 - Reporting the use of a helmet for a severely retarded resident who is susceptible to seizures.
• Dec 22, 1980 - Arbitration request for a particularly difficult resident.
• Jan 28, 1982 - Complaints about the slacking off of filling out restraint requests when it is required.
• 1983 - The Five Year Longitudinal Study of the Court-Ordered Deinstitutionalization of Pennhurst - A study prepared by Temple University studying the effects of the residents of Pennhurst after the School was shut down. Document is set up in FAQ format. NOTE: Please be patient. Will take a while to load due to size
• April, 1984 - A wonderful short history of Pennhurst written by the Asst. Superintendent of Pennhurst.  Please note - This piece was donated and the author would like to remind everybody that some of the descriptions used here he is uncomfortable with now.  Some terms that were used in the past are looked at as derogatory and his intentions were not to offend.
• Jan 8, 1985 - Client Bill of Rights and information given to employees about the proper procedures in dealing with residents.
• July 2, 1986 - Suspension for 3 days of a nurse due to client abuse.
• July 16, 1986 - Abuse Investigation of a Pennhurst Client. Including interviews with client and caregivers. Reports of missing teeth, bruises, blood and contusions that nobody can seem to explain.
• Oct 10, 1986 - A report by a visitor to Pennhurst that was filed involving damage to their vehicle by a resident.
• Oct 18, 1986 - Incomplete report regarding a resident getting hit with a stick. These are some pages from the internal investigation into the incident.
• Feb, 2004 - A well done newsletter by W.C. Brunner of the Spring Ford Area Historical Society.  Thank you very much to Mr. Brunner as well as Jim Burns for providing this.
• May 27, 2007 - Documentation related to the Pennhurst case found on the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse website. 
• May 23, 2008 - Letter sent by Nathaniel Guest to the Township of East Vincent Board of Supervisors regarding Pennhurst's future. Word doc format .doc

• May 6, 2009 - A podcast from May 6, 2009 with Greg Pirmann, Dr. Jim Conroy & Jean Searle for Web Talk Radio with Dr. Nathaniel Williams