Home What's New Message Board Pictures Video Interviews and Personal Accounts Documents Reports The Advisor Bulletin Links Contact

What's New?

 

3-16-2008 Added the following:

3-12-2008 Added the following:

        http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/preservepennhurst.html

3-5-2008 Added the following:

The following is from our friend, Nathaniel Guest who is trying to save a piece of Pennhurst as a memorial for history. I am excited to be involved in this project and have always wanted a memorial of some sort, big or small, dedicated to the Pennhurst legacy. Please stay tuned for much more regarding this:

Dear Friends,
I am writing in hopes you will lend your support to a very
important project: the preservation of Pennhurst's Jacobean
Revival 1903 Main Administration building as a memorial to
the residents and staff, the triumphs and tragedies, of a
century at Pennhurst. Your efforts to safeguard what is left
at Pennhurst--both in guarding against further vandalism and
in refraining from scavaging--are essential to this effort.

As the great volume of material availble on this and other
sites attests, this mysterious, hauntingly beautiful
structure presided over a public campus that was itself the
setting for countless private personal stories. These
stories include narratives of intense and prolonged tragedy;
but there are also largely untold stories of great
compassion and character in the face of the pervasive
bureaucratic apathy and institutional malaise. Just as we
remember the sadness, we need also acknowledge these tiny
quiet triumphs of the human spirit in the face of what all
accounts suggest could be a very dark place.

A lack of maintenance historically plagued Pennhurst, part
and parcel of an all but explicit policy of simply wanting
to forget that Pennhurst--and its residents--existed at all.
Though the halls are now silent, this policy of willful
neglect continues in effect at Pennhurst.

In the process of collecting stories about life and work at
Pennhurst, nearly everyone I have spoken to offers the same
refrain: some kind of memorial, both to the suffering and
the kindness played out at Pennhurst, ought permanently to
remain on the site and in the landscape of our cultural
memory . It should be noted that while Pennhurst may be the
most-high profile of the state mental institutions, there
were many others, mostly now closed. No memorial has been
created at or for any of them. The default state policy of
wanting to forget remains strong, pervasive, and tragic.

Though the entire Pennhurst campus, built predominantly in
1903-1906, was deemed eligible for the National Historic
Register, time, vandals, and vagrants have taken their toll.
Recently, the property was sold and there are fears—quite
justified--that what remains of the Pennhurst property will
be sacrificed to the onslaught of suburban sprawl. While no
one enjoys an uphill battle, I was compelled by the stories
I have heard to embark a project to save the old
administration building--Pennhurst's most iconic structure--
as a memorial.

Pennhurst's degradation in these past decades evidences a
continued public paralysis and governmental apathy. Now, as
Pennhurst no longer faces merely the solemnity of an
uncertain future but the true specter of its own demise, we
are called upon to act. I ask that you join me in
overcoming complacency and putting aside notions that
preservation here is impossible. It is possible and we can
do it if our efforts are concerted. The will of the
citizenry has many times directed the efforts of private
developers and it can here as well.

I am in the process of creating a website with a petition
for preservation. I am also working on a wide publicity
effort in time. What I ask, friends, is that you act as
watchdogs over Pennhurst, paricularly the administration
building. The preservation and memoral effort will be
greatly impeded by additional vandalism.

I will keep you updated as this effort gains steam. As it
is, I can tell you there seems to be support at all levels.
We need now to channel that support and direct it to action.
Sincerely,
Nathaniel C. Guest
ncg1@cornell.edu

Pennhurst Preservation

 

1-19-2008 Added the following:

 

12/30/2007 Added the following:

 

11/13/2007 Added the following:

 

10-27-07 Added the following:

 

9-18-07 Added the following:

 

9-2-07 Added the following:

 

8-10-07 Added the following:

 

7-14-07 Added the following:

 

7-3-07 Added the following:

                   October 30, 1970

                   May 27, 1971

                  June 10, 1971

 

4-15-07 Added the following:

                   June 24, 1971

                   Sept 30, 1971        

 

 

3-4-07 Added the following:

                    July 22, 1971

                        August 5, 1971

                      August 19, 1971             

 

 

1-29-07 Added the following:

 

1-1-07 - Happy New Year!

Added the following:

                        October 15, 1970

                        December 24, 1970

                        January 7, 1971

      And also information on how to save alot of money using Pennsylvania's numerous Medical Assistance Programs.  Please reference section off of Pennhurst info page.

 

10-29-06 - Added the following:

November 10, 1970 & November 27, 1970

 

10-20-06 - Added the following:

September 17, 1970 & November 12, 1970

 

09-09-06 - Added the following:

 

05-29-06 - Added the following:

 

04-23-06 - Added the following:

 

03-19-06 - Added the following:

Also, on a side note, although it is not related to Pennhurst you may find this interesting.  I started a project that will document every street photographically in Spring City.  I am taking pictures of each street and converting them into a panoramic movie.  Please check it out here.

 

01-27-06 - Added the following:

* Needs Quicktime to view.  When movie picture launches, use your mouse to "move" around the picture to see different angles.

 

01-03-06 -  I've been having a hard time finding the time to scan these.  I'll try to update this section more often.Added the following:

 

09-24-05 - Added the following:

 

07-09-05 - Added the following:

 

05-21-05 - Added the following:

 

04-22-05 - Added the following:

04-03-05 - Added the following:

 

03-20-05 - Added the following:

 

03-13-05 - Added the following:

 

02-12-05 - Added the following:

 

01-30-05 - Added the following:

 

01-08-05 - Added the following:

 

12-13-04 - Added the following:

 

09-25-04 - Added the following:

 

09-06-04 - Added the following:

    If you have some documentation pertaining to Pennhurst that you would like to share on this website, please send an e-mail to pennhurst@elpeecho.com . Again, anonymity guaranteed.

 

08-24-04 - Added the following:

 

07-31-04 - Added the following:

 

07-24-04 - Added the following:

 

07-04-04 - Added the following:

 

06-27-04 - Added the following:

 

06-26-04 - Added the following:

 

6-01-04 - Added the following:

 

5-09-04 - Added the following:

 

5-01-04 - Added the following:

 

4-17-04 - Added the following:

 

4-03-04 - Added the following:

 

3-31-04 - Added a map of Pennhurst and a mailing list to inform you of updates which can be found above.

 

3-27-04 - Added the following:

 

2-20-04 - Added 4 new Behavior Modification Reports for:  10-10-1980 ,  10-17-1980 , 10-24-1980 & 10-31-1980

 

2-15-04 - Added pictures of the attic cells in Pennhurst.

 

-----------------------------====   Began documenting Pennhurst changes   ====-----------------------------