The Hidden Neglect of Willowbrook

Spinal Fluid Draining and Corrupt Police at Sonoma State Hospital

Known at different times over the facility's 135 year run as the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children (1883), Sonoma State Home (1909), Sonoma State Hospital (1953), and Sonoma Developmental Center (1986), this facility has a dark history of abuse, selfish experimentation, and corruption.  Even worse, although overcrowded, there were more staff members than many institutions had yet this one seemingly willfully chose to be absolutely horrible.  Join us to find out exactly what was going on, and why the doctors wanted kids' spinal fluid!

The Hidden Neglect of Willowbrook

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://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://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://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://research.uams.edu/irb/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/01/Willowbrook-study-summary.pdf] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7335725/ [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-b/symptoms-causes/syc-20366802] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-a/symptoms-causes/syc-20367007 [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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Krugman#:~:text=4%20References-,Early%20life,University%20of%20Richmond%20in%201934.&text=He%20did%20his%20undergraduate%20work,(7706)%3A966-7.&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 [https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/90/1/iv/57690/INTRODUCTION?autologincheck=redirected]

Abuse and Exploitation at Walter E Fernald State School

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

Dementors in Scrubs: Fairview Training Center

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

The Location Every Ghost Show Goes To - Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

The asylums we have discussed so far still exist in some way or another until now.  Trans-Allegheny shut down in 1994 with no new location and no new name changes.  It was just gone.  Now it is probably the most famous location for ghost hunting and has been featured on every ghost show and YouTube channel we can think of.  So what is the truth and what actually went on there?  Join us to find out!   Sources used:   https://www.proquest.com/openview/4bf0e15889d8c331a931319ade6ab38f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750 [https://www.proquest.com/openview/4bf0e15889d8c331a931319ade6ab38f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750] https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58721 [https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58721] https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14060747 [https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14060747] https://www.wboy.com/only-on-wboy-com/history-over-horror-what-life-was-really-like-inside-the-trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum/ [https://www.wboy.com/only-on-wboy-com/history-over-horror-what-life-was-really-like-inside-the-trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum/]