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Lost In Laconia
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Opens September 26 - October
3: |
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Lost in Laconia:
During a time when people who were branded and stigmatized as
"feebleminded" and a danger to society were banished to a life of
isolation and total segregation, thousands of children and adults
were institutionalized in large state operated institutions
throughout the country. In the case of New Hampshire, that place
was the Laconia State School. This documentary
traces the history of the institution from its initial beginnings as
the New Hampshire School for the Feebleminded in
the early 1900's until its closure in 1991.
Using archival footage
and current interviews with former residents of the institution,
families of former residents, and people who worked at the
institution, along with an extensive collection of photos, newspaper
articles, and state documents, this documentary examines the social
values and cultural ideals of the twentieth century, relative to
individuals and families who were labeled "feebleminded", deficient,
or disabled in New Hampshire.
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PURCHASE TICKETS |
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SHOWTIMES:
Sun., Sept 26: 1:00
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We are still accepting funds to pay for the production of this video
Laconia State School
In keeping
with the CSNI mission statement “to educate ourselves, the people we serve, and
the general public, about issues important to people with disabilities and  their
families,” we have embarked on a project to keep alive the tragic saga of the
institutionalization of thousands of New Hampshire citizens labeled
“feebleminded.”
George
Santayana wrote in The Life of Reason, Vol. 1, 1905, "Those who
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In 1901, the New
Hampshire Legislature passed legislation to establish a state school for
“feebleminded” children. 60 children living in almshouses throughout the state
were admitted to the school in 1903. By 1973, 1100 children and adults with
disabilities resided at the institution, some living in sub-human conditions.
Thousands of New Hampshire citizens were confined to a life with no meaning or
hope for the future. Families were often cut off from friends, family and their
community. In the first half of this century eugenics was widely accepted and
practiced.
In 1991, with
the help of a federal class action law suit, the institution was closed and New
Hampshire became the first state to have no institutions for people with
developmental disabilities. This is a remarkable story worth telling. Using an
extensive collection o f slides, artifacts, and video taped oral histories, I will
trace the evolution and growth of the State's only institution for people with
developmental disabilities. The presentation will provide insight into the
principle features of society's values and changes in those values during the
Twentieth century. It will connect Laconia State School's institutional history
with larger social ideals and principles, which led to national trends and
social policy.
If you are
interested in this presentation, please contact Gordon DuBois by calling
603-279-0379/229-1982 or emailing him at
forestpd@metrocast.net. The length and scope of the presentation can be
tailored to your desires. Gordon has been adjunct faculty at Southern Maine
University, University of New Hampshire, and New Hampshire Technical Colleges
and have been the primary archivist for the Laconia State School History
Project, housed at the NH Department of Records and Archives. He has lectured
extensively throughout New Hampshire and in several other states on
this subject.
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About the Presenter:
Gordon DuBois,
has worked for over 40 years in the disability field
in Maine and New Hampshire. He worked at the Laconia State School from 1977
until it closed in 1991. Under his guidance a wealth of documents (records,
letter, manuscripts, artifacts) were cataloged at the NH Department of Archives
and Records Management. DuBois became fascinated with the history of the Laconia
State School and to a larger degree the history of disability and the social
ideals of the twentieth century that drove the institutionalization of thousands
of children and adults first labeled feeble minded, and then mentally retarded.
Gordon can be reached at
forestpd@metrocast.net |
