1948: Opening in 1948, Willowbrook State School was the largest institution in the world for the treatment of people with developmental disabilities. The school was created in an attempt to segregate the mentally disabled from the rest of society. It was depicted as an ideal place for residents. Numerous photographs surfaced of staff seemingly helping “well-served” residents in newspapers and other publications. Residents were shown receiving therapy and engaging in activities when this was not the reality. (College of Staten Island)
Tragic Legacy of Willowbrook
A Time Line
(Image 1: Courtesy of Geraldo Rivera)
(Image 2: Courtesy of Diane Buglioli Collection)
(Image: The collection of Warren Shaw.)
1965: After touring the institution in 1965, Senator Robert F. Kennedy referred to the institution as a “snake pit”. He also said that those who resided in the overcrowded facility were “living in filth and dirt, their clothing in rags, in rooms less comfortable and cheerful than the cages in which we put animals in the zoo”. (NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities)
(Image: The collection of Warren Shaw.)
1968: Mayor's Advisory Committee Telegram: “This telegram gave notice of the establishment of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Handicapped, on April 8, 1968. It was addressed to Julius Shaw, one of the first leaders of the New York City Disability Rights Movement'' (NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities)
(Article Image: Courtesy The Staten Island Advance and William Bronston)
1971: Eric Aerts was the first photographer in the early 1970s to enter Willowbrook State School and capture the horrors that have been hidden from the public eye. Along with former Staten Island Advance reporter Jane Kurtin, Aerts entered Willowbrook institution to report on the inhumane conditions and mistreatment of residents. After the visit, images of mentally disabled young children and adults who were kept in cages, unclothed, starved and used as experiments were brought to light. As well as a detailed article written by Kurtin. (Staten Island Advance Staff)
1972: “We look back at Journalist Geraldo Rivera’s 1972 landmark Investigation of Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School, an institution for the developmentally disabled. His expose forever changed the face of mental health” (PBS).
(Image: Courtesy Archives and Special Collections, The College of Staten Island/ CUNY)
1975: “In 1975, a Consent Judgement was entered in the 1972 Willowbrook lawsuit. That Judgment ordered that Willowbrook residents receive humane treatment and adequate clinical and educational services”. This set the stage for the eventual closure of Willowbrook in 1987. (College of Staten Island).
(Image: Courtsey Hal and Laura Kennedy)
1987: After being occupied for thirty-six years, Willowbrook institution was closed in 1987. “The end of this institution symbolizes the success and appropriateness of New York’s commitment to provide an extensive and comprehensive program of community living opportunities for its citizens with mental retardation and developmental disabilities”. (Arthur Y. Webb, Commissioner, Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities)