WEBVTT

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Fernald State School won\'t let me go.

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I first came here when I was a boy to
visit my uncle. He was one of thousands,

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millions across America
held at institutions. I was

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fascinated by my uncle and the stories he
told. I made a film about him. How he got

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to Fernald, his life before and after,
and his relationship to my family.

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The family that brought
him to the institution.

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He got out in 1978. He lived
and thrived in the community

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until a car accident took his life.
And though my uncle

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Joe is gone, Fernald remains open today.
And I have questions.

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Why did we build walls to
hold people like my uncle

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and what about the 200 people that remain at
Fernald. How do we understand those with severe

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and profound needs? Where is
the line between us and them?

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This is my journey back to Fernald,
the place left behind by many,

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still home for some. It\'s a difficult
symbol of our institutional past.

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This is the story of how Fernald came to be

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and how a diverse cast of
characters came to be here.

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Here is Fernald.

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This program is brought to you by the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting and these funders and by the additional funders listed

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at the end of this program.

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We\'re all set to roll? OK. Hang on \'cause I got to go over
this little bump here unless I back up. Yeah. Let me back up.

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[music]

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Joe Almeida lived at Fernald
State School from 1950 to 1959.

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He\'s not my uncle Joe, though
they shared time at Fernald.

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You guys will have to forgive me because this is
like, only my second day of driving a big bus.

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20 years after he left Fernald, he came back. Down here
on your right is the old gym and the school house.

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To work at the place that used to hold him. This used
to be called Stephen Bullman Hall. There were kids

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probably, I\'d say probably three, four,
five years old in here; little kids.

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I got here when I was 9 years old. I was
living in Emmitt Square, Cambridge. And uh,

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me and my brother, had an older brother that
got here with me too. We finally ended up

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going to East Cambridge Court. So they took
us in a room gave us an aptitude test and

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we\'re diagnosed as morons suitable to be housed
in an institution for the feeble-minded.

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Idiots of the lowest
class or mere organisms,

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masses of flesh and bone in human
shape, without powers of locomotion,

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without speech, without any
manifestation of intellectual

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or effective facilities.
Fools are higher class of

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idiots who have considerable power
of locomotion and animal action,

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partial development of their effective
and intellectual faculties.

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But only the faintest
glimmer of reason and very

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imperfect speech. Simpletons are

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the highest class of idiots. Have normal
powers of locomotion and animal action.

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And reason enough for their
simple individual guidance

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but not enough for their social relations.

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I tell you now, gentlemen we
must have a place for these

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people.

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[sil.]

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Hi. I\'m here.

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I\'m a sibling guardian. My sister is uh, been here
for 30 years. She has a trachea, she has a G-tube,

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and she\'s oxygen dependent. Um, she\'s never
walked, she\'s never talked. You know, cognitively

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they told me that\'s she\'s between 4 and 5 years old.
And if you look at her, you look at this little

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spirit tapped in this amazing body.

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You say to yourself, well, she must be a
vegetable. She\'s not, the lights are on.

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Oh, God, here she goes. All right.
Check. Wait. Pat.

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We have to medicate us. The basket?
Is there something

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on your wastebasket? Whose junk is that? That\'s
mine, it\'s mine. I\'m sorry. I\'ll move it.

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Pat\'s anal retentive about
like, her room and stuff.

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She\'s not anal retentive. She\'s just very neat.
Very, very organized. OK. No, no. She\'s, let\'s,

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let\'s be honest. She\'s a pain in the ass. I come in here,
you know, on a Sunday morning. I have my big cup of coffee

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and God forbid if I put it down near the TV set because
it doesn\'t go there. That\'s how it is around here. She\'s

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very pushy. She\'s uh, a
very unique individual. And

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she has a lot of integrity.
Patti. You know, if, if

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you\'re talking about somebody in front
of her she\'ll absolutely have a fit

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because she doesn\'t like you saying
anything negative about anybody. And

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that\'s so unlike most of us.
We require uh, um,

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1 to 1 for Patti right now. I mean,
you would, she would never be able

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to be cared for properly if she had
one nurse who had 10 patients.

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She requires very intensive care.
I, I can\'t say enough

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about the team that we have. I mean, like every
Thanksgiving we have this wonderful turkey dinner.

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And people would come on their day off um,
to come to be a part of that. To be with us.

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And I mean, you can\'t buy
that kind of dedication

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and, and loyalty, and camaraderie. I
mean it\'s, it\'s, this is a really

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magical group home.

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Most people avoid the sight and even the
thought of idiots as much as possible

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and therefore fail to do
their duty towards them.

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There is no adequate provision for
the relief, care, and treatment

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of idiots in the commonwealth.
Samuel Gridley Howe, was a leading

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public figure of his time. As a young
man he traveled to Europe and supported

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revolutionary overthrow of kingdoms.
He was jailed for his work in Greece

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and then deported to America. Where he
began to work on less radical change.

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Howe had his finger in just about every reform
movement that existed in the early 19th century.

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Including uh, poor house
reform, jail reform,

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education reform. On his return
to his home in Boston, Howe ran

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the privately funded Perkins Institution for
the Blind where some of his students were

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significantly mentally disabled. If
so much could be done for idiots

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who are blind still more could be
done for those who have sight.

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My sympathies for them grew
stronger and stronger every day.

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The light goes on. I say, \"Oh, my God.\" What we\'ve
been doing for the blind and death can be applied

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to people with mental retardation.
In 1848, after

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years of lobbying the legislature of
Massachusetts, Howe formed America\'s first

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publicly supported institution
for idiotic and feeble-minded

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youth. Howe says serve children, they\'re your biggest
hope. If you adults you\'re going to get into a whole

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bunch of other things, so.
They established schools.

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Using techniques shown to be successful in Europe, Howe
and his teachers focused on training the five senses

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of his students. They believed if
you set up a schedule, and you kept

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to the routine, into the habit
mentally defected would look

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more like normal people and
act more like normal people.

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Howe established a small and controllable
environment. With techniques similar

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to today\'s preschool programs.
Lower level education was

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suppose to equip on the
student to earn some

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money or be of some help when
he went back to his family.

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Howe was very strong throughout his
career on small size. From about

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1855 to 1865 began to write in
letters to Wilbur and in his

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publications, we can\'t get any
bigger, we can\'t get large we\'ll,

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we\'ll fail if we do this. But as
time moved on, Howe\'s very success

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put pressure on him to enlarge
his school and change it into

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a new kind of facility, an asylum.
Where lifelong commitment

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was the goal. In his final annual report

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he wrote: The more I reflect upon the
subject the more I see objections

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and principal and practice to asylums.
What right do we have pack off

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the poor, the old, the blind into asylums?
They are of us.

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Our brothers, our sisters. They
belong in families. They are deprived

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of the dearest relations in life in
being put away in masses in asylums.

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Asylums generally are the offspring
of a low order of feeling.

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They\'re chief recommendation often is that they
do cheaply what we ought to only think of doing

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well. Samuel Gridley Howe

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died in 1876. Shortly after
his death the trustees of the

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school began to build the very
asylum he had warned against.

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A young graduate of medical school
and a new breed of social scientist.

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Walter Elmer Fernald would lead
the institution into the 20th

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century.

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Modern usage has sanctioned the term feeble-minded to
include all degrees and types of congenital mental

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defect. From that of the
simply backward boy or girl

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to the profound idiot. A helpless
speechless, disgusting burden

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with every degree of deficiency
between those extremes.

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The evil effects feared from congregating
a large number of this class

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have not been realized. We find we must
congregate them to get the best results.

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We must have large numbers.

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Open Randy, you\'re going to eat.
Open your mouth. OK.

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I\'ll hold it then.(crosstalk)

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Not today, huh. Not all. That\'s good.
Randy, two hands. Hold it,

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hold your cup and drink. One of the hardest questions I
was asked was how many brothers and sisters do you have.

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Sometimes I would say, I have one
brother and sometimes I would say

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I have three brothers. But that always
got into more complicated explanations.

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Randy and Ronnie newborn. At 6
months of my mother\'s pregnancy

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and when my mother saw them for the
first time and held them in her hands

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she said, they were tiny and she
didn\'t think they would live.

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They\'re both blind. They actually
were born with sight but the retina

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detached and in the first few
weeks and months of their lives

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they were in a lot of pain. They were
five years old when they came to Fernald

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because my parents wanted them to be
able to go school. And at that time

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there was no way for
children as retarded as them

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to go to school. So, they came to Fernald.

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Randy doesn\'t have the, the motor

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coordination to, for instance hold a
spoon the way you and I hold a spoon.

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But he can grasp it if it\'s built up
even better. If it\'s not too thin.

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So the fine motor things
are, are really, if not

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impossible hard for him. Can you show them that
you? Food has to be set up for him in the same

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way so he knows where things are.
But even so he doesn\'t

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initiate very much around eating.
Good job. OK. That\'s it.

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OK. You take my arm.
Ronnie had a little less

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brain damage than Randy.
Ronnie has very good walking

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and can walk uneven surfaces and stairs.
How about, wow, not this hill.

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Now, well, Ronnie and Randy

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have pumpkins that they
water in the summer. Um,

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that\'s their therapeutic gardening. They don\'t really
work with soil but they love the water. And so, that\'s

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what they do. Which they plant pumpkins
and have grown pumpkins really large.

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They say they\'re going to
Cop\'s Field Fair this year.

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Directly on Walter Fernald\'s
arrival as Superintendent he began

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building the new walls of the institution.

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The two large sunny wards on
the ground floor are occupied

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by 70 of the younger and feebler
boys and girls. The shady

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groves and grassy lawns of the retired
location give the children ample

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outdoor exercise without exposing
their deformities and deficiencies

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to idle curiosity seekers.
For Fernald asylum

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can be seen in two ways. In one sense
it protects those inside the asylum

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from those outside, as in political asylum.
But in another

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sense and the dominant one in Fernald\'s
day is asylum will keep society

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free from defects by putting
defective people away from society.

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People are beginning to become concerned
about a large wave of immigrants

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coming into the country. We have Germans, we
have Poles, we have Chinese sort of coming here

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to build our country and yet they\'re
different. And that in many cases

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they live in poverty. In the census
figures you begin to see between

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1870 and 1880 you see a huge raise
in the amounts of deafness,

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blindness, insanity, and idiocy.

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In this new society we were developing
uh, there was less and less room.

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So, we had to find room
for them to keep them.

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Residents began to become known as inmates
and the release of people into the community

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was seen as temporary or followed by a
social worker. And that this was referred to

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has the process of parole. A lot
of these people believed initially

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um, that they were being, uh, that they
were helping by being able to measure and

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send them in the right place and so on.
It resulted in of course in, in

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containment. The tendency to lead dissolute
lives is especially noticeable in the females.

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They either marry and bring forth in
geometrical ratio a new generation

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of defectives and dependents or
become irresponsible sources

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of corruption and debauchery in
the communities where they live.

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Fernald\'s words about those who at the
time called feeble-minded were moderate

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compared to many of his contemporaries. In an age
of growing scientific measurement and control.

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If people with mental retardation have a
genetic disorder and we can\'t cure \"them\"

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and if they reproduce and
this is an inference

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they\'re likely to have other people with these problems.
All\'s we\'re going to do is be creating a larger

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and larger class in our society of people
who can\'t be well and who will drain

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a lot of social resources. So, we\'ll spend less
emphasis on getting them out in the community

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and a little more emphasis in making sure that the
women don\'t get pregnant. And when the first examples

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of that was isolation by gender.

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Feeble-minded women are almost invariably immoral.
In the light of our present knowledge the only way

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to reduce the number of feeble-minded
is to prevent their birth.

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One of the answers in other places
may have been to sterilize her.

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The other thing is to keep her away
from perpetuating for a start,

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until she was either too old to get
pregnant or to retarded to care.

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I think he was trying hard for
most his professional career

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to believe that he really could help these folks.
That\'s my sense. Now, I\'m comparing him to people

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who, some of them have said that there\'s not a chance
you can help these folks. Furthermore, they\'re

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a menace to society and they
ought to be sterilized.

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Some of us very much torn if
you, if you would. He wants

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organize a study and he
found with amazement that

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the runaways who had been considered by
the institution particular problems.

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They runaway, they\'re doing very well.

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And while Walter Fernald built his career around
institutional confinement he also began late in his career

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to establish special programs in public
schools. The roots of special education.

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And shortly before his death he stunned
his fellow Superintendents with his words

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at their annual meeting. A
few years ago, wholesale

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institutional segregation became almost
universally accepted as the only

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logical solution to an otherwise hopeless
problem. Feeble-mindedness is not

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an entity but is an
infinity complex problem.

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The ultimate responsibility for the care
and training of the feeble-minded must

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be decentralized. If cared
for at all the majority

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of the feeble-minded in each community
must be protected and helped

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by trained individuals
in that local community.

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So, Walter Fernald, who had
promoted segregation came to

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a conclusion that was opposite,
absolutely opposite.

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Walter Fernald died on Thanksgiving
Day, 1924. After he died the trustee

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continued to fill the place he built
and named the institution after him,

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The Walter E. Fernald State School
for the feeble-minded. His name

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forever linked to the walls he created.

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[music] Now this right here is a door

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that goes to one of the tunnels. Uh, it\'s
locked right now. But that goes down

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to a tunnel. There\'s tunnels all underneath these
grounds. They go all the way up the hill even.

00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
Up by the school house. They go all
the way down the hill. The go up by,

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
by the store room, there all tunnels. That\'s
where the heating pipes used to come.

00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
When Walter Fernald\'s fellow superintendent
published a memorial tribute

00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
to him the ignored his call to
decentralize care for the feeble-minded

00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
and instead pointed to the power plant as
the fulfillment of the desire of his heart.

00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
Fernald\'s central power plant was linked
to the many buildings of the institution

00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
by an underground network of steam tunnels.
Blood vessels running under

00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
the manicured lawns, and gardens, and
roadways. You have your east tunnel.

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
They were one part of a complete institution.
A place like state facilities all across

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
the country. You pull this off here.
Designed to be self-contained community

00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
separated from the world outside its walls.
Take care now, take care. All right. OK.

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
You too. We\'ll see you soon. We\'re off to the
tunnel. 80 years later one of the Fernald residents

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
finds comfort at the walls by the steam
tunnels. The doors were always open

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
when he uh, when he used to like to go
into dark place. He saw that tunnel

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
and he uh, got all excited about it and he

00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
went into the tunnel, he went into to tunnel. Now,
he\'s not into it now. He went into the tunnel

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
for several years, like maybe about six or seven
years. Before we finally got the doors all locked

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
and then now you can just go to the tunnel.
He sits outside the door.

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
And then he likes it up there.

00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
OK. You\'re going to help. All right. Here
Brian, you take the blanket. Take, take the

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
blanket. Brian, was uh,
he was born in 1959.

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
Everything was great until
uh, he started to walk.

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
And then when he started to walk he was really a
handful. It\'s like having 10 kids at home because

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
he got into everything. I was
building an addition at the end

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
of the house, he saw me out there hammering. Well I put
the hammer down, next thing I know he\'s got the hammer.

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
He\'s hammering the top of the
television set. It wasn\'t funny then.

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
But anyway, you know, you got,
it\'s how you have to watch him.

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
Well, we never heard anything like autism uh,
any retardation. We do have it in the family.

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
It was all kind of uh, new to us. There
was nowhere to turn except maybe

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
a family doctor and children\'s hospital.
They thought the sooner we got to educating

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
him the better. He went to school
in a private school. First visit

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
the owner comes out and he says, please
look at the dining room and it\'s all glass.

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
Big, big pieces of glass.

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
Saw there\'s a couple of pieces of colored
plywood here and there. He says,

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
see those pieces of plywood. He says, he says,
Brian broke that window. I said, I told you

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
it\'s right in my letter that he breaks windows. They
had him for three years and they couldn\'t handle

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
him anymore Well, actually the state cut our funds. Yeah.
They cut the funds anyway. They cut all the funds.

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
That\'s what happens. So all those kids had to come back and
be thrown like, they said, well, they mentioned this place.

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
And this wasn\'t uh, 10 minutes
from our home. And so

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
we came here. I kept on saying, I\'m not going to do,
I\'m not going to do it. But after a while I knew

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
there was nothing out there for him.
There was nothing. We just figured

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
this is what we have to do
but it broke our hearts.

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
Hey, good guy. Huh, yeah.
Did you go to sleep?

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
Yeah. Do you want to go? No.

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
Do you want to go eat today? No. You want to
have lunch? No. Brian, can\'t you talk nice?

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
No. Daddy. Say it nice to me.

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
No, thank you. OK. Brian.
I\'ll see you later.

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
I\'ll see you in five minutes, all right.
No, thank you.

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
Bye-bye.

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
[music]

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
From the 1920\'s or \'30s really into the

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
mid-1960\'s the system really was doormat.

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
The needs and demands of the people
and their families, the resources

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
just they didn\'t exist. And so, you
know, as, as people just built up

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
in the system uh, you know, the staffing
wasn\'t there, the dollars weren\'t there.

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
The rehab wasn\'t there. Fernald was used
as a place to put many different types

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
of individuals. I remember when I first
came uh, to Fernald, I went through some,

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
the archives on some of the individuals
I worked with. and people had diagnosis

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
of things like clumsy child, thick glassed

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
child, promiscuous.

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
We came up here, me my brother
and uh, we sat out front

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
while they talked to my father.
Then he came out

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
and he started walking out the door. My brother was crying.
Like I said, he older so, he knew we were being put away.

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
I didn\'t. So, he says to my father,
\"Hey, Dad where you going?\" He says,

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
\"Oh, I\'m going back over to that other
building.\" He says, to get the car.

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
And that\'s the last we\'ve seen of him.
I still didn\'t quite know

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
what the place was. Until one day I looked
out the window and as you can look across

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
there was a building there called the North
Building. And they had like a big platform

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
and there was these older men out there walking in a
circle, their hands on top of each other shoulders,

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
and most of them were naked. I\'d been there

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
27 years. I went there when
I was nine-and-a-half.

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:43.000
And I was there at, make it up, I was
there, put there because my father had a

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
very heavy drinking problem.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
Right down here there\'s
wall that goes down here.

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
And that\'s where I used to be.
They had six wards in it,

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
four upstairs and they had two downstairs.

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
The ones that were downstairs

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
are people that are severely,
severely retarded, severely.

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
They had all bright kids in one ward.
The division between custodial

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
and the more able population was between
the front wards and the back wards.

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
In the front or bright wards were residents
who could take care of themselves

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
and one another. In the back were
those seen as beyond improvement.

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
I couldn\'t believe it, you know,
didn\'t believe this existed.

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
And the way they acted. The way they wouldn\'t keep clothes
on. The way they would smear themselves in feces.

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
They would sit there and rock back and forth.
Charlotte Bell, her mother, and father all worked

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
at Fernald. What she saw through
their eyes as well as her own

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
stays with her today 50 years later. Yeah.
I didn\'t think this happened.

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
You know, I never heard of it.

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
No curtains, you know, sitting on benches.
You know, taking showers

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
lining up nude. It was like, wow.
It was like

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
a human warehouse. You going
to have dormitories with uh,

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
three toilets and two of them not functioning,
uh, broken, and so on and so forth. This, this

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
unbelievable, unbelievable. \'Cause at
that time nobody on, on the outside

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
knew what was going on behind these walls. I don\'t even
think the Superintendent knew. The rank and file staff

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
had a lot of power

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
because there was nobody to lead them. Then
it was time to go back to the building.

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
And that\'s when your mind really started
turning. Saying, oh my God I got to go back

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
to that building, into that torture place. You know, Who\'s
there tonight? Who\'s on duty? Who\'s going to beat me?

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
Can you imagine living a life like that
when you\'re a kid, 8, 9, 10 years old,

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
11 years old, 12 years old. And all you thought about
every day when you left the manual in the school was;

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
who\'s on tonight.

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
I found that the most fearful part of my life in
order to be put into uh, a school where nobody cares

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
and you don\'t exist anymore. This is one of
their punishments. You take a coat hanger

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
with a piece of wood an inch, inch in a half thick, and
as you\'s come out of the shower; we have an attendant

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
who used to work there. We told her it was a joke
but she used to wrap that across you backside.

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
I tried running away from here a few times, you know, had
no idea where I was, where to go. What am I suppose to do,

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
I\'m just a little kid, you know. They put you in ward
22. They look you up there for a couple of weeks.

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
And they put a pair of long johns on you and they locked you
in a cell. As you can see there was nothing in the room.

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
The only thing they had in the room was a mattress. You
know, of course they could, you know, lay on the mattress.

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
But this here is like a heavy screening type
thing and it was like a heavy mesh screening

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
that was put on the inside of the windows so the person
wouldn\'t, you know, break glass and cut themselves type thing.

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
And that what the outside
of the room looked like.

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
When you were punished and put behind bars,

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
you like a, like a prison. And they,

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
and you had to have
somebody go out with you,

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
like a, you know, like a prison guard.
After lunch we go into the day room.

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
We watching television. So, this guy Mr.
Queenin(ph) had on what he wanted to watch

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
and one of the kids switched the
station while he walked out.

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
Well, he come back, he got all mad, wanted to know who did it. So one
guy got up and says, I did it. Another guy got up and said I did it.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
Before you know it everybody was standing up saying they did
it. And then this guy grabbed him by the seat of the pants

00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
and scuff of the neck and ran him out, out
through the day room, out through the hallway,

00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
and out the front door. Heaved him outside. Then
we just started ripping everything apart, smashing

00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
all the pipes, smashing all the toilets.
Right over there, my father

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
was like a charge attendant. Toilets, sinks, everything
went flying through the windows. And they had to call

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
the state police and uh, clear up the riot. We looked
out the window and it was like the hill was was loaded

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
with people; fire engines, police cruisers.
So finally about

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
12:30 or so, some of the guys we get together, we\'re look
there\'s no food here, you know, sooner or later we got

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
to get out of here, you know. So, I yelled out
that we were going to come out. And the 15 of us

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
climbed into the back of this patty wagon.
They closed the door and

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
they just drove away. We had no
idea where we\'re going. All we know

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
is the ride seemed long. And then they opened the back
of the patty wagon then I find out it\'s Bridgewater.

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
[sil.]

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
That was the thing back then, if you
acted up you went to Bridgewater.

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
I worked in that state, if you looked the wrong
way or if you said the wrong word, Bridgewater.

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
Bridgewater State Hospital for
the criminally insane was

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
notorious in the common wealth of Massachusetts.
It was the last stop for those deemed a danger.

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
Joe who remembers most of details
of the past remembers little

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
of his time at Bridgewater. He knows from his record
that he was there for four months. After which he was

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
sent back to Fernald. When
he returned he was given

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
a job as a research assistant in the
Fernald Lab. My job there was cleaning

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
test tubes, counting and cutting brains.
Massachusetts in

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
recent years has taken a greater interest
in the problems of the mentally retarded.

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
Primarily research in the causes of brain damage
in children is a long and costly and rigorous

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
assignment. They\'d have these sacks of probably three or
four brains in it and I\'d have to read off the numbers.

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
There wouldn\'t be any names but every month they would
check the list. Joe was also along with 16 others

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
a member of the Fernald Science Club
in which they were the experiment.

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
Researchers used radiation on them to
test digestion. They take, they\'d,

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
I don\'t know why they took it out.
But they, they it was,

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
it was a crazy, it was a crazy, crazy.
It was a crazy

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
move. But most troubling
to Joe were the autopsies.

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
That\'s the autopsy room. That\'s were they said to go in
and clean up after. Like you know, I used to put the pots

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
they have in a bucket in a plastic bag.
Then I would take it and I would put it in

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
the box and I would bring it down to the
in, uh, what do you call it, incinerator.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
And they threw it in the incinerator. And the
pots would be put back in. But that was my job,

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
you know. Joe was going
to be let out on parole

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
but within two months of the schedule release he was
brought before the Superintendent for beating up

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
another resident. He says now we talk to
the Board they\'re adding six more months.

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
That very night I left and I\'ve been out

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
until I got the job over here. In
1959 Joe ran away from Fernald.

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
The institution stopped chasing him
down and sent him a formal release

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
six months later. There were many
more then they could handle who

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
remained. My mother worked as the
matron at West Building. Uh, everybody

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
called her Ma Bell from the facility director,
who was Dr. Farrell at that time to

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
clients\' families, the clients. The
clients always caller her Ma Bell.

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
Risking the loss of her job Charlotte Bell\'s mother
the starch white representative of the institution

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
provided secret support to groups who wanted
to publicize the horrendous conditions at

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
Fernald. My mother just said, you\'re
going up to Fernald some day and

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
you\'re going to meet a group of people and somebody\'s going to let
you in the back door of West Building and we want you to take some

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
pictures. Another group assisted by
Ma Bell published the clandestine

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
photographs in a book, \"Christmas In Purgatory\" by
Author Burton Blatt and photographer Fred Kaplan.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
Burton Blatt wrote there is a hell on earth

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
and in America there is a special inferno.
We were visitors

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
there during Christmas 1965, although
our pictures could not even begin

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
to capture the total and
overwhelming horror we saw, smelled,

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
and felt they represent a side of America
that is rarely been shown to the

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
general public. And is little
understood by most of us.

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:33.000
[music] Fernald was one of the three

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
institutions on which he wrote his book.

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
[music] There were many of us
who wanted to, you know, like,

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
you know, change the public schools and,
and work with the insane and knew that

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
through, you know, documentary films. Knew
that, that state institutions were pissed.

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
And that was all influx, so. You know,
both, I had both particular and, and

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
kind of group generational
reasons that brought me here.

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
The place was very idealistic looking. It
did look like sort of a small college.

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
And there was always this young guy and he was
sort of sitting there with his legs crossed

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
and just kind of rocking. You
know, and somehow he seemed like

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
he was sort of in touch with everything. And he was
like the Buddha of this place kind of. And look at how,

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
and you know, look at how innocent.

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
I remember when I would go outside
with them into the yard, he goes like,

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
I felt like, you know, like,
um, oh God we got go.

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
You know, like when recess was over was like we had, was like being
back in grade school. And now I got to go back into the building again,

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
you know, and stuff. And I was like, I got to go. I got to go to
California. I\'ve got to, you know, it\'s, it\'s like I needed to escape from

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
Fernald myself, you know. Sadly,

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
that was the empowering experience of
being here is that I got to go, go in

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
and I got to go out. The people of
Fernald were no longer called morons,

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
now they were called the mentally retarded.
Yet, they were still

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
defined by their limitations. It
took a judge to redefine the terms.

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
Unwashed, unattended residents milled aimlessly
in corridors. Some went without shoes

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
because there wasn\'t the money to buy them.
Most went without training or education.

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
Once Fernald was a model for others
but by the 1970\'s things had

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
declined to such a state that the
parents had to sue for change.

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
Families were realizing that the
civil rights these individuals

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
was being violated. What I have here
is the uh, complaint that I drafted

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
in July of 1974 in the uh, Federal Court
in the District of Massachusetts.

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
It brought the subject matter of the lack of
treatment of retarded persons in these facilities.

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
The plight of the residents and the parents came
to the attention of Federal Judge Joseph Tauro.

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
He toured the school and was
shocked by what he saw.

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
Uh, after the uh, the trip I was
asked for my comments by one

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
of the TV newsmen and uh,
what I said was, \"That the

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
place was a pig pen.\" He witnessed large scale
number of residents laying on the floor

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
in a trance like state because
they had been given drugs in

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
lieu of staff, drugs that
would put them to sleep.

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
Most citizens including yours truly uh,
thought that the retarded were being

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
very well taken cared of in these
beautiful enclosed institutions

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
that were there up on the hill
surrounded by acres of uh, lush

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
green grass. In an unprecedented
move Judge Tauro forged an agreement

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
between the relatives and the State of
Massachusetts to fix the broken system.

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
The landmark decision is
known as The Consent Decree.

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
It\'s a settlement agreement over the supervision of the Federal
Court and the powers are bound by that. Well, by having that

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
Consent Decree made conditions better here.
You know, they did the

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
buildings over and, and it was
a tremendous gain for all the

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
residents here. I saw a lot of things coming into
Fernald, more money, more staffing, and more programs.

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
Um, renovation of buildings, you know.
Doing more with the

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
clients. At the heart of the decision was
the idea that every individual will have

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
a specific treatment plan. If the need is
lifelong then the plan will be lifelong.

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
With the Consent Decree

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
Fernald State School again became a
leader not this time in it\'s creation

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
but now in institutional reform. And
then a national movement known as

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
Deinstitutionalization.

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
All across the country more than a million
people left places like Fernald behind.

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
Once they started closing, I mean these people
what they were then to what they are now.

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
It\'s amazing, you know. They couldn\'t hear, you
know, there was no sign language. They couldn\'t,

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
you know, lip reader or anything. Once those
classes started they started signing and,

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
you know they were able to move on. Some
of them moved on into the community.

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
[sil.]

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
We strive to get individuals into the community
as much as possible. We run employment programs

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
where we train people in jobs in the community.
So, we have a job developer that will go out and

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
find jobs for individuals.
When Fernald opened and

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
people moved into Fernald they weren\'t out in the community
at all. As years have gone by and people have moved out

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
of Fernald. People are now served in the
community. The live in residences or group homes,

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
or apartments. I do that because

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
I like this kind of work. See, then you do

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
mail ad if they get a lot of work.
But that\'s what they put on when

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
, when you don\'t have a lot of work.
They put you on something like that

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
to keep you, you\'re still sharper.

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
But you\'d prefer paperwork then Barbara? It don\'t
make a difference as long as I\'m doing some,

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
something. Yeah. My foster mom put me
in Fernald school \'cause she was sick.

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
So, she couldn\'t take care of me anymore. So,
she\'s the one that sent me to Fernald School.

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
And I was 11. Do you remember
what time of year it was?

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
When Elvis Presley was, either was
his birthday or when he died.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
And I got out in \'77. My life is better now. I mean,
me and Mike can go to Dunkin\' Donuts by ourselves.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
We can go to the mall; we can go shopping.
I work in the

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
dish room at a college. I
do everything in there,

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
like the silverware, all the glasses.

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
Put them in the cup rack, glass rack
on, on top, on top where they go.

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
People see those kind of residents, the 90%
of the retarded population that\'s not as

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
disabled does have some
ability to make decisions.

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
But there is a group that, that would not
be safe at all. What do you want to do?

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
Mmm. I know you want to go outside.
We\'re going to do that later.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
Yeah, yeah. Well, Patti
communicates with her eyes

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
and you can ask Patti yes, no
questions, she\'ll look up with her eyes

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
to say yes and down or
straight ahead to say no.

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
She interacts like, you or I.

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
It\'s just that she can\'t verbalize
in and she\'s at a younger age.

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
Even though she is 38 years old.
Is it daytime?

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
That\'s a yes. That\'s pretty quick.
Is it nighttime?

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
She\'s just, you know, looking
straight ahead. Which

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
is a no. From day one I, I could see she
would respond to things that were going

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
on with her facial expressions.
Um, if you were leaving

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
Patti will frown, like that. If you come in
and you have a band-aide on your finger.

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
She\'ll be looking at it, looking
at it, frowning, looking at you,

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
looking at the band-aide, looking at you.
Saying what happened.

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
I\'m going to go this way. Maybe I should of
grabbed that umbrella. Close your eyes Pat.

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
You all right, Maureen? Yeah. OK.

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
[sil.] OK.

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
Here we are chickie. We\'re at Mimi\'s
little garden. Mimi and Patti were like

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
sisters. It was like the girls. What,
what are the girls going to do today?

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
Yeah. You know. Definitely. And you know,
we\'d say, Mimi don\'t say anything to Patti,

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
you know, that we\'re going to the mall today or
that we\'re, you know, today we\'re going to have

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
a party or whatever. Because Patti would
get so excited that her breathing

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
would get all, you know, compromised.
And um, so, you know,

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
it\'s so funny to be here without Mimi.
It was about… about a year ago that uh,

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
Mimi just started to fail.
She, massive organ failure

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
and she passed. It\'s hard like right
after Mimi\'s passing it was hard to

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
do, you know, to, to think about doing
this but, but we were ready to do it

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
this year. So, that\'s what we did.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
It makes all our mortality um, that much
closer. As Pat\'s guardian the hardest thing

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
for me was to explain her passing.
And I remember

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
I, I went and bought Pat a little
bible and um, a little frame

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
for Mimi\'s picture. And then
when I got to the door, I said,

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
\"oh, god give me the words.\" Give me
the words to be able to explain to her

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
so that she\'ll understand. So, um,

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
I, I did as good a job as I could.
I just said,

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
sometimes people\'s bodies get tired and
they get weak and they don\'t work anymore.

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
And then God takes you home
and he takes you home to a

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
beautiful, beautiful place. And there\'s no
more pain, and there\'s no more suffering,

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
and there\'s no more doctors
and nurses and hospitals,

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
and, and you can run and you can,
you can play. And you can talk.

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
And you know, I, I think
Pat really got that.

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
I really do. And this is a kid they said
would never live to be 12 and she\'s 38.

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
We\'re coming to the end of our run but there\'s
still a lot of people here who need care.

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
You know what we got to tie your shoes.
People like me think there\'s

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
room for uh, a whole spectrum of care. And that
includes a congregate type setting like this.

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
Or what you call a intermediate care
setting which is more intensive

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
nursing care setting. And that, that\'s
humane and the least restrictive

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
environment for some kinds of people.
OK. Mmm.

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
Give me a kiss. Can you give me a kiss.

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
That\'s OK. While Randy and Ronnie will
never be productive in any traditional

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
sense of that word. The, the sense
of earning money. The sense of

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
having work, of providing for anyone else.
They will never even be independent

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
and providing for themselves. In
society that values productivity

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
and, and the ability to give to others.

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
We could say their lives have no worth.

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
Now, I will say that I have
come to appreciate how

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
their lives give us a chance
to be heroes, little heroes,

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
everyday heroes. And they\'re
all over this campus

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
of people who have not
just done a job but cared

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
for these people, really cared for them.
All right.

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
There\'s 200 acres here with the cemetery. A long line
of grounds keepers, you know. When I started here

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
there were 11 and yeah, and uh,
there\'s only three of us left.

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
Pretty difficult. I\'m doing work in places
with flower beds and mowing the grass

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
and that type of stuff. Where uh, guys have
been doing it for years, uh, hundreds of years,

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
you know, 150 years or more. And
uh, you know, I hate to think

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
uh, you know, I\'m a last
of a breed, you know.

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
Uh, the clients have been working here for all of
those 150 years. I mean back when this was a working

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
farm uh, there was a crew of 30
clients that worked here, residents.

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
And they were proud of their work, weren\'t they John.
They sure was. I mean working for the farm was

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
a respectable job. You\'re
the last of a long line of

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
uh, well you could be the
last in a long line.

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
Could be. And now Fernald\'s
contemporary history as full of irony

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
and contradictions as its past.

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
On February 26th, uh,
Governor Romney announced

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
uh, his plan to close Fernald uh, Facility.

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
The Governor has also uh,
announced uh, a plan

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
to sell off the land here at uh, Fernald.

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
Out underneath uh, the services
that are being uh, provided

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
here. They had 2,000 when Brian came in and think
of it now, they, they looked at all of these

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
people and, and they ship them out one
at a time because of the qualifications.

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
Whether they could make it in the community
or not, well these 300 never made it.

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
They didn\'t make the cut. The department has yet to
prove that they can take care of, you know, people with

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
this level of disability out in the
community. So, you know, as far

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
as I\'m concerned we fight \'til the bitter end. And
the Fernald advocates took their fight to the

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
Massachusetts State House where they
presented a petition to the Governor.

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
We are here with a coalition of families and advocates
for the retarded and we are presenting to you today

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
a 5,626 signatures strongly
opposing the closure

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
of Fernald Center. This is not
an issue of better services

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
at Fernald versus community. This is
an issue of the State saving money.

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
If they\'re doing it cheaper then they\'re not,
they\'re not servicing the, the kids, you know.

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
They\'re not giving them the things they, they
they\'re suppose to be giving them. They\'re not,

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
they\'re not abiding the Consent Decree. Throughout
the time we were shooting the Romney administration

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
declined to comment for this film. Someone
like myself who has spent 10 years in a

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
community agency bringing people back from Belchertown
State School. And trying to prevent other

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
people from landing in such a facility.
I should be jumping up and screaming,

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
but I\'m cautiously saying if the only grounds
for this is not moral or philosophical

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
or a belief that this really is a
better way to go. But is predominantly

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
a economic motive. The cheapest
thing to do for people

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
with mental retardation might be to do nothing.
I know, in some regard it\'s offended some the

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
, you know, the, the purest in the field, who
you know, who feel any kind of congregate care

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
is inappropriate. But you know, I
point towards what\'s going on in

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
the country relative to the aging
population and what\'s the greatest kind

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
of growth service for elders, uh,

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
seniors. Continuing care
communities, assisted living.

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
What is assisted living? What
is a continued care community?

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
Probably the same concept that Dr.
Fernald and Samuel Gridley Howe

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
was to create a community where
people with maybe similar needs,

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
interest, or issues could
come together to receive uh,

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
focused attention.

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
Yeah. You\'re still here.(crosstalk)
Outside now for good.

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
Yeah. UNKNOWNPatti enjoys church. Sometimes she just
goes over doing her to wait. Sits in the church

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
and looks at the flowers. Huh?

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
It\'s a nice outing. From the
greatest to the least are gathered

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
in this same faith. If
you want to be brave,

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
if you want to be number one, remember

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
the least among you is first.

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:08.000
[music]

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
It\'s kind of strange I\'m working here now. You, you don\'t
think I think that\'s strange. I think it\'s very weird.

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
But I, I have to keep saying
in my mind Joe this is not

00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
the same place you was at. This is, and I
wanted to quit a few times but then I said,

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
where am I going to get the kind of money I make here. Where
am I going to get these benefits. I still feel that they owe

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
me. I feel because of me being
here, how they treated me,

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
even after I left here I was in trouble all the time.
I, and that was one of the reasons I lost a lot of jobs

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
because I couldn\'t, you know, nobody
was going to tell me what to do again.

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
Like the Fernald advocates, Joe and Vic, and
others came to the State House to present

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
a petition not to keep Fernald
open but looking for an apology

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
for the past and compensation for the years
of forced labor. It wasn\'t the money.

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
It was that, you know, something that
was more important to me anyways.

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
These men have had their childhood robbed from them,
they were denied a proper reasonable education,

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
and then they were dumped back into
society to fend for themselves.

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
They were labeled morons. They were called
imbeciles. They were called feeble-minded and

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
they were normal children dumped into the
state school system. We want their records

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
cleaned up. My past was coming back,
the problems were coming back in life.

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
But I\'ve started to settle into it now. I\'m not letting
it bother me as much as I did. At first kind of uh,

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
uh a dream of going back to what you were.

00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
I kept saying, you know, they were going to punish me or something. I kept saying
you can do it. I don\'t live here no more. I don\'t live here no more, you know.

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
And then I\'d wake up and it
be only a dream, you know.

00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
You learn, you build a wall, and you build a
solid wall; nobody can get through to you.

00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
And you can usually push things to the side. And I think
that\'s what we\'ve all done of the years. I\'ve done it myself

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
and my wife can\'t get through to me. A lot of times
she\'ll, it\'s a waste of time I just can\'t through to you.

00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
You\'ve got a wall there, I
just can\'t get through it.

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
When, when he\'s time is up, we, we
tell him what time it is and we, we

00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
give him five minutes longer. Like
give him a chance to get up because

00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
he normally won\'t get up. We have to
call staff to get him out of the tunnel.

00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
Hi, this is Mr. Hughes at the tunnel.
Yeah. Can you send someone up.

00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
Thank you. Bye-bye, bye-bye. I bet you\'re
going to get up all by yourself, right.

00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
OK. I\'ll wait in the car.
OK. You can get the mat

00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
and bring up the blanket. All right.

00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
Let\'s go Brian. No.

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
Stop screaming. OK. No screaming at my ma.
Screaming don\'t hurt you.

00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
OK. Let\'s go. No. Let\'s go, let\'s go.
Screaming don\'t hurt you.

00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:17.999
Screaming won\'t hurt you.
It\'s not (inaudible)

00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:19.999
now. No.

00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
Don\'t take it away teacher. No.

00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
Let\'s go, let\'s go. No. And no screaming.
I give you a five more minutes. OK.

00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
No, more minutes today. I don\'t care about

00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
screaming.

00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:48.000
[music] There tremendous
analogies between our historical

00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
past in the field of developmental
disabilities in today.

00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
And we need to ask ourselves the question;
what is our will. What are we really

00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
going to do for people who need our help and,
and assistance. Which is always the question

00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:09.999
of people who are different from ourselves.

00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.999
[music] My own view of Fernald
has changed through time.

00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.999
I\'ve come to see that institutions

00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.999
are the places where we\'ve drawn the
line between ability and disability.

00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:29.999
At once fixed by the walls

00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.999
of the institution. Time has shown
me that the line changes because we

00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:39.999
change and what we see changes.
The line between ability

00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:44.999
and disability is in me.

00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:49.999
[music]

00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:58.000
[music]

00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:33.000
This program is brought to you by the corporation
for public broadcasting and these funders.

00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:48.000
[sil.]

00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.999
In 1848, Massachusetts built
America\'s first public facility

00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:09.999
for people they called idiots.
It\'s still open today.

00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:14.999
I couldn\'t believe it, you know, I just didn\'t believe
this existed. Originally intended as a school

00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:19.999
in 1890 it became an asylum from
which was little chance for release.

00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.999
Who\'s going to beat me? Can you imagine living life like
that when you\'re a kid. Front wards, back wards the

00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.999
troubling story of Fernald.

00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:38.000
[sil.]

00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:54.999
This story is a family portrait.
It began when I,

00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:59.999
as a young boy would ride in the backseat of
a car with my uncle Joe. As he was returned

00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:04.999
to the state institution where he lived.
Joe would tell me stories in these trips.

00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:09.999
His voice was a whisper of what it is today.
So, I have to lean towards him to hear

00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:14.999
but when I did I would get vivid
details of his life and his past.

00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.999
There\'s a passion hidden in this man. This man
who was told how to dress. Told when to eat.

00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.999
Told when to sleep. This
is a family portrait

00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:29.999
with my Uncle Joe at its center. A tale
told in a moving car. A story that made me

00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:34.999
lean in and listen.

00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:43.000
[music]

00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:04.999
Yeah. Well, I was born baby.

00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:09.999
Ah, see there it goes.

00:59:10.000 --> 00:59:14.999
Um, No. We got through number one

00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:19.999
but. Oh.

00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:24.999
[music] My Uncle Joe was born on

00:59:25.000 --> 00:59:29.999
July 13, 1933. Oh, the sky is crying.

00:59:30.000 --> 00:59:34.999
Born in the height of the Great Depression. Uncle Joe
was the fourth and last son of Hy and Helen Rogers.

00:59:35.000 --> 00:59:39.999
My grandmother and grandfather
began to notice that

00:59:40.000 --> 00:59:44.999
Joe was different from his three
older brothers my Uncle Dave,

00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:49.999
my father Mark, and my Uncle Len.
Uncle Joe was diagnosed as

00:59:50.000 --> 00:59:54.999
mildly mentally retarded. Oh, yeah.
Wait a minute.

00:59:55.000 --> 00:59:59.999
Oh, the sky is crying
and the wind goes down

01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:04.999
the street. Then at age 15, Uncle Joe was

01:00:05.000 --> 01:00:09.999
institutionalized at a state school in
Waltham and then Templeton, Massachusetts.

01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:14.999
He was there for the next 28 years.

01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:19.999
He lives today in his own apartment
in Quincy, Massachusetts.

01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:24.999
This is my Uncle Joe.

01:00:25.000 --> 01:00:29.999
I ask the teacher, well how come my, my mother won\'t let
me go here anymore. And she says, well, I don\'t know.

01:00:30.000 --> 01:00:34.999
They said I was, I don\'t know. She told
my mother I was, you know, you know,

01:00:35.000 --> 01:00:39.999
I was, I was a little slow. I couldn\'t,
I couldn\'t keep up with the other kids,

01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:44.999
you know, with the other students. The
brought me to a school in Brookline, called

01:00:45.000 --> 01:00:49.999
Pollock School in Brookline. Yeah.

01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:54.999
They, they always gone up there.
And I, I didn\'t like that because

01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:59.999
they were mean. The people were awful mean.
Yeah. Now, Mr. Pollock

01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:04.999
you see, well, he used, he use to hit
us with a razor strap, you know,

01:01:05.000 --> 01:01:09.999
big black belt, you know, a razor strap.
And they weren\'t even

01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:14.999
raising hell or anything and he came down with the
razor strap. And boy, what a, what a whaling.

01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:19.999
Boy, bang, bang. Oh, boy. So,

01:01:20.000 --> 01:01:24.999
19-, so 1950 I left the school
and got to, I went to Fernald.

01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:29.999
That was a little better but,
but the doors were locked.

01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:34.999
You were locked in and you
couldn\'t get out. You could only

01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:39.999
go out with a staff for, for about two
or three minutes and then come back in.

01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:44.999
I didn\'t like that.

01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:49.999
Well, when they brought me there my
mother and father, you know, they asked;

01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:54.999
Oh, well, I guess there was, uh. I guess one
of the people\'s asked my mother and father,

01:01:55.000 --> 01:01:59.999
well why did you bring your son here.
And she said, \"Well,

01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:04.999
well, we\'re unable to take care of him. We can\'t
take care of him. So we brought him here.

01:02:05.000 --> 01:02:09.999
Yeah.

01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:14.999
Walter E. Fernald\'s State
School annual school report:

01:02:15.000 --> 01:02:19.999
Joseph was very home sick and unhappy at first.
He would cry silently until he fell asleep

01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:24.999
in classes. The more delinquent boys
found him open prey for teasing.

01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:29.999
After a time Joseph asserted
himself and fought back.

01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:34.999
He\'s gradually made a good adjustment to the
institution. He is polite and friendly,

01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:39.999
sometimes laughs for no reason.
When questioned

01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:44.999
he says he\'s laughing at
nothing or because he is

01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:49.999
happy. Hi. Hi. Now, we\'re just here.

01:02:50.000 --> 01:02:54.999
I used to be, I used to be here.
I\'m just going to visit, visit.

01:02:55.000 --> 01:02:59.999
I\'m just going to visit for a while
and then we\'re going to leave.

01:03:00.000 --> 01:03:04.999
Hi. And you got permission and everything?
Yes. What was it like to live in Templeton?

01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:09.999
Well, well it was like a jail one way.
It was like a prison,

01:03:10.000 --> 01:03:14.999
you know, yeah. Well, you
had to, well, you had to be

01:03:15.000 --> 01:03:19.999
in bed by 9:00 and the lights
had to be out at 9:00.

01:03:20.000 --> 01:03:24.999
Couldn\'t, well, you couldn\'t play
radios and couldn\'t you know.

01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:29.999
The night watch had a give
you, give you a count

01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:34.999
check at night. Make sure
everybody was in, you know.

01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:39.999
Nah. Home was with his family.
Home was not there.

01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:44.999
And they tried to convince him otherwise
at the institution and he never accepted

01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:49.999
that definition. I want to go home.

01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:54.999
Walter E. Fernald State School

01:03:55.000 --> 01:03:59.999
psychological reports: This
boy seems a thoroughly

01:04:00.000 --> 01:04:04.999
unfortunate individual. Inferior in
appearance, limited in comprehension,

01:04:05.000 --> 01:04:09.999
and possessed a rather unattractive
personality. Though he obviously enjoys social

01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:14.999
interchange and initiates conversation at every
opportunity. He rocks gently back and forth in his

01:04:15.000 --> 01:04:19.999
chair staring straight before him.
His speech is rapid and explosive.

01:04:20.000 --> 01:04:24.999
In general, the quality of his work is poor

01:04:25.000 --> 01:04:29.999
but the distribution of credits is not typical
of the level achieved. And he occasionally shows

01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:34.999
a surprising bit of creative thinking.
In summary,

01:04:35.000 --> 01:04:39.999
the picture is a dismal one with many
weakness and no apparent strengths.

01:04:40.000 --> 01:04:44.999
Prognosis does not appear to be

01:04:45.000 --> 01:04:49.999
favorable. Well, I was in
Ward 19, you see. With the

01:04:50.000 --> 01:04:54.999
younger kids, you know. So, we had a
line, for the staff person would stand.

01:04:55.000 --> 01:04:59.999
And we stand at the edge
of the stairway, you know.

01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:04.999
He\'d say, OK. You can go down, you know. You
had to get out in single file, you know.

01:05:05.000 --> 01:05:09.999
And then they place you, and then
they place you where to sit,

01:05:10.000 --> 01:05:14.999
you know, you know. He\'d say, OK. You,
you sit over here with this table.

01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:19.999
You sit on that table, you know.
I felt like,

01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:24.999
I felt like, you know, you
know, just, just taking off,

01:05:25.000 --> 01:05:29.999
and say, you know, this place isn\'t for me.
It was very difficult because

01:05:30.000 --> 01:05:34.999
my mother felt that uh, there was
nothing else for him. She felt

01:05:35.000 --> 01:05:39.999
guilt or whatever um, fearful
for him that it would be,

01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:44.999
it would be inappropriate for him ever to
live in the outside world. He couldn\'t

01:05:45.000 --> 01:05:49.999
do it. In 1976, Joe\'s
mother, my grandmother

01:05:50.000 --> 01:05:54.999
had a stroke from which she never recovered.
It was shortly thereafter that Joe

01:05:55.000 --> 01:05:59.999
took the steps to leave Templeton.
His mother

01:06:00.000 --> 01:06:04.999
loved him, as a mother loves a child.
She was desperately afraid

01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:09.999
of what would happen to him in the outside
world. Uh, excuse me. What color is

01:06:10.000 --> 01:06:14.999
that? That\'s the light weight.
It\'s uh, 30-29, I don\'t know if

01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:19.999
that\'s the right size. Yeah. But
wouldn\'t you have a uh. Well,

01:06:20.000 --> 01:06:24.999
what is that a popping green. Yeah, yeah.
It\'s a light weight. Mmm.

01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:29.999
Well, wouldn\'t you have a darker green than that?
No. I checked. This is all we have left. No.

01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:34.999
That\'s all right. OK. See, see
this is just a birthday present.

01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:39.999
See, but next time I want, I\'ll be a
little more independent and do it myself.

01:06:40.000 --> 01:06:44.999
See. I don\'t like, you know.
See, you know, see I don\'t, see

01:06:45.000 --> 01:06:49.999
I don\'t believe in taking advantage of
people, you know. A birthday present,

01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:54.999
that\'s, you know, that\'s different,
you know. You know, what I mean.

01:06:55.000 --> 01:06:59.999
Yeah.

01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:04.999
So, Joe went through a
series steps of, he\'d be

01:07:05.000 --> 01:07:09.999
at the institution but he, he\'d be out working all day.
And then finally he was able to leave the institution

01:07:10.000 --> 01:07:14.999
and be in a kind of protected
home with eight other clients

01:07:15.000 --> 01:07:19.999
uh, in the Quincy area. Uh,
he lived there and he uh,

01:07:20.000 --> 01:07:24.999
there was, a social worker, and a
young couple who kind of supervised.

01:07:25.000 --> 01:07:29.999
The only thing I didn\'t like is when the
staffs at uh, if we were going out like 8:00,

01:07:30.000 --> 01:07:34.999
they would say be back by 10:00, you know.
If we came back late

01:07:35.000 --> 01:07:39.999
, you know, they wouldn\'t like it, you know. They,
they\'d give you hell if you came back late.

01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:44.999
You know, they would have meetings
the next night, you know.

01:07:45.000 --> 01:07:49.999
Then, then the guy would take you in, in the
living room and shut the door, both doors.

01:07:50.000 --> 01:07:54.999
He, they were sliding doors and he\'d shut
them so nobody would hear what he was saying.

01:07:55.000 --> 01:07:59.999
So, he said, he would say, what
time are you suppose to be in.

01:08:00.000 --> 01:08:04.999
I said, last night I said 10:00.
Well, how come you were late.

01:08:05.000 --> 01:08:09.999
I said, I said, well, I told him

01:08:10.000 --> 01:08:14.999
I was sorry. So, I didn\'t say anything.

01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:19.999
I said, what does, what does
this get like where I just got

01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:24.999
out of. My god. This is like
an institution isn\'t it?

01:08:25.000 --> 01:08:29.999
I, I said, this is like going
from one institution to another.

01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:34.999
You know, and I told him. I said, I said listen
I want my freedom. When I want to go out,

01:08:35.000 --> 01:08:39.999
I\'ll go out. And I\'ll come back when I want to
come back when I want to come back, you know.

01:08:40.000 --> 01:08:44.999
So, that was that, you know. Um, you know, the
other day we were at the uh, House of Pancakes.

01:08:45.000 --> 01:08:49.999
Yeah. We were talking about this idea
of whatever it means mentally retarded.

01:08:50.000 --> 01:08:54.999
Yeah. Does that mean anything to you?
I don\'t know what mental mean crazy.

01:08:55.000 --> 01:08:59.999
But that, that\'s what mental
used to mean crazy, you know.

01:09:00.000 --> 01:09:04.999
Like if you pick something up and throw it that
would be crazy, wouldn\'t it? That\'s mental,

01:09:05.000 --> 01:09:09.999
yeah. What about the other part.
Retarded, well that means slow.

01:09:10.000 --> 01:09:14.999
That means slow learning.

01:09:15.000 --> 01:09:19.999
I don\'t know how, I don\'t know
mental retarded could mean

01:09:20.000 --> 01:09:24.999
cra-, crazy learning. I mean,

01:09:25.000 --> 01:09:29.999
no. Feeble-minded, mental deficient,
backward children, mental retarded these

01:09:30.000 --> 01:09:34.999
are all terms used so that
we can understand them.

01:09:35.000 --> 01:09:39.999
The stories Joe tells though are the
ways I have learned to understand him.

01:09:40.000 --> 01:09:44.999
Ah, very good, Joe. That\'s terrific.
This is a chance for you to speak

01:09:45.000 --> 01:09:49.999
to an awful lot of people. Yeah. This clip is going to be seen
by an awful lot of people. Where? Uh, it\'s going to be seen

01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:54.999
on television. Will I be on television?

01:09:55.000 --> 01:09:59.999
Huh, huh.

01:10:00.000 --> 01:10:04.999
When? I don\'t know. When
would you like to be on?

01:10:05.000 --> 01:10:09.999
Will I be on channel 2? Huh, huh.

01:10:10.000 --> 01:10:14.999
No, anytime, it doesn\'t matter. Huh.

01:10:15.000 --> 01:10:19.999
If I didn\'t care.

01:10:20.000 --> 01:10:24.999
Would (inaudible) baby. Oh, let
me shout, if I didn\'t care.

01:10:25.000 --> 01:10:29.999
Would it be the same to me

01:10:30.000 --> 01:10:34.999
if I didn\'t care. All right.

01:10:35.000 --> 01:10:39.999
Yeah. For a long time my Uncle Joe and
many people like him were separated

01:10:40.000 --> 01:10:44.999
from us in institutions. Now,

01:10:45.000 --> 01:10:49.999
he has become my teacher.

01:10:50.000 --> 01:10:54.999
[music] Great Joe. All right.

01:10:55.000 --> 01:10:59.999
Boy.

01:11:00.000 --> 01:11:04.999
You\'re OK.

01:11:05.000 --> 01:11:13.000
[music]

01:12:20.000 --> 01:12:28.000
[sil.]

01:12:30.000 --> 01:12:34.999
[music]

01:12:35.000 --> 01:12:39.999
Live from Boston this is 7 News

01:12:40.000 --> 01:12:44.999
Today in New England on The News Station.
A moving tribute

01:12:45.000 --> 01:12:49.999
to a loved one. Family and friends remember
a man killed by hit and run driver.

01:12:50.000 --> 01:12:54.999
There\'s a key capture to tell you about inside Iraq. Saddam.
A Weymouth, Massachusetts man heads to court tomorrow

01:12:55.000 --> 01:12:59.999
to face charges in a fatal hit and run accident.
The victim was well-known in the community and

01:13:00.000 --> 01:13:04.999
also a subject of a documentary
that aired back in the 1990\'s.

01:13:05.000 --> 01:13:09.999
NECN\'s Ally Donnelly spoke with the family
of Joe Rogers. My mother said it was because

01:13:10.000 --> 01:13:14.999
I was mentally retarded. I was slow, and.
71-year old Joe Rogers was

01:13:15.000 --> 01:13:19.999
mentally retarded and institutionalized
most of his life at the Fernald School in

01:13:20.000 --> 01:13:24.999
Waltham, Massachusetts. But at 48-years old
he left the institution to live on his own.

01:13:25.000 --> 01:13:29.999
They used to say to me, Oh, you\'ll never
make it outside. Well, I\'ll show you up,

01:13:30.000 --> 01:13:34.999
I\'ll show you people and I did. This documentary,
\"My Uncle Joe\" was made by his nephew

01:13:35.000 --> 01:13:39.999
Bill 15 years ago, chronicling his life.
But now, the beloved uncle is

01:13:40.000 --> 01:13:44.999
dead. It was just a terrible sight.
Friday night Joe had just finished dinner

01:13:45.000 --> 01:13:49.999
at his usual spot, Jimmy\'s Broad Street Diner in
Weymouth. He was walking home to the apartment

01:13:50.000 --> 01:13:54.999
he was so proud of when he was mowed down by
a hit and run driver. Parts of the car were

01:13:55.000 --> 01:13:59.999
used to start an investigation. Uh, uh we
followed up on different Isuzu we knew

01:14:00.000 --> 01:14:04.999
were registered to residents of Weymouth.
Police arrested 33-year old Keith Atkinson.

01:14:05.000 --> 01:14:09.999
Although there remains an open container in his truck.
Police say they have no probably cause to charge him with

01:14:10.000 --> 01:14:14.999
drunk driving. Anything about why he left
the scene? Uh, I believe at this time he

01:14:15.000 --> 01:14:19.999
just panicked. So badly hurt, Joe did not
make \'til morning. But his brother Mark says,

01:14:20.000 --> 01:14:24.999
he would never have wanted to live a life where
he wasn\'t independent. He was the type of a

01:14:25.000 --> 01:14:29.999
person that you, uh, you
were sort of drawn to. Uh,

01:14:30.000 --> 01:14:34.999
that if you talked to
him he was your friend.

01:14:35.000 --> 01:14:39.999
Joe always had a job, washing dishes, sweeping
up or most recently working in a mail room.

01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:44.999
He liked to have money in his pocket for getting
dressed up and going out to eat. We knew that,

01:14:45.000 --> 01:14:49.999
you know, people, it was nice to leave
good tips. So, he\'d think nothing

01:14:50.000 --> 01:14:54.999
of leaving a $5 tip for a $2.50

01:14:55.000 --> 01:14:59.999
breakfast. When I was born baby.

01:15:00.000 --> 01:15:04.999
But it was music that was Joe\'s life.

01:15:05.000 --> 01:15:09.999
He\'d sit there and play the piano and when people
would gather around and uh, just watch him play.

01:15:10.000 --> 01:15:14.999
It\'s incredible. You could
ask him about Fat Swallow.

01:15:15.000 --> 01:15:19.999
What are some of the songs Fat Swallow used to
play, Joe? And boom, boom. He\'d tell you all

01:15:20.000 --> 01:15:24.999
about it. Mark says Joe would
tell you all about heaven too.

01:15:25.000 --> 01:15:26.999
Uh, it looks like new (inuadible

01:15:27.000 --> 01:15:29.999
(), very pretty. He would
say, well, he said,

01:15:30.000 --> 01:15:34.999
do you think I could really become
big Jazz star if I went to heaven.

01:15:35.000 --> 01:15:39.999
You think he was a big
jazz star up in heaven.

01:15:40.000 --> 01:15:44.999
I think he\'s one of the champs up there.
Great Joe. All right.

01:15:45.000 --> 01:15:49.999
Boy. Joe will be laid to rest
in Westwood, Massachusetts

01:15:50.000 --> 01:15:54.999
on Tuesday. Topping our news this morning a man is hit
and killed while crossing the street in Weymouth.

01:15:55.000 --> 01:15:59.999
The 71-year old died hours after the
hit and run crash on Friday night.

01:16:00.000 --> 01:16:04.999
But instead of focusing on the loss his family says,
they\'re remembering the man they call an inspiration.

01:16:05.000 --> 01:16:09.999
7\'s Linda Ergas with his story.
I can talk about

01:16:10.000 --> 01:16:14.999
music, you know. I could say
I like music, I like Blues

01:16:15.000 --> 01:16:19.999
and Jazz. This is Joseph Rogers.

01:16:20.000 --> 01:16:24.999
He was the star of a movie, playing piano,

01:16:25.000 --> 01:16:29.999
even singing. For a long time my
Uncle Joe and many people like

01:16:30.000 --> 01:16:34.999
him were separated from us in institutions.
It\'s a documentary made by

01:16:35.000 --> 01:16:39.999
Joe\'s nephew. A story of how Joe overcame
the constant obstacles of living

01:16:40.000 --> 01:16:44.999
a life mentally disabled. Now, all his
family and friends have are those memories.

01:16:45.000 --> 01:16:49.999
But they also have questions.
Out of the blue uh,

01:16:50.000 --> 01:16:54.999
he got hit by uh, a car.
Friday in the early evening.

01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:59.999
Joe was struck by this Isuzu Rodeo. The
driver never stopping. Evidence at the scene,

01:17:00.000 --> 01:17:04.999
a broken front grill lead
police to their suspect.

01:17:05.000 --> 01:17:09.999
At his home no one would come to the door.
Investigators saying it was

01:17:10.000 --> 01:17:14.999
33-year old Keith Atkinson who was
behind the wheel. It was senseless

01:17:15.000 --> 01:17:19.999
and uh, it was senseless for him to
uh, run away from the event after,

01:17:20.000 --> 01:17:24.999
you know, he could see
Joe flying through the

01:17:25.000 --> 01:17:29.999
air. This family does offer their compassion
for the driver as they hold on to

01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:34.999
Joe\'s legacy. His part in this, in, in
this world is not going to be forgotten.

01:17:35.000 --> 01:17:43.000
[music] Now, Joe was truly
known all over town.

01:17:45.000 --> 01:17:49.999
He used to sing at restaurants
all the time. As for the suspect

01:17:50.000 --> 01:17:54.999
he\'s out on bail. Police say he was not
drinking. Apparently he told officers

01:17:55.000 --> 01:17:59.999
he panicked and that\'s
why he left the scene.

01:18:00.000 --> 01:18:04.999
Reporting in Weymouth, Linda Ergas, 7 News Today
New England. Elderly man he hit and killed.

01:18:05.000 --> 01:18:09.999
Joe Rogers was mowed down last night
as he crossed a Weymouth street.

01:18:10.000 --> 01:18:14.999
Peg Rusconi has more now on the victim.

01:18:15.000 --> 01:18:19.999
My name is Joseph Rogers. This is Joe
Rogers as filmed by his nephew W.C. Rogers.

01:18:20.000 --> 01:18:24.999
In the award winning documentary, \"My Uncle
Joe\". I wanted people to understand um,

01:18:25.000 --> 01:18:29.999
not only what his

01:18:30.000 --> 01:18:34.999
story was, you know, how he was institutionalized
and how he got out. But how he sees his

01:18:35.000 --> 01:18:39.999
world. The film aired on public
television it chronicled

01:18:40.000 --> 01:18:44.999
Joe a mildly retarded man and
his move from institutions

01:18:45.000 --> 01:18:49.999
into mainstream society. So, you know, he had this
usual. Watching footage with a heavy heart W.C. Rogers

01:18:50.000 --> 01:18:54.999
says, Joe\'s mother always feared for
his safety in the outside world.

01:18:55.000 --> 01:18:59.999
Friday evening as he crossed the street
on his way home from this dinner,

01:19:00.000 --> 01:19:04.999
Joe Rogers was struck by a driver who didn\'t stop.
He died later at the hospital. Police say pieces

01:19:05.000 --> 01:19:09.999
of the vehicle and old-fashion police
work lead to the arrest of 33-year old

01:19:10.000 --> 01:19:14.999
Keith Atkinson. Apparently there were 125 Isuzu\'s
in the town of Weymouth. As they went down the list

01:19:15.000 --> 01:19:19.999
we narrowed it until we came to the suspect. W.C.
Rogers says, he doesn\'t know the circumstances

01:19:20.000 --> 01:19:24.999
of the hit and run. The, the fact
that he didn\'t stop Yeah. Is pretty

01:19:25.000 --> 01:19:29.999
hard. I could talk about music. Life
had significance. Yeah, yeah. Sure.

01:19:30.000 --> 01:19:34.999
Uh, that there\'s no, no doubt in my mind

01:19:35.000 --> 01:19:39.999
that his, his life had
significance and that uh,

01:19:40.000 --> 01:19:44.999
resonated. Police say the
alleged driver Keith Atkinson

01:19:45.000 --> 01:19:49.999
has a court date on Monday. They say he faces charges of
driving to endanger and leaving the scene of an accident.

01:19:50.000 --> 01:19:54.999
In Weymouth, I\'m Peg Rusconi, CBS 4 News.
Struck as he was walking home

01:19:55.000 --> 01:19:59.999
by a car that didn\'t stop. Joe
Rogers died this morning. At 71, he

01:20:00.000 --> 01:20:04.999
was living independently defying the
low expectations of the era in which

01:20:05.000 --> 01:20:09.999
he grew up. Joe spoke very coherently
and he could, you know, read and write.

01:20:10.000 --> 01:20:14.999
Um, but in other areas he was, you know,

01:20:15.000 --> 01:20:19.999
slower and, and mildly retarded.
I\'m a little slow.

01:20:20.000 --> 01:20:24.999
I, I couldn\'t keep up with the other kids. Joe
who would later celebrate his life on video

01:20:25.000 --> 01:20:29.999
was brought to the Fernald School as a teenager.
Then to a state colony for the retarded

01:20:30.000 --> 01:20:34.999
in Templeton. It was like a jail in
one way. Like a prison. Years later

01:20:35.000 --> 01:20:39.999
in his 40\'s, Joe Rogers became part of the first
wave of mentally retarded residents to be

01:20:40.000 --> 01:20:44.999
trained and freed to live independently.
Defying those who thought he couldn\'t.

01:20:45.000 --> 01:20:49.999
He proved that, that was OK. So that means he could
do it. After he was struck by a car last night

01:20:50.000 --> 01:20:54.999
while returning home from a neighborhood restaurant
police found parts of the grill and the name plate

01:20:55.000 --> 01:20:59.999
of a green Isuzu Rodeo. Running through.
As for the driver Atkinson,

01:21:00.000 --> 01:21:04.999
he\'s facing charges of leaving the scene of an accident
and driving to endanger. But because Joe has died

01:21:05.000 --> 01:21:09.999
he will also likely face vehicular manslaughter charges.
He\'ll be arraigned in District Court on Monday.

01:21:10.000 --> 01:21:14.999
In Weymouth, Massachusetts,
Ally Donnelly, NECN.

01:21:15.000 --> 01:21:17.000
[sil.]