Willowbrook Mental Hospital New York
The atrocities that once consumed the halls of willowbrook school.
Willowbrook mental hospital new york. From the day the willowbrook doors were opened in 1942 until they finally closed in 1987 this new york city warehouse that senator robert kennedy referred to as a snake pit housed individuals with developmental disabilities under. Before this mental health issues were largely swept under the rug. The first the american public heard of the horrors of willowbrook was from a speech made by a promising young politician. People were often hidden away in mental institutions that did more harm than good.
Bill pierce the life images collection getty disease. At 204 acres this campus is the largest maintained by the city university of new york. The school did not receive its first residents however until after world war ii during which time it was used as a veteran s hospital for injured and disabled war heroes. By 1962 the school that had been designed for 4000 became a dumping ground for mentally disabled children and swelled to over 6000.
It was the largest mental institution in the united states and host to some of the country s most deplorable living conditions. The horrors of willowbrook consumed nearly three decades. Willowbrook state school was a state supported institution for children with intellectual disabilities located in the willowbrook neighborhood on staten island in new york city from 1947 until 1987. The new campus opened at willowbrook in 1993 at the same time one of csi s two other existing campuses located in the island s sunnyside neighborhood was closed and that site became the home of a new high school.
Willowbrook state school built in the late 1930 s was a state supported institution for mentally retarded children located in central staten island in new york city. The school was designed for 4 000 but by 1965 it had a population of 6 000. At the time it was the biggest state run institution for people with mental disabilities in the united states. Mentally ill patients sit on benches and on the floor in the women s ward at willowbrook state school staten island new york january 1972.
One of the most infamous modern institutions was the willowbrook state developmental center located on staten island in new york. By 1969 willowbrook designed with a capacity for 4 000 patients reached its peak of 6 200. Remembering an infamous new york institution at willowbrook a staten island institution for the mentally disabled residents were left to languish in squalor with little medical or other care.