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Portrait Gallery: The period from 1865 to 1890 witnessed a rush to build institutions of several kinds to care for those who were not being cared for at home. The general obligation of the parish or town or county to take care of its indigent population in alms houses expanded into a commitment by state and local government, with the help of charity organizations, to identify and classify needy populations, and put bricks and mortar around them. These new institutions included asylums for those with mental illness, sanitariums for those with TB or other chronic diseases, schools for the blind and the deaf, orphanages, homes for crippled children, homes for children with mental retardation (the feeble-minded), and homes for unwed mothers. All were campaigned for, all needed designing, fund-raising, and staffing. Many times the people who lived at an institution were part of the work force. The administrators of institutions caring for people with disabilities were aware of their leadership position in society and proud of their accomplishments. Most were committed to an ethos of curability: mental asylums and TB sanitariums expected to return their patients to the world cured, and advertised their ability to do so. Even custodial institutions claimed that their populations were improved after being admitted and fitted into the discipline of the institution. Many took before-and-after photographs of those they cared for -- ragged, disheveled and helpless before, neatly dressed and shaved and smiling after admission. Orphanages and homes for crippled children posed their children in group photographs in tidy uniforms. The images here are of institution staff and residents. There are more examples of life inside instituions on the Highlights page of WORK/REVOLUTION. |
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