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“In terms of children being admitted, I assisted with some admissions of children. I’m not proud of that,” states Sue Beecher. In the late 1970s, Sue worked in the outpatient clinic at New Castle State Hospital and assisted with placing children…

"When I started in 1977, when people were admitted they brought with them what was called their death bag." The bag contained the clothing that residents of New Castle State Hospital were to be buried in. Sue Beecher recalls her employment at the…

Dr. Sue Gant has 40 plus years of working in the disability field. As an expert with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation, Dr. Gant spent the late 1990s through 2008 in Indiana assisting with the closure of New…

In 1977, Sue Beecher started her professional career at New Castle State Hospital in New Castle, Indiana. In this video, Sue recounts some of the institution's early history and speaks about her experiences working there.

The Sweetest Little Boy I Ever Knew: A Handmade History for an Institutional Life tells the story of a baby orphaned with disabilities in Nashville, Tennessee at the end of World War II. Despite the loving effort of Edith Mumpower, an older woman who…

"Our society told parents at that time, they’re retarded, you don’t want them at home, stick them in an institution, forget that they were born." Three interviewees who worked as staff at Muscatatuck and New Castle State Hospitals in the 1960s and…

Thomas Hancock, age 10 months, with nurse at General Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, October 1946. Thomas entered Muscatatuck State School in 1951, living there until he died in 1981.

"We had three boys and five girls and they literally thought they owned the place." Ann Bishop came to Muscatatuck in September of 1954. She started as a head nurse, became assistant director of nursing, and then was a module director/mental health…

"Even before we started to school we used to go to Muscatatuck. My daddy played baseball... we’d have a picnic after the ball game and they played ball to entertain the patients out there." Belma Eberts' memories of Muscatatuck start in the 1920s…

"That was about the same time things were really starting to change. I felt like I was actually being part of a system that was on its way up." Cindie Underwood came to Muscatatuck State Developmental Center in 1989 as a case manager. Over the years…