The Fernald State School in Waltham, MA, was the oldest institution for people with mental retardation (now we use the term intellectual disabilities) in the western hemisphere, founded in 1848. With the move to dinstitutionalization and opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to live in the community, and with the mandates from the courts to provide more humane living conditions, the Fernald School and other institutions like it have closed. It took many years for the final closure of Fernald to take place, but in 2014 this finally occurred.
For almost 35 years I worked in the shadow of the Fernald School as a member of the staff of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center located adjacent to Fernald. At one point very early in my tenure, there was a strike at Fernald and I was one of the staff members who were asked to go into the institution to help with dressing and feeding. It was an amazing experience and I was struck with the deplorable living conditions but also with the special relationships between residents and staff trying to make the best of it.
With the school slated to close for several years, there was no motivation to rebuild it and residents were moved out of the older buildings to "cottages" on the periphery of the grounds where they slept and ate and took buses into the community for work or day programs. As a result the buildings continued to decay. As buildings have been closed, weather and vandalism has continued to take its toll.
The city of Waltham has now assumed ownership and, as far as I know, there is no publicly announced plan for the future of the property. I have had the opportunity to visit the grounds several times and plan to follow the status of the campus and its building and to document it with my photography.
While there is much to be sad about regarding the school's past and its current condition, there is beauty here as we see nature's progression to move in where there is neglect. Also, looking at the buildings in their current condition is a statement of the fact that ideas about what is the best way to help poeple is constantly changing and, hopefully, will continue in a direction of more respect and better health.
The treatment of people with developmental disabilities is but one area where change was needed and today we know that there are still other populations who are awaiting a better chance at life.
© Bob Bass