The Laurelton State Village For Feeble-Minded Women Of Child-Bearing Age was a modern, and expensive, facility, located in a very rural part of the Pennsylvania. The location was chosen in 1914, construction began in 1915, but it was 1920 before the facility was able to accept their first resident. It was originally built with the goal of providing a facility to house, educate, and train feeble minded women, while keeping them from reproducing, as feeble-mindedness was believed to be a hereditary trait.
"The Laurelton State Village, formerly the Pennsylvania Village for Feeble Minded women was established by the Legislature in 1913,Its purpose was specifically to segregate and care for feeble-minded women and girls during the child bearing period so that they might not have children to carry on their mental defect. It was also specifically determined that the processes of an agricultural training shall be primarily considered in the educational department and that the employment of the inmates in care and raising of stock and the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, roots, etc., shall be made tributary to the maintenance of the institution”." - 1944 Report on the Village
Laurelton Pennsylvania is a village located in Hartley Township, Union County, about 9 miles west of Mifflinburg. "located in Union Counter about one mile north of Laurelton, Pa, The railroad station for the institution is Glen Iron, Pa, It is situated on the Lewisburg and Tyrone branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, There is bus service to the institution also. Situated as it is on Route 45 the Pennsylvania Greyhound bus line from Scranton to Pittsburgh passes through the institution grounds" - in 1944
Founded in 1811, the population of Laurelton in the 2010 census was 221 residents. In 1944, nearly 1,000 lived at the State Village in Laurelton, alone.
In 1917 the Public Charities Association held an exhibit in Wilkes Barre highlighted the “extent of feeblemindedness throughout the state.” In a report to the state, they addressed the urgency for opening a new institution for what they believed to be a growing number of “feeble-minded” citizens. Facilities for feeble-minded children, and feeble-minded adults, already existed, but the commission believed there needed to be a facility just for women. Their report stated:
“Society demands the segregation of weak-minded, helpless women and we feel fully justified in recommending a liberal appropriation for the construction and completion of the buildings at Laurelton as now contemplated, thereby making early provision for the most of the class now at large, together with those now in other institutions where they are a menace to the other inmates of such institutions.”
"One of the main intentions of mental health institutions in the early 20th century was to prevent reproduction. At one facility, the Laurelton State Village for the Feeble-Minded in Laurelton, Pennsylvania, female patients were released as soon as they became menopausal. Other places had high rates of sterilization because the goal of institutional commitment was control of sexuality and fertility." - Anne E. Parsons, author of From Asylum to Prison: Deinstitutionalization and the Rise of Mass Incarceration after 1945
August 1914
Dr. Mary Wolfe, a native of Lewisburg, was one of the leading advocates for the Laurelton facility. She is recorded as saying:
“It is well known that feeble-mindedness is hereditary. We want to make a place in
Pennsylvania where we can segregate these women between 16 and 45 reducing child birth among them. We will have the key for stamping out idiocy.”
"Wolfe rejected the established medical traditions of the early 20th century that argued “mental deficiencies” caused people to commit crimes and warranted locking them up forever. She believed “the problem of mental deficiency is not primarily a medical problem” but instead was “an educational, and to a lesser degree, a sociological problem.” Determined to make Laurelton Village a place of rehabilitation and not permanent segregation, Wolfe developed academic, vocational and moral training programs for the women living there." - Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine
Wolfe made careful distinction between the "Week-minded women" and the "dangerous insane.", But "Feeble-Minded" was still a broad, largely undefined, category.
When the Laurelton facility opened, a report from the board identified variations, which included: "Morons", "Imbeciles" and "Idiots".
The Mental Health Act of 1923 changed the name of the facility to Laurelton State Village.
Doctors determined classifications through a variety of tests measuring intelligence and motor skills, and defined the categories as:
- Moron Class - Those demonstrating a better use of hands than heads
- Imbecile Class - Those demonstrating "approxomite head and hand use"
- Idiot Class - Those demonstrating very limited motor skills, even below "the small amount of intellectual power at their command"
In a 4 year test of the first 50 residents at the Village, Mary Vanuxem, a Resident Physician and Professor of Psychology at the Philadelphia Normal School noted that there were marked improvements in all of the women's scores. She attributed the improvements to the education, and industrial training they were provided at Laurelton. In her report, she concluded:
“…many of these women who, for various reasons, have not received either sufficient education or proper training prior to their admission…have profited both academically and industrially by further education and training carefully directed and scientifically applied.”
The Laurelton facility was to be different from a prison. Plans included an industrial training program, and a school.
Two sites were seriously considered for the facility. The first, and most practical due to the Reading Railroad line access, was Pine Grove in Schuylkill County. But residents of Hartelton raised several thousand dollars to promote Laurelton as the ideal setting. Advocates such as Dr Mary Wolfe and Dr Olive W.H. Glover campaigned for the Laurelton site.
The surrounding mountains, wilderness setting, and natural resources did make Laurelton an attractive location, and the state eventually approved the project there. The states approval included funding for construction of cottages, an electric light plant, sewage disposal plant, laundry facilities, barns, out-buildings.
In May 0f 1926, the facility was over-crowded, with a waiting list of 1,600.
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THE COTTAGES
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The facility began with a series of "cottages".
The grounds for the first cottage were staked out on Wednesday morning, May 5th 1915. In June of 1915, the Lewisburg journal reported "It is fortunate that there is an available fund for starting the first buildings for the Home For the Feeble-Minded Women, but after their completion, there remains no means for their maintenance. It is not necessary to wait two years before the matter can again be brought to the attention of legislature."
In 1918, construction of two more buildings was underway, but there was still no funding to maintain the facility. "As the institution has not been provided with a fund for maintenance, and inmates cannot be cared for until legislature acts, the committee has offered the structures to the Federal government as a hospital for convalescent soldiers" - August 1918
The first patient was finally admitted the week of January 9th, 1920
In the cottages, attendants taught the inmates as much as they could so that they could live on their own "on the outside." Inmates who demonstrate the ability to work and care for themselves independently were granted "Parole" opportunities, where they could work outside of the village. That work provided the inmates an opportunity to earn their own money.
"At the cottage she is welcomed by an understanding matron, other new girls and the ’’big sisters" who are examples of accomplishment and behavior. Here the elementary training needed depends on the girl - her personality and abilities and also upon previous training received in other institutions or occasionally in their own homes.
Generally the homes have been woefully inadequate for supervision and direction. Yet they are the girl’s "people" and the separation from the home, no matter what the squalor and poverty, is a really difficult adjustment.
Cottage training then includes personal hygiene and care of appearance, proper eating manners and choice of food, teaching courtesy, and obedience, and substituting better thoughts and habits for innumerable bad characteristics, and often total amorality.
Synchronously are taught the rudiments of house cleaning, - dusting, scrubbing and bed making, Then come dishwashing and serving in cottage kitchen. Then the real honor cottage jobs are care of the girls’ clothing and possessions in their individual locker spaces, and care of attendants’ rooms and offices.
When a girl is sufficiently adjusted to work outside the cottage frequent conferences between matron and Dr. Edgett, or Miss Erdley, indicate she is ready to start her further industrial training. According to her physical and mental capacities this may be any one of the units already enumerated." - 1944 report
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SCHOOL
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Limited schooling, up to the eighth grade, was provided to inmates who were willing and able to receive an education. In the 1929-30 year, the board reported that over 200 inmates had attended school at the Institution.
"At the time of the passage of the original act it was felt that the inmates, being adults at the time of admission, would need no further academic training. But by 1922 it was evident that many of the girls were capable of acquiring much more along the lines of scholastic and industrial training than they had acquired prior to admission" - 1944 report
The Mental Health Act of 1923, which changed the name of the facility to Laurelton State Village, also changed its policies, making it a training school and permitting parole.
School Department at Laurelton, 1944 Report
"Two hundred girls received training in classes conducted by the five academic teachers. They attended school half a day and work from primer to sixth grade was covered. We usually give preference in school placement to the higher grade girls.
They are more retarded, will profit more by training, and are the future parolees. However, a number of girls with mental ages of about seven years were placed in Miss Roher’s classes. Her training and experience in kindergarten work enabled her to plan activities suited to the level of this group. Academic gains were not marked but social growth was.
Miss Kathryn Stoker, Director of Music, had charge of Assembly
periods held twice a week in Earle Hall for morning and afternoon groups. Thus, regular instruction in music for all school girls was furnished. Movies on home-making, travel, and other educational subjects were often shovm during these periods." - 1944 report
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INDUSTRIAL TRAINING
WORK
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cleaning, making beds, cooking, baking, washing dishes, and laundering. In the sewing room, inmates assisted in making clothing and doing any necessary sewing at the institution.
Inmates also assisted with the landscaping and outdoor maintenance.
The institution reported, “this employment and the healthful life in the open, combined with wholesome food and regular hours, have greatly improved (the inmates’) general health. Outside, inmates assisted with groundwork, brushing out and cleaning up of the surrounding woods, and reclaiming several fields and clearing fence rows. In addition to the health benefits of having inmates work outdoors, the institution also saved money on the cost of labor. They reported, “At the time Cottage No. 1 was built, about five years ago, this work was done as protection from forest fires, and cost between $300 and $400. The girls practically duplicated this work at no cost to the institution.”
June 10, 1932
The village included a full scale farm. They grew rye, oats, buckwheat, and hay, along with vegetable crops such as peas, cabbage, peppers, and tomatoes. It had its own cannery, and the residents helped to preserve thousands of pounds of produce each season. An on site orchard provided fruits for drying, canning, and cider production. Inmates assisted with raising, and butchering, livestock.
"…Jim Pollack was in charge of the gardens. He had an old truck. They would have an attendant that would take a group of girls out to do garden work. But it wasn’t just a garden - it was a field and…those were the field girls…Now, (the staff) could help if you wanted to, but the supervisor was the one that had to see that they did it. So they would bring these peas in and dump this truck load of peas…
Then they had the cannery. Some of the girls worked in the cannery. …and some of the girls did the laundry, some worked at the kitchen, some worked in the sewing room. They worked in the hospital. They worked at anything. And they a dispensary and they had a dentist and one worked for the dentist and everybody had a job.” - Lulu Hoffman, employee for more than 25 years at Laurelton Village.
"New or younger girls often choose field work as their first real training. In the late spring, summer, and during harvest season, field attendants supervise groups of ten to fifteen girls. a number of older girls of moron or imbecile mental abilities have been field workers for years, having been unsuccessful in other work. Several of this group have been paroled to nearby farms and arc thereby self supporting." - 1944 report
In the barn
The Poultry House
"The everyday work of the Village is utilized for Industrial training. The girls are taught general housework, hand laundering, commercial laundering, cooking, serving at table, etc. No time limit Is set, but no girl is considered proficient until she has acquired sufficient skill to be able to earn her living at any of these tasks.
Sewing is taught only to those having an aptitude for it. The girls still receive training along agricultural lines, and in the dairy, hennery, etc,, but this work is no longer compulsory. There are always more than a sufficient number of volunteers, however, to keep the work going efficiently. The institution owns over 1400 acres of land of which about acres are under cultivation." 1944 Report
In a 1946-48 report, the board observed:
“First choice [for parole] is given to the girl who is perhaps becoming somewhat discouraged or entirely lacking in funds. It means so much to her morale to have some money for canteen, beauty parlor, or mail orders. It also, of course, helps us to evaluate the training she has received and reveal what part may need further special stress.”
"The laundry work usually is mastered in about a year by the alert girl. Some advance rapidly beyond the sorting of clothes, and shaking out towels stage, but slower girls are content to remain there. Girls learn hand washing and ironing with individual tubs and ironing boards, as well to help in a commercial way with washers, mangles, and driers. We have parole records of girls who have earned their living doing laundry work alone. After a girl has mastered "white uniforms" and "shirts" she is moved to another working unit." - 1944 report
"Store orders " have been mentioned. Girls are helped by attendants to choose orders up to $5,00 from catalogs several times yearly. In this time of industrial affluence families have sent girls more money to spend, The outfit, including dress, hose, undies, and hat, that can be bought for $5,00 is remarkable."
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The Homemaking Department
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"Miss Sylvia Coffman organized a Home-making department in a newly furnished three -room suite in the basement of Cottage #2, Sixteen girls, eight in the morning class and eight in the afternoon, began the course in October, 1942, The average length of the course was four and a half months and it consisted of four units; breakfast, luncheon, dinner, and nutrition.
Most of the time is spent in laboratory and demonstration. Many of the girls must be taught such basic principles as measuring, reading of fractions, doubling and halving recipes, regulating the oven, etc. In general, girls are chosen for this work who have had academic training and have completed much of their industrial training. It is a good preparation for parole."
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RECREATION
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It was not all work and no play. The rural facility was an ideal location for hikes, games, picnics, other outdoor activities. In the winter, there was downhill sledding on bobsleds, winter rides in the big farm sled, and ice skating.
The Recreation Hall
Indoors, the institution supplied books, magazines, and Victrolas in every cottage. Dances, singing, and opportunities for "fancy work" (needlework crafts) were also common in the auditorium building.
"“They used to have a movie every week for the kids…and there was a balcony there. It was a beautiful building - and a gymnasium underneath. They had a library there
and all of those buildings were beautiful…They had a choir…and they an orchestra, too. Mrs. Gelnett had the orchestra. They had a music teacher - her name was (Kathryn) Stoker (Walter)…Quite often, she would take the choir to the churches in the area and they would sing. She played the electric organ. Oh I loved to hear her play!” - Lulu Hoffman
September 1934
Local choirs regularly visited the Village, and on occasions, supervisors would permit trips to the movies, or the summertime Chautauqua [a festival of lectures and concerts] in Mifflinburg. Each September, the girls would be chaperoned in small groups to visit the Laurelton Fair.
Dramatic Club Photos from 1923-24
"Club meetings were continued, programs being held each month in Earle Hall, The best plays and other features were selected to be presented in the auditorium for the entire group. This was an incentive for good work and also furnished entertainment during the time when there wore no movies." - 1944 report
“The Girl Scout movement was begun in July 1947 with 24 alert and brighter girls. They have enjoyed special outside activities, chiefly in the early evening. They are accepted by the General Headquarters, not as a regular troop because of their ages, but are allowed to use all the Scout books, awards, and paraphernalia…We have an excellent relationship with the Union County women who are Girl Scout leaders.” - 1948 report from the institution.
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THE LIBRARY
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"Simplified editions of the classics were added to the library. The girls wore now able to enjoy those well-known books which Wore formerly beyond their comprehension. In order to mako full use of those and other purchases, the library was opened to school girls every two weeks. Each teacher brought her group and holped with selection of books. School girls Wore also allowed to take out books during the weekly cottage library periods.
The professional library- has also been greatly enlarged.
Many books on educational subjects are available. Teachers have access to such publications as the Grade Teacher, The Instructor, The Journal of Exceptional Children, The Journal of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, and others. There is an excellent collection of books on psychology, sociology, mental hygiene and psychiatry - all extremely valuable as a back- ground for work with defective delinquents." - 1944 report
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THE HOSPITAL
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"The Acute Ward is for the short hospitalization patients. The main cause of actual illness is colds. Very few seriously ill patients have been admitted this last year. In the summer of 1942 we had an epidemic of virus pneumonia. We had 148 cases at the hospital. Most chronic cases except the tubercular were placed in cottages. We list no cases and no serious complications resulted. One girl had a reactivation of her tubercular lesion but is now quiescent.
Each December there has been an outbreak of tonsillitis. This was most severe in 1942"
Occasionally a disturbed girl is admitted for observation. Usually she responds well to nursing care in a small group but we have isolated three cases of mental disease in this biennium who have been recommitted to mental hospitals. The policy on these feeble minded girls with psychosis is to let them remain in the Village if they are not harmful to others or suicidal. There are 11 of these psychotics. A new admission of the last year is a mental case who cannot be adjusted to Village regime.
There are 13 girls who are epileptics. Two of these remain in the Chronic Ward at the hospital rather than in the cottages as they have seizures more often. One epileptic is a third generation lunatic." - 1944 report
1942-1944
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ON PAROLE
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"Perhaps the most outstanding colony is at Devitt’s Camp at Allenwood. Dr. Devitt is an honored and beloved friend of the Village. Simultaneously with his prayer for domestic help lost he would be forced to close one building, at the Village were planning, without his asking, to send him help. Now 19 happy paroled girls, and three discharged girls, are doing this work."
"If a girl has a suitable family, the home may be investigated by the County probation officers, or Miss Jolly, Upon request of the family fifteen girls are now on these home visits, supervised by the County officers. Two more wore paroled by Court order at the families insistence against our advice. Eleven girls names are still on our bocks, having escaped from parole, or the institution, over a period of years. The discharge of some have been requested but their whereabouts are unknown. In all 132 girls wore on parole and on visit as of May 31, 1944,
Thirty-six girls wore returned from parole during this biennium. Of these two were not adjusted in their particular home, five did unsatisfactory work, ten misbehaved, and five were dissatisfied with the place, one family interfered, and three were returned because of health reasons." - 1944 report
The Daily Item reported in September of 1950 that 30 inmates at the Laurelton Center were engaged in picking tomatoes for Hilands Cannery. The girls averaged 10,000 to 12,000 baskets daily. "Working under a basket fee basis, the inmates are able to earn funds which go into their personal accounts."
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THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
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The administration building was added as part of the Public Works Administration projects. It was completed in 1939.
“This project called for the construction of two cottages, buildings for administration, recreation, and hospital purposes, and improvements and extensions to the existing plant. The administration building contains in the basement a garage, psychological laboratory, a post office, and various service and storage rooms. On the first floor are board and staff rooms and a number of offices. The second and third floors are devoted to living quarters for the staff and officials.
The building is reinforced concrete with exterior walls of local stone, wood trim, and a slate roof. It was completed in May 1939 at an estimated construction cost of $178,550 and a project cost of $201,314.”
(Short and Brown)
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In 1969, a decision was made to admit men to the institution, and it's name was again changed, this time to Laurelton State School and Hospital.
The institution was permanently closed in 1998.
In 2005, the property was purchased by Mountain Valley Inc, with plans to turn it into a convention center. No progress was made on that idea, and on March 30 2021 the complex was purchased by Jay Fulkroad for $1,005,000.
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READ MORE
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- Education of Feeble-minded Women Issue 174By Mary Vanuxem · 1925
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Dr Mary Wolfe
Mary Moore Wolfe was born in Lewisburg on March 31, 1874
the daughter of Charles Spyker
Wolfe (1845-1891) and Martha Elizabeth Meixell (1847-1939).
Graduated with honors from Bucknell in 1896
Graduated with honors from University Of Michigan Medical School in 1899
worked in Norristown State Hospital for the Insane
"Mary also returned to Bucknell on occasion, to obtain support from her Alma Mater. She advocated for the political slogan, “Every man at Bucknell for Suffrage,” and helped establish a suffrage club on campus with a goal to “promote equal suffrage sentiment among college men and women.” She became a leading member of the State Committee of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association and gave many public addresses advocating for women’s suffrage. One newspaper, reporting Mary’s address in October 1915 in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, observed, “Not in the history of the new square has it at any time been so crowded with people; men women and children from town and country…were attentive to the address.” " - West End Quarterly, March 2017
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Employees at the Village were well paid. Most lived full time at the village, receiving a day and a half off each week, and one week-end a month.
The large buildings at Laurelton Village constructed of stone from the surrounding mountains, and water came from the mountain springs. Hydroelectric power provided light to the buildings, via Laurel Run.
The large buildings at Laurelton Village constructed of stone from the surrounding mountains, and water came from the mountain springs. Hydroelectric power provided light to the buildings, via Laurel Run.
"The entire population at the Laurelton State Village has been most loyal in supporting the war effort. 149 of the 150 employees, end many of the inmates and parolees, have participated in the various war loan drives. Salvage and conservation of all vital materials has been very commendable . Four nurses arc in the Armed Forces; tv/o of these are on leave of absence. Of the few men employees, one is in the Army; most of the others arc in the older group. We feel that the faithful experienced women employees are doing their duty on the Home Front. All contribute generously to Rod Gross, U.S.O., and other drives. Everyone has been most cooperative in sharing cars and conserving gas. The transportation problem has been greatly mitigated by this moans." - 1944 report
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October 1914
June 1918
Lloyd Hall killed while working on construction at Laurelton
1925
February 1955
What an interesting read. I grew up in Lewisburg in the 50’s and knew of Laurelton Village, but never really knew why it was established. I went to school with Sue Meixell and wonder if Mary Wolfe was a relative….
ReplyDeleteA very interesting read.
ReplyDelete