By Barron H. Lerner
The New York Times
Originally published March 7, 2013
A film festival dedicated to stories about people with disabilities kicks off this week in New York City. The event, called “ReelAbilities,” is mostly a celebration of people with different abilities, but one troubling new film explores a particularly dark chapter of medical history.
The award-winning short film, “Willowbrook,” to be screened Friday at New York University Langone Medical Center, examines an unthinkable medical experiment: researchers injected active hepatitis virus into healthy children with mental disabilities.
The story of Willowbrook began in 1947, when New York State converted a hospital into a residential facility that was supposed to house 4,000 children. By the mid-1960s, however, the Willowbrook State School on Staten Island, contained more than 6,000 children. The situation was abominable, with children lining the corridors, many unclothed and lying in their own excrement. It is little wonder that then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy called Willowbrook a “snake pit” after a 1965 tour. An exposé of the brutal conditions by a young television reporter named Geraldo Rivera in 1972 led to government inquiries and the eventual closing of the institution — but not for another 15 years.
The entire story is here.
A trailer for Willowbrook is below.
Showing posts with label Willowbrook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Willowbrook. Show all posts
Monday, March 18, 2013
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