Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center facts for kids

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Walter E. Fernald State School, Waltham, MA.
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district


Location in Massachusetts Show map of Massachusetts Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	200 Trapelo Rd., Waltham, Massachusetts
Built	1888
Architect	William G. Preston; Clarence P. Hoyt
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
MPS	Massachusetts State Hospitals And State Schools MPS
NRHP reference No.	93001487
Added to NRHP	January 21, 1994

The Walter E. Fernald State School, later known as the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, was the oldest public institution in the Western Hemisphere for people with developmental disabilities. It started as a Victorian-era hospital for long-term illness. Later, in the 20th century, it became known for medical experiments. Investigations into this research led to new rules about how human studies, especially with children, should be done.

The school is located on a 186-acre property off Trapelo Road in Waltham, Massachusetts.

History
Current status
See also

History

Early beginnings

The Fernald Center was first called the Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children. It was started in Boston in 1848 by a reformer named Samuel Gridley Howe. The state of Massachusetts provided $2,500 to help set it up.

The school slowly moved to a new, permanent home in Waltham between 1888 and 1891. It grew to include 72 buildings across 196 acres. At its busiest, the school housed about 2,500 people. Most of them were boys with intellectual disabilities.

Under its third leader, superintendent Walter E. Fernald (1859–1924), the school was seen as a great example for educating people with intellectual disabilities. After he died in 1924, the school was renamed in his honor in 1925.

Medical studies and ethics

The institution was involved in several different studies. These studies used the residents as test subjects. Some of these studies even involved radiation.

The school cared for many children with cognitive disabilities. However, The Boston Globe newspaper estimated that about half of the residents actually had normal IQ scores. In the 20th century, living conditions were very basic. For example, about 36 children slept in each dormitory room.

Nuclear medicine research in children

From 1946 to 1953, the Fernald School was the site of experiments. These studies were done by Harvard University and MIT. They gave small amounts of radioactive isotopes to young boys.

Documents found in 1994 showed more details about these studies:

A researcher sponsored by the Quaker Oats Company helped with the experiment.
Part of the study involved adding radioactive iron and calcium to oatmeal and milk. This mixture was then fed to the students at Fernald.
MIT Professor Robert S. Harris led the experiment. It looked at how the body absorbed calcium and iron.
The boys were invited to join a "Science Club." This club offered bigger food portions, parties, and trips to Boston Red Sox baseball games.
The 57 club members ate special cereals and milk for breakfast. These foods had iron and calcium in them.
To track how the body absorbed these, some radioactive calcium was given by mouth or through a vein.
Scientists then measured radiation levels in stool and blood samples.
In another study, 17 people received shots of iron supplements. These shots contained radioactive iron.
Neither the children nor their parents gave proper permission for them to be part of a scientific study. This is called informed consent.

The Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments looked into these studies in 1994. They reported:

In 1946, one study exposed seventeen subjects to radioactive iron. The second study, which involved a series of seventeen related subexperiments, exposed fifty-seven subjects to radioactive calcium between 1950 and 1953. It is clear that the doses involved were low and that it is extremely unlikely that any of the children who were used as subjects were harmed as a consequence. These studies remain morally troubling, however, for several reasons. First, although parents or guardians were asked for their permission to have their children involved in the research, the available evidence suggests that the information provided was, at best, incomplete. Second, there is the question of the fairness of selecting institutionalized children at all, children whose life circumstances were by any standard already heavily burdened.

It was said that the highest amount of radiation any person received was 330 millirem. This is less than the amount of natural radiation a person gets in a year in a place like Denver. In 1995, a group of people filed a lawsuit. In 1998, a court decided that MIT and Quaker would pay the victims $1.85 million.

Improving conditions

The situation at Fernald began to change in the 1970s. A lawsuit called Ricci v. Okin was filed. It aimed to make conditions better at Fernald and other state institutions in Massachusetts.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Louis Tauro oversaw the case starting in 1972. He officially ended his oversight in 1993. He said that the care and conditions at the facilities had improved greatly. As a result of this lawsuit, Fernald residents were guaranteed a certain level of care. This was to make up for many years of neglect.

Twenty-first century changes

The buildings and land were still used in the 2000s. It was a center for adults with intellectual disabilities. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation ran it. In 2001, 320 adults lived at Fernald. Their ages ranged from 27 to 96 years old.

In 2003, Governor Mitt Romney announced that the facility would close by 2007. This news was reported in the Boston Globe in 2004. A group of families and state employee unions started a campaign to save Fernald. They asked Judge Tauro to restart his oversight of the Ricci v. Okin lawsuit.

In 2007, Judge Tauro ordered the Department of Mental Retardation to ask each resident what they wanted before closing the facility. However, in September 2007, Governor Deval Patrick's administration appealed this ruling. They argued that Fernald was too expensive to run. They believed residents could get equal or better care in private, community settings.

The Fernald League and other family groups disagreed with the cost claims. They wanted to keep Fernald open for its current residents. They suggested a plan to make Fernald smaller and sell part of the land. But the Patrick administration did not negotiate. They continued with their plan to close the school.

A large part of the Waltham campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Fernald was also featured in a 2005 documentary film called "Front Wards, Back Wards." This film was shown on some PBS television stations.

As of June 2013, Fernald was still open with 13 residents. The oldest resident was 84 years old and had lived there since age 19. It was reported to cost about $1,000,000 per resident per year. This was about four times the national average for a state-supported institution.

The last resident left the Fernald Center on November 13, 2014. This happened after a long legal and political fight. This battle cost Massachusetts over $40 million more than planned. The remaining residents moved into community services or other state programs.

In 2014, the city of Waltham bought the land in two parts. They paid $2.7 million for 139 acres and $800,000 for 40 acres. The larger section can only be used for open space, recreation, or historic preservation. The smaller 40-acre part has no restrictions on its future use. There was talk about building a new high school there, but this idea was dropped. Reasons included the land's shape, possible soil pollution, and the Massachusetts Historical Commission not approving the demolition of some buildings.

Current status

In May 2017 and 2018, the Waltham Lions Club held a fundraising carnival on the grounds. It had rides, games, prizes, a petting zoo, and food.

In November/December 2020 and 2021, the site hosted the Greater Boston Lights Show. This was also a fundraiser for the Waltham Lions Club. Some disability rights groups were upset about holding a holiday lights display at this location.

In December 2021, the Waltham Recreation Department held an online meeting. They asked for public ideas for recreational development on the Fernald property. Many ideas were suggested, like walking paths and gardens. But most of the meeting focused on honoring the history of Fernald and how its residents were treated.

As of 2021, the property remains empty except for these special events. Many ideas for its use have been given to the Waltham city council. However, most have not moved forward. Some residential buildings have been removed. Also, wetlands restoration work has been done in the northwest part of the property.