Walter E. Fernald State School

The Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children conducted at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind from 1848 was incorporated by Massachusetts as the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth in 1850. It was renamed Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded in 1883 and Walter E. Fernald State School in 1925.

From the description of Movement of population log, <1920-1977> (bulk <1960-1977>). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122412389

From the description of Educational evaluation case files, 1898-1978. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122609685

From the description of Outpatient clinic patient register, <1918-1960>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122609826

From the description of Application files for patients not admitted, <1922-1932>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122520730

From the description of Trustee minute books, 1890-1961 (bulk 1925-1961). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83494024

From the description of Narcotics control logs, <1915>-[ongoing]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122521179

From the description of Photographs, [18-- - 19--]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122357384

From the description of Wassermann test returns, <1923-1927>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122357397

From the description of Superintendent's quarterly reports to trustees, <1923-1964>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122357394

From the description of Inpatient case files, 1870-1956. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122581454

From the description of Daily ward reports, <1920>-[ongoing] (bulk <1960>-[ongoing]). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122564428

From the description of Superintendent's correspondence, 1849-1975 (bulk 1894-1924) (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80616216

From the description of Traveling clinic preschool psychometric test files, 1938-1942. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122405644

From the description of Administrative bulletins, 1905-1973. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122556544

From the description of Traveling clinic case files, 1921-1955. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83176307

From the description of Visiting physician training materials, 1915-1939. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122505883

From the description of Address books, <[19--]>-[ongoing]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122505911

From the description of Traveling clinic correspondence with towns, <1925-1947> (bulk<1925-1934>). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122506049

From the description of Forms and procedures manuals, 1908-1935. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122590838

From the description of Visitor registers, <1922>-[ongoing]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122590990

From the description of Research Unit photographs, <[19--]>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122590843

From the description of Correspondence with parents, <1905>-[ongoing]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122419784

From the description of Infirmary daily treatment log, <1920-1977> (bulk <1960-1977>). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122643368

From the description of Superintendent's administrative files, 1887-1978. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86123287

From the description of Infirmary medication inventory log, <1920-1977> (bulk <1960-1977>). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86132296

From the description of Superintendent's papers and lectures, 1887-195-? (bulk 1887-1924). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 180702133

From the description of Corporation meeting minutes, 1851-1944. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 180702153

From the description of Lesson plans, 1908-1953. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79165521

From the description of Trustee attendance registers, <1914-1948>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122506046

From the description of Immunization logs, <1910-1954>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122469615

From the description of Admissions log, 1918-1935. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81640424

From the description of Alcohol control log, <1921-1935>. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122609810

From the description of Outpatient case files, 1923-1949. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122520693

From the description of Performance program scrapbooks, 1921-1958. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122520698

From the description of Christmas gift logs, <1920>-[ongoing] (bulk <1960-[ongoing]). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122581536

the Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children conducted at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind from 1848 was incorporated by Massachusetts as the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Febble-Minded youth in 1850. It was renamed the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded in 1883 and the Walter E. Fernald State School in 1925.

From the description of Annual reports, 1851-1969. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122469589

The Walter E. Fernald State School, the oldest institution for the retarded in the country, began operation in Massachusetts in 1848 as the Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children.

Prior to the establishment of the school, the governor had appointed three Commissioners on Idiocy to inquire on the "condition of idiots in the commonwealth and if anything can be done for them" (Resolves 1846, c 117). The commission's report, written by Samuel G. Howe of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind led to an experimental school being funded for three years by the state (Resolves 1848, c 65) and administered by the trustees of the Perkins Institution. The legislature incorporated it as the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth in 1850 (St 1850, c 150).

Resolves 1855, c 58 appropriated funds for a permanent facility, a site for which was found in South Boston. From 1863 the school was under the supervision successively of the Board of State Charities (1863-1879), the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity (1879-1886), and the State Board of Lunacy and Charity (1886-1898), to whom it made quarterly census reports. By St 1898, c 433, s 9 it was placed within the jurisdiction of the State Board of Insanity.

The name of the school was changed to the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded by St 1883, c 239, which provided that pupils were to be supported by quarterly payments from their place of settlement (in turn reimbursed by the state), expenses of those who had no place of settlement were to be paid by the state, commitments were to be made through probate or municipal court, trustees could receive or discharge students at their discretion, and that there be established as a separate department of the school an asylum for those who were beyond school age or not capable of being helped by the school's instruction. St 1886, c 298 further provided that indigent persons designated by the governor and special pupils from other states could be received, persons applying for the commitment of others must first notify the appropriate mayor or selectmen, trustees were to make an annual report to the state Board of Education, and the State Board of Lunacy and Charity could transfer a person from one of its institutions to the school.

By 1887 the school needed to expand and consequently Resolves 1887, c 64 and Resolves 1888, c 82 provided funds for the construction of a facility in Waltham. Occupation of the Waltham site began in 1890 and the South Boston facility was closed in 1892. Throughout the 1890s the legislature continued to appropriate money for the purchase of land surrounding the school and the construction of additional buildings.

To counter problems with students sent by their communities who were either delinquent, violent, or insane, St 1906, c 309 provided that anyone incapable of further instruction at the school could be sent to another institution if adjudged other than feeble-minded by the courts. St 1906, c 508 increased the number of trustees appointed by the governor to seven, two of whom could be women, and the trustees were to appoint a superintendent who was to be a medical doctor and to reside at the school and also assistant physicians, one of whom was required to be a woman. The trustees were to visit the school at least once a month and report on conditions there.

The responsibility for supporting the students at the school was removed from the communities in 1908, with the Commonwealth being liable for their board, care, and treatment (St 1908, c 629). In 1909 a recodification of laws relating to insane persons provided for twelve trustees for the school, six of whom were to be appointed by the governor. It also allowed for voluntary admission on application by a parent or guardian with medical certification, in addition to customary commitment by the courts (St 1909, c 504, ss 59-65).

Early in 1915 the State Board of Insanity urged the school to start outpatient work, which in fact it had already begun. Clinics were started in Worcester, Fall River, and Haverhill, with the hope that the advice and help given in the communities through these clinics would save the Commonwealth some of the expense of institutional care. By 1921 the school was one of several state institutions operating traveling clinics to diagnose children in accordance with the provisions of St 1919, c 277, which required school committees to provide special education to mentally retarded pupils within the public school system.

On the abolition of the State Board of Insanity in 1916, the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded came successively under the jurisdiction of the Commission on Mental Diseases (St 1916, c 285), the Department of Mental Diseases (St 1919, c 350, ss 79-80), and the Department of Mental Health (St 1938, c 486). In 1925, a year after the death of long-time superintendent Walter E. Fernald, the legislature renamed the institution the Walter E. Fernald State School (St 1925, c 293).

The 1960s brought two changes of note the the school. In 1963 a work program was established (St 1963, c 394) in which certain students, known as patient trainees, were chosen at the discretion of the superintendent and paid for work performed at the school. In 1966 legislation provided for a comprehensive program of mental health and mental retardation services (St 1966, c 735) under the Department of Mental Health. Section 14 of the act stated that trustees of the Fernald School and those of similar state institutions were to establish and maintain, subject to appropriation, research and demonstration projects in vocational rehabilitation in cooperation with the federal vocational rehabilitation program.

One result of federal-state cooperation was the creation of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at the Fernald School. The Shriver Center was built with matching state and federal funds as detailed in Public Law 88-164. The Shriver Center includes a Community Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center, which provides training for people working with the retarded, in areas such as biochemistry, genetics, and occupational therapy, and is associated with several local institutions of higher education. There is also a Research and Special Services Building, which was one of twelve research centers created in the nation by PL 88-164. The research building, in addition to its research activities, has been designated as a state-wide resource for the retarded.

The mental health and mental retardation services in Massachusetts were reorganized in 1986. A Department of Mental Retardation was created (St 1986, c 599), which supervises and controls all public facilities for the retarded including the Fernald School and is currently under the jurisdiction of the Executive Office of Human Services.

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE. Series relating to the agencies described above can be found by searching the following access points for the time period stated: 1846-1848--Massachusetts. Commissioners on Idiocy; 1848-1850--Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children (Boston, Mass.); 1850-1883--Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth; 1883-1925--Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded; 1925-present--Walter E. Fernald State School.

From the description of Agency history record. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122297682

The Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children conducted at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind from 1848 was incorporated by Massachusetts as the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth in 1850. It was renamed Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded in 1883 and Walter E. Fernald State School in 1925.

As a residential treatment center and educational facility for mentally retarded persons in Massachusetts, the Walter E. Fernald State School is responsible for providing diagnostic services for its clients. In fulfilling this function, the school and its immediate predecessor administered psychometric tests measuring client mental age and intelligence quotient (IQ) to assist in diagnosis and treatment. Psychometric test files, containing completed record sheets for the Stanford revision of the Binet-Simon tests (and predecessors), were created for each client tested.

Information for each test includes client name, case number, date of birth, date of examination, time, name of examiner, and client chronological age, in addition to general observations regarding client behavior during test, completed test form, and mental age and IQ based on test results. In most instances files contain all tests administered to a client while under care of the school, sometimes spanning 20 years. Most files are for people in residence at Fernald, although there are some for outpatients. While this series is the main locus of psychometric tests, some tests were filed in: Inpatient case files ((M-Ar)259).

From the description of Psychometric test files, 1913-1946. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122520785