Pennhurst Asylum

When it opened in 1908, Pennhurst took in mostly patients with physical and mental disabilities. But like other institutions at the time, Pennhurst also held “inmates,” which encompassed not just actual criminals but also orphans, immigrants, and pretty much anyone who had nowhere else to go. And also like similar places, Pennhurst was self-sufficient, with its own power plant and other amenities. By the 1960s the institution was overcrowded, underfunded, and falling apart. Television reporter Bill Baldini exposed abusive and unsafe conditions for children living at Pennhurst, and his story helped propel a movement to change the way people with disabilities are housed and treated. But still, the institution remained open until 1987.