Bill Baldini

Once a notorious institution for people with disabilities, Pennhurst finally closed after decades of abuse in 1987. Now those doors are reopening, as a group of disabled performers reframe the narrative around the site's harmful history – as a haunted house.

An NBC documentary, which set out to expose the Pennhurst State School, which has since been described as the shame of a nation. Having opened its doors in November of 1908, this state-funded school / hospital became extremely overcrowded within a short period of time, taking in those who were suffering from mental illness or criminals, orphans, etc., i.e. people who could not be housed elsewhere. The school quickly became the center of a human rights movement which eventually revolutionized America's approach to mental healthcare.

An NBC documentary, which set out to expose the Pennhurst State School, which has since been described as the shame of a nation. Having opened its doors in November of 1908, this state-funded school / hospital became extremely overcrowded within a short period of time, taking in those who were suffering from mental illness or criminals, orphans, etc., i.e. people who could not be housed elsewhere. The school quickly became the center of a human rights movement which eventually revolutionized America's approach to mental healthcare.

An NBC documentary, which set out to expose the Pennhurst State School, which has since been described as the shame of a nation. Having opened its doors in November of 1908, this state-funded school / hospital became extremely overcrowded within a short period of time, taking in those who were suffering from mental illness or criminals, orphans, etc., i.e. people who could not be housed elsewhere. The school quickly became the center of a human rights movement which eventually revolutionized America's approach to mental healthcare.