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Indiana Disability History Project

For children with disabilities before the 1970s and '80s, "a lot of them, I think [the Muscatatuck institution] would be the only chance for any education at all." In local communities, "they weren't invited to the school, they were invited not to be in the school." At Muscatatuck, "we had a principal, we had teachers, you know we had a school program."

This video contains excerpts from audio recordings of three interviews with former staff and family of staff who worked at Muscatatuck State School, later called Muscatatuck State Developmental Center. The speakers describe what school was like for children placed there in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Some children with disabilities who lived with their families also attended school at Muscatatuck because the local public schools would not accept them. Interviewees mention classroom challenges for teachers, punishment of students that could be very severe, and positive experiences some students had who participated in a music program. The interviews were conducted between 2003 and 2005.

Patty Cook - interviewee; Belma Eberts - interviewee; Sarah Poole - interviewee; Jane Harlan-Simmons - interviewer; Jennie Todd - interviewer; Steve Savage - interviewer; Peggy Holtz - audio editor and videographer

Center for Health Equity at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities

Institutions; Education

1950s-1980s

Indiana, Jennings County, North Vernon

Indiana Disability History Project

Indiana Institute on Disability and Community

English

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Catalog Key: 156-mi