Ward Windows

This was like the dayroom in the unit I worked on as an aide. I was there from 1970-72. I went there believing everyone should spend two years in community service of some kind. C-9 comes to mind. Was that my unit? I can't remember. I do remember it was one of the last locked wards. The only other locked wards were the criminal wards, and the companion male ward to our female ward. Our patients were either civil court commitments because they were dangerous to themselves or others, or the adults who had physically grown up in state children's institutions and would live out their days at Byberry. One young woman in her twenties had learned to mimic autistic behavior because it frightened other patients and kept them from abusing her. She'd been placed in the children's facility at the age of 6 months because her mother said she couldn't cope with her. The mother was ill, in my opinion, much more so than the baby. But after 20 some years of institutionalization, who knows what life she might have had in other circumstances. We were told she had less than a year old mental ability, and only knew a handful of words. But it didn't take long before I found out by asking different aides and nurses who'd known her for years. that she only used four or five words to each person.. and never the same ones; so she had a fairly extensive vocabulary, but hid it. I was young, idealistic, and naïve. I spent every spare moment working with her, and in a couple of months, had her say, Angry! instead of flushing a soiled dress down the toilet when no one offered her a clean one in the morning. It solved the plumbing problem, and I had hopes of helping her begin to use enough of her words to communicate her basic needs instead of running around or pushing at people. I was transferred to work in other areas, because it wasn't my job to work with patients that way.

Aides and nurses had the keys to the doors on a length of window chain that went around their waist and clipped to itself.. with the keys hanging down a foot or so.. long enough that you could reach the keyhole without unclipping the chain from your waist. One young patient told me once, "The only difference between you and me is you got the keys."

Hi CJ,

Please tell me HOW a baby could end up there. 6 months??? Now, I believe I know you from elsewhere ( obvious from the screen name ) and am not doubting you in the least... but how can this happen!? 6 MONTHS OLD?! What about adoption? Were there no types of child services to step in in the early 70's? There are so many people out there willing to adopt a child... regardless of what problems a baby might have.

I just don't understand. Were things that different as far as services for children back then? I was born in the mid 70's but I know that now... if your child so much as goes to school with a bump on their head from falling that you shouldn't be surprised if you find HRS knocking at your door.

Six months old seems awfully young to be "institutionalized," but it did happen. Byberry did have a pediatric unit.
One of the arguments in favor of the "deinstitutionalization" movement was that people indeed got "institutionalized" to the point where they stood no chance in the outside world.
Unfortunately, the D.I. movement was devilishly underfunded nationwide.
Now the severely mentally ill live in prisons instead of state hospitals.

CJ said that the woman was in her 20's by 1970-1972 which would've meant the baby was born in the late 40's to early 50's. Has nothing to do with CPS in the 70's when she was already a "legal" adult.

CJ I applaud your intentions, I bet you did make a difference in her life even if it seems insignificant as compared to what you had hoped to be able to accomplish. You very well may have been the only kind person to ever interact with her. Who knows...

I worked there in that time period, maybe a year or 2 earlier, as a lab tech. I think the lab was in N10, don't remember, but that bldg sticks in my mind. I do remember taking blood in the day room and carrying a huge set of keys, for the elevator, etc.. Most of the tests were to monitor drug levels. The patients were pretty heavily medicated. I'm also interested in reading whatever you have.
The pictures are great!

THE STORY IS TOUCHING BUT I HAVE HEARD OF WORSE THINGS THAN THAT GOING ON THERE AND I HAVE A FEELING THAT SHE WAS NOT THE ONLY CHILD IN THEM CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WHO REALLY KNOWS UNLESS YOU WHERE THERE TO SEE

Alot of bad things happen in these places like for example there is a disorder or people who smoke cigarettes then eat the lit smoke butts. There was evidence found that orderlys were busted throwing smokes on the ground in front of these people just for the novelty of watching them fight on the ground over who gets to eat it. We didnt have a sunroom where i was, we had a closet type thing though with a playstation in it but the drugs most of us on made us too agitated to sit and concerntrate on a game for more than 5 minutes without getting up and pacing around.

almost every picture that I have you have .........great minds always think alike

I had lived in phila most of my life and was always fascinated by the byberry stories.. I love the photos.

This could be the C9 day room. C8- was the admissions building and was also locked. C8 and C9 were male buldings. After patients were checked in at C8 and processed, they would normally be moved to C9. The patient population in C9 was often older. I worked at Byberry from 1968 to 1979. I still have the key chain we used to get in and out of the buildings.

CJ,
I would believe you but i don't know anything about that time other then my mom was born 1979 and im 15 now.

Is there anyone here who worked there in the early 50's? I looking for a particular boy. Possibly born in 51 or 52. He may have been placed there as a baby and taken out when he was 2 1/2 or 3. Dark blond hair and blue eyes. It could have been that he was slow minded. He had a scar on the hairline of his forehead. Surgical. Desperately seeking information on him. His name could have been Jonathan. If you know of this child, please respond! Thanks!

@ Max I know most of these comments were made 7 years ago,but not all mentally ill are in prisions. Not far from where I live is a place called Marion,Virginia,and there is a still running state hospital for the insane there