Cornered

Even more eerie with the B&W. What an awful place to put a person in such a tight corner.

THIS IS SO SAD YO PUT A PERSON IN THE ROOM WITH A SMALL WINDOW!!

I wonder why there is an observation window in a closet-like room,. Hmm.

Would this be one of the seclusion type rooms perhaps? And are they planning on pulling this structure down and putting up something like a minimall or parkinglot or are they going to reuse this building for something else?

Wow, I would NOT want to spend the night there!

That was indeed a seclusion room. Andrew Palmer, who wrote Hell and Back, mentioned these rooms when I interviewed him. The staff would sit on the other side and watch the kids work out their crisis inside the seclusion room. That way the staff didn't get hurt while the kid was in crisis.

Even though it was the staff putting the kids into crisis! God, i'm getting my Irish up. Sorry.

creepy room.

what was it used for Motts?
if you know.

Yeah...thats weird... I love the picture, hate the idea.

Don't forget - yes, they put there persens. But they were - children!!!!! Young hearts!!!!! Oh, its so hard to see...

Gad, it's horrible to think children were secluded in these rooms.

It's sad that it took so many years for the public to realize that they are not outcasts, that they are humans and should be treated like one.

Sadly, not all mental health insitutions believe in this today.

I hope the people who tortured the mentally disabled back in the day are all burning and rotting in hell. Or even better, receiving the same treatment they enforced on them today...Or just have REALLY shitty lives..

I can't agree with you more and I know this from living the hell in this piece of shit place I spent 4 years there and it was just how it looks,HELL and scared for life from it :(
edtripodes@hotmail.com if anyone is reading this that lived there and rembers my name email me maybe something good can come out of this after all.

omg i am clostrophobic and that just makes me shiver! great shot

How can that room be so small to keep a child its more of a cell, its disgusting and terrible to think what went on in there after reading Andrew Palmers account. Murderers get bigger cells than that. Great pics as always though.

Bucky Katt, while I appreciate your sentiments and totally get where you're coming from, I have to make a correction. The kids that were placed at Gaebler were not "mentally disabled". They were mentally ill. As someone who has struggled with mental illness her whole life and who has been placed in psychiatric institutions twice, I can't help but be offended by your choice of words. Yes, I'm mentally ill. But in no way am I disabled. I'm just as able and capable as the next girl. Mental illness is NOT a disability, and anyone who views it as such is just promoting the negative stigma that is/was attached to people like the kids who were sent to Gaebler.

Ok, getting off my soapbox now...

The black and white is really quite striking.

Yes, I spent a few nights in a seclusion room.
1971-72.

abandonedNH - need to make a quick correction here, not all patients that were there were mentally ill, some were just trouble makers that instead of being shipped off to DYS were sent to Gaebler. Otherwise juvenile probation and therapy would have sufficed. On the other hand, there were quite a few people who were there that needed to be there such as Christina Hill who poisoned her 2 foster brothers or Rod Matthews who beat Sean Oulette from Canton in the head with a baseball bat.

those poor children :(

You thought you were in a crisis before? Spending any amount of time in there would do it.

A little room for a little person.

Hey there everyone, just to say this is my first posting on here. So Rod Matthews actually spent some time there? Interesting, as I certainly remember that case from back in the 80's. He's still in prison today serving a life sentence for that, though I know that recently he was up for possible parole.

It's interesting the way part of the floor in this room seems to be risen up maybe half a foot, and is that risen section made of stone or wood?

Gaebler school girl, I tried to contact you via myspace, where have you gone?

I lived here at this HELL HOLE for 5 years of my life. I am GLAD it is no longer operational.

jj - what ward were you on?

Ward D from June 24, 1984-April 22, 1988.

Contact me via my email (you can find me on classmates class of 84 Gaebler Children's Center.)

*Was There* I remember almost every person you mentioned in past comments, especially the insufferable Marilyn Litman, and The Glynn Brothers. Willie & Suzanne Jones were 2 decent enough people, but they were the exception. Between Marilyn & Chris Wedge I do not know who was the worst. As for Mrs. Henderson, she was an easy target for everyone HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Correction: 4 years, not 5. I am the typo king it seems.

...wow...thats all i can say

People can be horrible... they freak out over what they don't understand and the sad part is they don't even try to understand. They think if they push it under the rug it isn't there.

Not right...

y would u put some1 in there... let alone a child thats like locking them in a closet!

Sad for chiuldren but have any of you actually SEEN a child come unglued mentally? Its scarier than the rooms...I promise you!

this must have been a room for soiltary confinement for the young ones.

No ian cullen, it is not.
It looks to be the little hallway behind the office that connects to the tv room.

Hey... Who remembers Bob and Cindy, and the other Bob and Cindy who came by every I think, it is Tuesday for bible study and Folk Songs of Power Hour on Sunday's?

is there any chance that this might be the observation room for the seclusion room? or like John mentioned above, a hallyway with an observation panel in it?

I feel like Lynne, reminding us all that the place our minds go to first is usually the most horrible one, and not always the "real" one.

which is in no way meant to belittle or negate the stories of abuse and mistreatment that come out of any such institution (whether it be a state hospital, a VA hospital, a nursing home or a private institution).

Does anyone remember Balinda?

Hey all ! im responding to WAS THeRE , Christina hill.. was she on ward d ? cause i was on ward d with someone named that.

WOW. After reading Hell and Back this makes me really sad to this. These poor children were treated so badly. I love all your pictures. Because of the detail each picture tells a story in its own way. Keep up the good work!!!!

Hey "wasthere" thanks for info on christina hill. Always kinda felt bad about breaking her nose. Now I feel much better. lol don't know if you remember me or not but thanks

Gaebler1988 and shauna, Yes we are thinking of the one and same Christina Hill. She was on ward D as was I.

Really ?? WAS there..... OMG thats scary to know... Noone really ever talked bout why they were there... Do you remember David Gretchen?? Id love to talk to anyone who was there. You can email me, but i dont know if its ok to post my email here??/

Hey does anyone remember the fire that was on Ward D? ( my ward) and h ow they kept us all in the building? and i recall having to sleep on the Activities room floor for weeks. I lost everything!!! I was the one who noticed and told staff , whom were in change of shift and not one staff was in the hall.....

How long was Christina Hill there? what happened to her when they closed.. I came way after her and left before her.... What ever happened to that kid Lenny M. the one who thought he was a dog??

Gaebler88 are u talking about lenny with glasses. Who always made fun of the teacher mr. Litch the science teacher with the big nose and the fish tank.
Shauna
Were u on ward A?

I remember the fire on ward D I was on A but heard it started on a mattress. I thought christina hills was Tina Hill and christina was christina washington. They were both on ward D. Christina I. Heard had a baby from one of the staff. And her sister was on 3east "were ward b was earlier" was taken out of here when they found out in 1991

Just drove by the place

Christina hill was also known as tina, but I never heard that her sister was there as well. I know another person involved through heresay in the murder of the two foster children was Clara Kelly. I left in 1988, so am not exactly sure what happened to her, but I believe she had left before I did. I know she was convicted, but in 1999 I believe they reversed the decision. I also never heard about any child being pregnant by one of the staff. I remember Mr. Litch, and Ms. Blume and the heavy spanish lady Maria. How about Doug and Debbie Aruda from ward D? Jim Goodwin? Robbie who married Rick Glynn. Which dennis bunting on facebook are you?

Short blond hair, black shirt, face shot, big dude, I'll put boiler 1220 on my thoughts

Hey, I am personally starting a new group in yahoo for former patients to openly discuss their time at Gaebler. Please feel free to come by and visit.


Group name: GCC2010
Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GCC2010
Group email: GCC2010@yahoogroups.com

Hi, Yes I am talking bout lenny w/ the glasses. I was on Ward D with both tina hill and christina washington. The fire wasnt started by a matress it was started by a object stuck in the electirc socket ,. Yea those were the nightmare days LOL

Thank you so much WAS THERE for starting this group. Its nice to be able to connect with people who understand what you went through

Oh yah the paper clip brooks and I used to try that on ward A after you guys did it

Yea that was a nightmare . When were u there boiler, ifu dont mind me asking

Late. 88 to late 91, and 82-84

Hey boiler I bet u remember me ....

Gaebler 88
Who R U? Gie me some hints. I'm Dennis Bunting look me up on face book. Short blond hair, black shirt

Gaebler 88
Who R U? Gie me some hints. I'm Dennis Bunting look me up on face book. Short blond hair, black shirt

Gaebler 88
Who R U? Gie me some hints. I'm Dennis Bunting look me up on face book. Short blond hair, black shirt

I was on WSard D. im the one who was always made fun of, because i always screamed "my arm" when they restrained me ????

gaebler1988 did you join the new yahoo group? I was on D.

yes i did join thank you

There is this girl in a couple of my classes, I would give my left hand to have her locked in there for 24 hours.

Fang your a looser. Can u see what we all want through. Why would you even say anything like that. You must be a young punk

I was on Ward B It was a bad place. I can remember it like it was yeasterday and it was over 20 years ago. I been trying to find others that were there. I remember who I called my best friend his name was Ralph. There was alot of abuse there I remember when they stoped locking us up in the rooms and started holding us down instead. all the brueses I would get and wished they would put me back in that little room aginn.
shawnfrommaine2000@yahoo.com

Shawn when were you there r u sean h or shawn b

My name is Shawn Aiguier I was there sometime between 83 85 I spent just over a year there. Some that were on ward b with me just first names Ralph Wayne Mike them and me were the oldest there. Younger kids. Steven Bobby Danny Actually think the heavy kid was named Bobby to. Conselers Clay Mark Christine Willy Linda maybe it was Lisa? I can remember when they stopped locking us up and just restrained us. More name will come in time. My EMail is shawnfrommaine2000@yahoo.com if any one wants to get in touch with me. I also am on facebook but please respect my privacy over there. Thanks

Was There...actually Christina Hill was aquitted upon appeal. You can't legally say she killed anyone. I wonder what became of her?

i was on ward d we use to pillow fight alot i fought with lenny all the time i remember playing backgammon with rod mattews does anyone remebere the staff keeping his story from us until we found out about from the shed in the back of the hospital

Rod is probably responsible for the strict juvenile muder laws in MA: All 14+ murder defendants are tried as adults by law. I remember reading that he told his victim while leading him into the woods to his death "You never know when you need a baseball bat!"

I was at the C.U. in 1965 ... Yeah, that's right I'm an old guy. If anyone reading this forum was there at that time say hey. I've often wondered what happened to some of you guys.

Class of 65
Does any of the stories sound like the time u were there? How was the place then?

Yeah Boiler, the stories never change. Seclusion time was longer back then I guess. I had spent days in the room at a time. No mattress then, stripped naked on the floor. When it got to me, I'd just start kicking the door and sooner or later they came with the Thorazine hypo and the room went away. I was there on a "stubborn child complaint" My mother just wanted to get rid of me so the court sent me to Gaebler till I turned 16. (6 months) On ward C the counselors weren't any crueler than the rules allowed them to be. I read an article that some guy wrote on Gaebler and all I can say is GET OVER IT! It was so much worse when I was there and feeling sorry for your self changes nothing.

On the other hand ... Here I am forty five years later posting to this forum. Maybe I should GET OVER IT! ... LOL

Class of 65
For some reason we can't get over it. Not dwelling on it, but just the bond we all have from being there. I see the place just as a part of my past, Just a part of my life. It just different from everyone else's. All the "normal kids" talk about old times in school and the things they did in the past amongst themselves, and that's what we can't do till now. I love meeting, and talking to the people i meet now about then. It seams we all care about eachother, even though we may have never met before. I'm just lucky enough to have not let that place run me. Some people can't get over that time. They need, and search for a reason it had to happen to them. That's why I think some people dwell on that time. I just love meeting people in person and talking about our time there and how we all moved on and made it after. I really want to meet more people from there. I guess that's how I dwell on it. I keep looking for people that I can talk to about the times we were kids, and no "normal person" can understand that. I wish some of your friends from then would post on here. I love hearing that it was still semi the same then

I've never been able to talk to anyone from my childhood till I talked to gaebler88 about slapping some kid so hard. And it feels great to remember my childhood. Or should I say to have some that can remember it with me. That's never happened before and its great. So hopefully. I find more old friends here

Hey there boiler, I admit I was never at Gaebler but I'm a lifelong Mass. resident and would certainly be interested in talking with you or anyone else who was there and what it was like. I was up there a couple times in the last week and made a post about it in the first pic in this section.
schoolbed@live.com or
schoolbed1@yahoo.com

Class of '65...People that share their memories are what keep sites like these cool; So thanks from me. Talking openly and honestly about things is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Besides, ideas like separating the vulnerable from society and exploiting them are ideas that don't really ever die. They just come in and out of fashion. So, it's best to understand what systems we built in the past, why they were wrong, and how we can avoid them in the future. In a small way, people like you help us reach that goal, IMHO.

(Just a note I made the 2 posts above using the name "bunkbed", now using the name "Richard". :) )
Somehow when I think about it after looking around at what's left of the place as it's being torn down(remember I unfortunately never got my lazy ass around to getting to see the inside beforehand, **SULKING**), I think this room looks more like it was a closet/tiny storage room, or maybe even a small bathroom.

This room is no seclusion room, as you can see there's a bit of wood that juts out just by the small slit there that would have a shelf on it, there's multiple rooms like these that were in between two large classrooms all through out the Gaebler. The seclusion rooms were a bit larger than this room, maybe 4 by 6/8 or so. And they were in a row off the main hall, there were about 4 or 5 of them if I remember from the last time I was in there only about last year sometime.

The next photo in this set is actually one of the real seclusion rooms.

Grabs
I have this pic in real life. It is the room between ward A and the gym. The step up gives it away.it was a restraunt room when I was there. This was the little window they could watch us from. I have been there many times and have a picture of little closet like room.