The Pennhurst State School and Hospital was a state-run institution for people with disabilities from 1908 to 1987
Credit: Courtesy of Tribeca Festival
NEED TO KNOW
- The Pennhurst State School and Hospital was a state-run institution for people with disabilities from 1908 to 1987
- Residents suffered years of abuse, including pulling out teeth as punishment and rape
- Its current operation as a haunted attraction is the subject of the new documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst
In 1908, the Eastern State Institution for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic opened in Spring City, Pa., as a state-run institution for people with disabilities. It was later known as the Pennhurst State School and Hospital.
After residents suffered years of documented abuse, including pulling out teeth as punishment and rape, the institution was closed in 1987. Now, it has been transformed into a haunted attraction that hosts history tours, paranormal investigations and conventions.
The creation of the haunted attraction, called Pennhurst Asylum, has a history of controversy. Before the attraction opened in 2010, the Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance created a petition accusing it of portraying people with disabilities “in a demeaning and degrading fashion.”
“This haunted attraction is disrespectful and exploits the mentally and physically disabled with a complete disregard to the struggles Pennhurst and those involved have faced to transform the site into a place of Conscience,” PMPA wrote in the petition.
However, Pennhurst, LLC underwent a leadership change in 2017 and partnered with PMPA, per the National Council on Public History. The new owner also gave creative control of the attraction to a group of performers with disabilities.
These performers take the spotlight in the new documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst, which has its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on Friday, June 5.
Credit: Courtesy of Tribeca Festival
Directed by Nathan Stenberg, Mike Attie and Katarina Poljak, the 81-minute documentary gives insight into how the attraction is run and includes the performers sharing their personal experiences. It also features archival material, including audio excerpts from Roland Johnson, who was institutionalized at Pennhurst for 13 years.
One performer, Bri Nixon, says in the documentary that she was in various mental hospitals growing up and feels “a lot of the energy of the sadness from when this place was opened." Another, Dan Cody, says he’s neurodivergent and often keeps to himself but found "family" in his work at the attraction.
"It’s very much an island of misfit toys here,” he says.
Performer Joey Vanderloop, who uses they/them pronouns, says people sometimes act “violently” toward them. "I have been shown again and again that people like me are considered to be monsters," they say.
“There’s something incredibly powerful about just accepting that and being the monster. If you’re going to treat me like this, let’s see how scary I can be," Vanderloop continues.
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Despite the empowering nature of performing in the attraction, it has its downsides. Autumn Werner, who manages history tours, collects artifacts and is a longtime performer, reveals her complex feelings about her role at the landmark.
“There’s dignity that these folks who lived here should still have that’s been crushed in a way with the popularization of this place, the haunted attraction and the people who file through here without knowing anything about it,” she says in the documentary.
Credit: AmityPhotos / Alamy Stock Photo
“There is definitely this connotation behind us being, inherently, the scary thing, even outside of makeup and costume. An able-bodied person is viewing me as scary because I’m disabled,” Werner continues. "This is the first place I’ve been oppressed, really, but it’s also the first place that I’ve ever found power in it."
PMPA stated that about 10,600 people lived in Pennhurst over its entire run. In 1978, when a judge ruled that the conditions at Pennhurst were unconstitutional, about 1,156 people were there. The institution was officially closed in 1987, and the residents were moved into group homes.
The organization noted that “almost all” of the former patients who could speak later revealed that they had been hurt, abused and raped during their time at Pennhurst.
The dark history is disclosed in the documentary. When Werner gives a building tour, she brings the tour group to the dental room and explains, “The individuals here had mouth issues or they were biting other individuals or themselves. The treatment after the first behavioral treatment was to pull teeth."
Credit: AP Photo/Art Wilkinson
Werner also says chemical and physical restraints were used on patients, pointing to a bathroom that contained toilets with seat belts.
Old newspaper articles shown in the documentary report beatings, violent deaths and brandings at Pennhurst, as well as a drowning.
A study followed the 1,156 patients after the closure and a majority said they were better off at their new home, per PMPA.
The Haunting of Pennhurst has screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 7 and June 9.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
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