Known at different times over the facility's 135 year run as the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children (1883), Sonoma State Home (1909), Sonoma State Hospital (1953), and Sonoma Developmental Center (1986), this facility has a dark history of abuse, selfish experimentation, and corruption. Even worse, although overcrowded, there were more staff members than many institutions had yet this one seemingly willfully chose to be absolutely horrible. Join us to find out exactly what was going on, and why the doctors wanted kids' spinal fluid!

How does a state funded school become a dark hiding place for society to store its differently abled with no classes, no care, and no hope? Join us as we discuss one of the most disgusting institutions in American history made famous by Geraldo Rivera's investigative piece Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace. Spoiler: State funded institutions usually go bad because of state funding.

Sources used:

https://criticaldebateshsgj.scholasticahq.com/article/141852-willowbrook-state-school-institutional-abuse-medical-ethics-and-the-rise-of-disability-rights-in-the-united-states

https://kidstogether.org/institution-horrors-willowbrook/

https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialSciences/ppecorino/MEDICAL_ETHICS_TEXT/Chapter_7_Human_Experimentation/Case_Study_Willowbrook_Experiments.htm

https://research.uams.edu/irb/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/01/Willowbrook-study-summary.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7335725/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-b/symptoms-causes/syc-20366802

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-a/symptoms-causes/syc-20367007

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Krugman#:~:text=4%20References-,Early%20life,University%20of%20Richmond%20in%201934.&text=He%20did%20his%20undergraduate%20work,(7706)%3A966%2D7.&text=Richmond%20in%201934.-,Education%20and%20career,New%20York%20University%20(NYU).

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/90/1/iv/57690/INTRODUCTION?autologincheck=redirected

This institution had an incredibly long run and made a lot of people who needed help very miserable. This facility which began as a place to care for those in need eventually became a prison and a hunting ground for the predators who drew a paycheck and those who became their preferred henchmen. Join us as we delve as deeply as we can handle into such a dark topic.

Sources referenced:

https://neurologytoday.aan.com/doi/10.1212/00132985-200412000-00017

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/sites/g/files/vyhlif12301/f/file/file/fernald_center_history.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25130086?seq=1

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spoonful-sugar-helps-radioactive-oatmeal-go-down-180962424/

https://news.mit.edu/1994/fernald-0511

https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-05-21/shocking-report-spotlights-mass-history-of-mistreating-disabled-people

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-deep-dark-secret/

https://www.amazon.com/State-Boys-Rebellion-Michael-DAntonio/dp/074324513X Book: The State Boys Rebellion by Michael D’Antonio

https://below-the-surface.github.io/main.html

https://fernaldstateschool.com/buildings- to see the list and pictures of the buildings on the campus

https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-6/supporting-material/goddard-on-iq

https://www.verywellmind.com/history-of-intelligence-testing-2795581

https://faculty.uml.edu/darcus/47.269/MATERIALS/fernale_globe1993.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20battery%20of,harm%20blood%20and%20the%20spleen.

https://news.mit.edu/1994/concern-0112#:~:text=A%20third%20calcium%20study%2C%20also,0.75%20microcuries)%20of%20radioactive%20calcium)

https://archive.org/stream/humanradiationex00unit/humanradiationex00unit_djvu.txt