Conceived in the era of eugenics as a solution to what was termed the “problem of the feeble-minded,” state-operated institutions subjected people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to a life of compulsory incarceration. One of nearly 300 such facilities in the United States, Pennhurst State School and Hospital was initially hailed as a “model institution” but was later revealed to be a nightmare, where medical experimentation and physical and psychological abuse were rampant. At its peak, more than 3,500 residents were confined at Pennhurst, supervised by a staff of fewer than 600. Using a blended narrative of essays and first-person accounts, this history of Pennhurst examines the institution from its founding during an age of Progressive reform to its present-day exploitation as a controversial Halloween attraction. In doing so, it traces a decades-long battle to reform the abhorrent school and hospital and reveals its role as a catalyst for the disability rights movement. Beginning in the 1950s, parent-advocates, social workers, and attorneys joined forces to challenge the dehumanizing conditions at Pennhurst. Their groundbreaking advocacy, accelerated in 1968 by the explosive televised exposé Suffer the Little Children, laid the foundation for lawsuits that transformed American jurisprudence and ended mass institutionalization in the United States. As a result, Pennhurst became a symbolic force in the disability civil rights movement in America and around the world. Extensively researched and featuring the stories of survivors, parents, and advocates, this compelling history will appeal both to those with connections to Pennhurst and to anyone interested in the history of institutionalization and the disability rights movement.

This study offers an engaging reassessment of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (the Columbian Exposition), generally regarded as the preeminent civic pageant in Victorian America. Based on exhaustive research, Downey uses the Exposition as a representative cultural symbol to challenge established interpretations of the event and to suggest a new approach to writing American cultural history. Adopting the approach of culture as conversation, he stresses the manner in which the Chicago fair reflected the main currents and conflicting tendencies in American life at the end of the 19th century.

Viewing the Exposition as a cultural moment, Downey emphasizes the theme of renewal as central to the cultural aspirations of the enterprise and its engagement of public life. Throughout the narrative, the divergent voices that comprised a great cultural conversation on the salient issues of the day emerge through their presence at, and participation in, the Exposition. This lively account offers new insights into the cultural climate of the period, while introducing readers to the sheer majesty and splendor of an event that captivated the city and the nation more than a century ago.

From William Penn's treaty with the Indians, to the suffering of troops at Valley Forge, the gallantry at Gettysburg, and the early development of the petroleum industry, Pennsylvania has often been at center stage in the evolution of the nation. Yet despite this record, the historical literature on the state is not as well known as that of many other states. This volume will remedy that deficiency by assessing the vast wealth of materials on the political, social, economic, and cultural development of the Keystone State. In a series of historiographical chapters, each devoted to a specific chronological period, the contributors present a thorough and informed analysis of the most important and significant literature, thereby providing a useful companion to printed bibliographies.