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See also: Oregonians Get Apology For Sterilizations
SO LONG, FAIRVIEW
Oregon Institution Closes Its
Doors For Good
"Just like in World War II, like leading lambs into the shower
and gassing them. That was Fairview."
--Kenneth Richard Newman, 59,
talking about his experiences at Fairview Training Center
FAREWELL Fairview Training Center . . . You were born of
a BAD IDEA in 1911...Rest in Peace. May your kind never pass our way again."
--Michael Bailey, on February 24, 2000, the day the instititution
closed and the last resident moved into the community
2004
September 14:
Money From Fairview
Sale To Go To Individuals And Families
2003
January 21:
Get Ready To Say Bye-bye To "Fairview" For
Good
2000
August 7: Couple Wants
Apology For Abuse and Forced Sterilizations
April 26: Clarion Says Fairwell to Fairview
March 28:
Fairview, The Closing Chapter
March 13 - March 15:
Newspaper Does Series On Institution Closure and Community
Supports
February 29: So Long, Fairview
February 20: Fairview's Final Chapter
RELATED RESOURCES:
Oregonians Seek Apology For
Sterilizations
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/institutions/ore/oreugenics.htm
The
State of The State In Developmental Disabilities (University of
Colorado)
http://www.cusys.edu/ColemanInstitute/stateofthestates/home.htm
Historic
Asylums
http://www.darkspire.org/asylums
# FAIRVIEW'S FINAL CHAPTER
February 20,
2000
SALEM, OREGON -- This week, the campus that was once known as the
"Oregon State Institution for Feeble-Minded", Salem's Fairview Training Center
will cease operation as a state-operated institution for people with
developmental disabilities. Prohibitive costs, Justice Department lawsuits, and
changing attitudes will have finally forced the facility's closure when the
last resident moves into a home in the community, on Thursday.
This story from the Portland Oregonian includes links to two other
related stories of interest:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/00/02/st022002.html
Click here for top of this page
# SO LONG, FAIRVIEW
February 29,
2000
SALEM, OREGON -- Last week, after many years of hard work and
heartache, Fairview Training Center finally closed its doors to people who have
developmental disabilities.
On Thursday, literally thousands of Oregonians proved that it could be done!
Michael Bailey, from Salem, chronicled the event as the last resident
moved from the institution into his new place in the community. The following
is included with permission from the author:
"On February 24, 2000 at 12:30
PM a small group of staff, state officials and advocates met informally in
front of LeBreton Hall on the grounds of the Fairview Training Center ...Over
all of us lay the anticipation of a once unimaginable and long awaited event
...at 1:15 PM a green mini-van pulled up in front of LeBreton and stopped...A
few of us waived to the occupant...He smiled and waved back. FOR HIM A NEW LIFE
WAS BEGINNING...The van pulled out...Leaving in it was the last, VERY LAST,
resident of the Fairview Training Center...FAREWELL Fairview Training
Center."
"You were born of a BAD IDEA in 1911...Rest in Peace. May your kind
never pass our way again."
Michael Bailey,
jonna@teleport.com
Click here for top of this page
# NEWSPAPER DOES SERIES ON INSTITUTION CLOSURE
AND COMMUNITY SUPPORTS
March 13 through March 15, 2000
SALEM,
OREGON--The Salem Statesman Journal did a four-day series this week on the
closure last month of Salem's state-operated institution, Fairview Training
Center, and the impact on community services in the area.
Links to those stories are available at this Inclusion Daily Express Web
page:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/fairview.htm
Click here for top of this page
# INSTITUTIONS / SELF-ADVOCACY:
FAIRVIEW --
THE CLOSING CHAPTER
March 28, 2000
SALEM, OREGON -- Fairview Training
Center, the 92-year-old institution in Salem, finally closed its doors as the
last resident was moved out of the facility and into a life in the community
earlier this month. People First, the now international self-advocacy group,
began in 1973 when some Fairview residents joined with former residents who had
moved into the community in an effort to direct the course of their lives. In
the aftermath of Fairview's closure, the Salem Chapter of People First has
developed a website which looks at the history of the institution and
celebrates its demise. This site includes a chronology of Fairview, links to
articles dating back to 1996, and comments from chapter members and others in
the community.
You can take a look at the website by going to:
http://www.open.org/~people1/Fairview/closingcontents.htm
Click here for top of this page
# CLARION SAYS "FAREWELL" TO
FAIRVIEW
April 26, 2000
SALEM, OREGON -- In 1908, the "Oregon
Hospital for the Feeble Minded" opened just outside Salem with 39 residents.
The facility, which would later be known as "The Oregon Fairview Home" and
"Fairview Training Center" would house as many as 3,000 residents at a time.
On February 17, 2000, the last handful of residents moved out of the
institution and into their own homes in the community, as Fairview closed for
good.
The closure came after settlement of suits filed in the 1980's by the
Oregon Advocacy Center (OAC) on behalf of The Arc of Oregon, and the Department
of Justice, which alleged civil rights violations and failure of Fairview to
protect residents from harm.
This month's Clarion News, put together by the
Oregon Developmental Disabilities Council, features several items related to
Fairview and its closure, including an album of historic photographs and
stories from former residents and other people who were effected in one way or
another by the institution. Check it out at ODDC's website:
http://www.oddc.org/cl_apr_00.htm
Click here for top of this page
Couple Wants Apology For Abuse and Forced
Sterilizations
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
August
7, 2000
SALEM, OREGON--Kenneth Richard Newman is not exactly sure how
old he was when his parents left him at Fairview Training Center, but he does
remember what happened that day.
"My parents took me out to Fairview, and hopped in the car and left," says Newman, now 59. "I was just standing there, going, what happened? It's like a gateway to hell opened up."
Now, Newman and his wife Shirley, who also lived at Fairview, are asking for an apology for their incarceration, the abuse they endured, and the trickery that was used to sterilize them. "What they told me is this is your release papers. They said, you're gonna get out in the community...They whipped them out and said, 'Sign here.'"
"I feel like I've been robbed, I've been cheated. I didn't ask for this to happen," adds Newman.
"It was terrible, living in a place like that, an institution," explains Shirley Newman. "I never did anything wrong."
Unfortunately, it is not likely that the couple will get any kind of
apology or satisfaction, writes Rene Denfeld in this respectful article from
the Portland Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oped/index.ssf?/oped/00/07/co_11apolo30.frame
Click here for top of this page
Get Ready To Say Bye-bye To "Fairview" For
Good
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 21,
2003
SALEM, OREGON--Three years ago this spring, the last group of
Fairview Training Center residents waved to the institution as they headed for
new homes and new lives in the community.
"So long, Fairview".
Now a group of investors have purchased the 274-acre site and would like to develop a community with houses, industries, businesses and stores with a closed-loop economy.
First, they want to change the name.
"Fairview does have some sad chapters in its history, and I think that's what's raised the issue," Bob Lindsey, president of Sustainable Fairview Associates, told the Salem Statesman-Journal. "We would look toward something that is very positive, that really gives us a new page on which to start."
Those sad chapters include hundreds of residents with developmental disabilities who were forced to undergo sterilization during the last century, and legacy of abuse and neglect which led to the U.S. Department of Justice order to close the facility.
The new owners are asking around for suggestions on what to name the former institution campus. They plan to make a decision on the new name within the next two weeks.
Related article:
"Fairview Buyers want new name" (Salem
Statesman-Journal)
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article_print.cfm?i=55304
Click here for top of this page
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