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The Craig Colony for Epileptics opened in Sonyea, NY, in January 1896 as “a new form of charity, recently adopted by this State, and is based upon the idea of being, as fully as possible, self-supporting.” Indeed, it was only the second such institution in the United States. This brief report, written in November 1896 by Committee members Dr. Enoch V. Stoddard, William P. Letchworth, and Peter Walrath, is an assessment of the Colony’s first year in operation. Their conclusion that “this experiment on the part of the State has proved, during its first and most difficult year of trial, to be not only justifiable, but such as to meet the further expectations of those who have been most interested in it origin and development” was quite prescient, as the Colony (which was eventually renamed Craig Developmental Center) continued to operate until 1988.

In their report, the Committee describes the progress made on renovating the existing buildings of the former Shaker site where the Colony is located and makes a case for construction of a new administration building new dormitories for patients (alternately referred to as inmates), a house and office for the Superintendent, and living quarters for employees, most of whom have had to find lodging in Mount Morris, a village some four miles distant. Much praise is given to the doctors at Craig, who have established meticulous record-keeping based on careful and scientific observation and have made advances in classifying, and thus treating, epileptic patients. Treatment includes occupation (patients engage in real agricultural work, earning $14,230.20 for the Colony in its first year, and other household and technical work), diet (very little meat, lots of fruit and vegetables), and “a common school education” (a school was opened in September 1896 to provide “moral and mental treatment” for the patients.)

As medical science progressed and treatments for epilepsy evolved, Craig Colony’s useful life came to an end in the late 20th century, but it became the foundation for the Finger Lakes Developmental Disabilities Services Office based in Rochester, NY.

(summary written by Liz Argentieri)

Publication Date

1-1-1897

Publisher

Milne Library Publishing

City

Geneseo, NY

Comments

OCLC: 7665486

December 20, 2013

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work has been identified with a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0.

Report of the Committee on Craig Colony

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