I've got a couple programs from TCSH "Employee Activity Nights" in the 1960's.

Dr. Leonard J. Thill MD had 8 years of service in 1970.

I read in a past post someone's comment about how the children of TCSH were treated better than the adult population. Does anyone know where to find stories of the adult patients that were there? I understand most of them would no longer be living today or be quite elderly. Just so interested in learning the truth of TCSH.

First off Ron I agree with the title, it's great - I understand the origins.
Secondly, I spoke with Dr. Herkners son & was disappointed in finding out he knew very little about Dr. Thill. He said he was away at college during those years & only heard bits & pieces.
Here's what he did tell me.
His mom decided to leave peaditric & wanted to go in to mental health. She was told she needed to do a 2 year residency program in adult therapy & a two year in child therapy & then she could come back to the SH as a director of Arnell Ingstrom which was in the works. She did this but when she got back to the SH after her residency Dr Someress had changed his mind & he put her under Dr Thill. Herkners son said she was at odds with Dr Thill & after a short time choose to leave to go to another facility.
He also mentioned that Dr Thill was actually not a pediatrician - he was a geriatric doctor (older people) doctor & it was odd that he was in the position he was at the SH. He also said Dr Someress seemed to have Thills back for some unknown reason.
My husband said Someress left in scandal - so I guess we need to keep digging.
I have a list of names on retirement cards from my father-in-law & I'm going to start looking for any of these people that are still alive.

ron I meant no disrespect about the title of your book. It's your book and your story and whatever you call it I will buy and read it. Thank you for your response.

I think since more material has surfaced maybe a second book may be in order, "Scandal", Death of The City.

OHHHH I cant wait for the book to come out.. even though I have read these pages over and over, I'm just so drawn into this.

Thanks again guys for sharing your lives with us..

T.

These forums tells you of what the conditions and activities of the children at TCSH were like.
The Book tells the story of one little boy who was there.

Tonight by best friend dropped by, Fr. Todd, he has been reading weekly and reminded me of something I only mentioned but not into detail, I told Fr. Todd my story 20+ years ago.
I am re-posting the hall-18 layout so you can see in one post what I am telling you.

click image for a full-sized view
Look at the right side you will see 1 and 2 these were the big dormitory and the walls were lined with beds. This was the place new kids slept and those who lost their privileges. Now look at the door leading to the dinning room and then the doorway to Hall-16.
When I was first there these doors were opened at night, for fire exits.
Older men use to sneak into these 2 dorm's at night and rape little boys from time to time. The boys would tell but nothing came of it and most of the time they were not believed. Some said nothing. In 1966 late one night in about Dec, one was caught. From then on the door to the hallway leading to the dinning room was locked, and an attendant was to sit in a chair in the main Hall-18 next to room 14 and a mirror was placed behind the chair also, the attendant could sit in the chair and look straight down the dorms and he could look at this locked door going to the dinning room and Hall-16.
I remember waking up one night and seen somebody who ran out of the dorm and into hall-16. I told the night attendant and he did not believe me. I always hated these 2 dorms, between the roaches and these men roaming and not to forget the rats, This will always stick in my memories.
Now you know my hate-tread of pedophiles.

Ok, I didn't want to bring it up, but I might as well let it out now.
What Ron just mentioned happened to me about 8 months after I got there.
I would prefer not to go into detail because it was too embarressing.
I will say this. I woke up in the middle of the night from a scratchy feeling on my leg. I jumped up and saw someone bent over at the foot of my bed with their under the blanket. I jumped out of bed and climbed underneath and stayed there until morning.
The next mornig I went to the nurses station and tried to tell the 2 nurses on duty. They started laughing at me and I ended up getting my prevleges pulled and had to stand in the hallway facing the wall half of the day...for lying!

Oh Mike - I am so sorry that happened to you.

Oh Mike, I'm so so sorry this happened to you, its such a shame that you and ron and all the other children had to live like this. It just makes me sick to think that the people who were to care for you would just laugh at you and say you were lying..

Does anyone know where to find stories of the adult patients that were there?

I do not think that a story has ever come out of TCSH, if you find one let me know, it would be interesting comparing accounts.
.
Because of the time frame the only way I could compare the 2 stories, is that they would have to taken place around the same moments in time 1965-1971.

ron and Mike and the others that read and don't post. I am sure you have been told this before, but what happened to you at TCSH was not your fault. Your were completely innocent children...at the mercy of your caregivers. Add drugs into the mix with others who really had mental illness... who would believe you! You were children on drugs in a State Hospital . I can understand your embarrassment and shame, but give yourselves a break. You had no choice, you had to live and survive there.
Getting these stories out is a good step to healing. You will never forget and I don't blame you. You had to survive day to day, minute to minute....on a daily basis. So It takes a big person to open up about these unspeakable actions.

The sad thing is it's still alive and happening to children everyday (being molested or abused)...some by their own parents:( We all have things in our past were not proud of...but they are in the past! You have moved on:)

I think the halls below us had a stonger code of silence than we did.
We use to drop a string from the cage porch down to the halls below us and they would tie a cigarette on it. One time we pulled up a piece of paper with scribbling on it.Actually, it scared the hell out of me. There was 3-4 of us, we couldn't figure out what it said or what it was meant for, but it never went beyond the 3-4 of us.
amorley14:
Any stories you hear about adults at tcsh will be rumors and speculation told by someone who had no idea what went on there.

I have no doubt that in years to come there will be books about tcsh giving accounts from patients that never existed!

okie wrote:ron and Mike and the others that read and don't post. I am sure you have been told this before, but what happened to you at TCSH was not your fault. Your were completely innocent children...at the mercy of your caregivers. Add drugs into the mix with others who really had mental illness... who would believe you! You were children on drugs in a State Hospital . I can understand your embarrassment and shame, but give yourselves a break. You had no choice, you had to live and survive there.
Getting these stories out is a good step to healing. You will never forget and I don't blame you. You had to survive day to day, minute to minute....on a daily basis. So It takes a big person to open up about these unspeakable actions.

The sad thing is it's still alive and happening to children everyday (being molested or abused)...some by their own parents:( We all have things in our past were not proud of...but they are in the past! You have moved on:)

Thank You okie.
Now that you mentioned it(fault), I would like to say this.
After all of these years of silence I just recently sent my older brother
(Allen) a synopsis of information and a link to this forum. He has his own business to run in Ohio which doesn't leave him much time. He replied saying he would read this when he had a chance.
Al is only 1yr,4mo's older than me, but he was one of the three who came to visit me at tcsh. He's the one sitting down on the far left with our youngest sister in the picture. The other two who visited was our Mother and my younger sister Tena(standing in the middle).
Neither of them were told any of this. I haven't sent Tena a link yet.
My point is:
If Al or anyone in my family reads this I would like them to know that I never held this against anyone in the family. Later in life I began to understand the reasons.
I have wonder a few times whether or not my epilepsy was a result of Dave(step Father) knocking us around on the farm. But that's all it was, just a thought.
Also. I'd like them to know that, my splitting for California shortly after our mothers funeral and without contact for over 30 years had nothing to do with tcsh.