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Podcast: Phantom History
Episode: Waverly Hills and Pennhurst Asylums
Description: Send a textAsylums were big business in the 19th and 20th century. Those who were deemed mentally deficient, whether they were or not, or infected with an incurable disease often found themselves placed into institutions for the insane where experimental treatments were conducted in hopes of curing their particular ailment. With little or no oversight, staff were free to do as they wanted with these so-called patients and many perished at the hands of those they trusted. Two such institutions, Waverly Hills Sanatorium for tuberculosis patients, and Pennhurst Asylum for the criminally insane have a dark history...