Short History by Daly
History of the Walter E. Fernald Development Center, by Marie E. Daly. PDF, 4 pages.
Collections
Browse archival documents, photographs, and records from the Fernald Center collection. Use search and sorting to quickly find specific people, buildings, and moments in campus history.
Recordation Map
A labeled map using aerial photography composites for the recordation team.
History of the Treatment of the Feeble-Minded
History of the Treatment of the Feeble-Minded, by Walter E. Fernald, 4th ed. 1912 (PDF).
DMH Building Map
A map of the campus published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) circa 1982.
Education of the Feeble-Minded
"The Education of the Feeble-Minded" by Kate Gannett Wells, New England Magazine, March edition, 1900 (excerpt). This article sheds light on daily activities at the school, photographs and insight into the public's view of this new kind of institution at the time.
Annual Reports
Fernald State School Annual Reports, 1848-1941, 1951-1973 (zip archive, approx. 440MB).
Utility Map
This map illustrates the water and steam connections in the central portion of the campus. Discovered by the recordation team in Howe Library, the item had suffered major damage from neglect. Observing the buildings shown and their modifications, we can surmise that the map dates to 1918-1921.
Shriver Center Opening
An article on the opening of the Shriver Center from The Boston Globe, January 14, 1966.
Campus Map
This campus map shows the most important contributing building that were present circa 2009. Note that the building numbers may not coincide with those in our survey due to discrepancies between historical numbers, contemporary labels, and DCAMM assignments.
National Register of Historic Places Form
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Waltham property (PDF format, 57 pages).