Newspaper Clippings »

There are between 500 and 600 newspaper clippings currently in this collection. Most of them are genuinely clipped from vintage newspapers - ranging from about 1954 to 1994. They come primarily from Dr. Ladd's, Dr. Smith's, and Mr. Gunther's personal collections (it would seem that clipping newspapers was a custom handed down). Many other "clippings" are photocopies of articles on microfische gathered in my own research.

The clippings are all mounted on acid- and lignin-free cardstock inside non-pvc, archival quality sleeves and bound, chronologically by day, month, and year, in nine volumes.

Dr. Smith's Letters »

Found amidst the newspaper collection, there may be in the neighborhood of around 50 to 100 personal correspondences to and from Dr. Smith - some hand-written, many of them in response to the nespaper scandals of the 1970s. These should be sorted through (for relevence), arranged chronologically, and preserved in the same manner as the newspaper clippings.

Rare Artifacts »

There is no very accurate way to describe all of these items in this collection as part of one specific category, except to say that they are all vintage, and most of them are original items - not reproductions or copies. For instance, there is a prayer card from Dr. Ladd's funeral, a telegram from Governor Dennis J. Roberts, and an original 1928 report of the superintendent to the State Public Welfare Commission. Most of these items are mounted on acid-free, lignin-free cardstock, preserved in archival-quality page protectors and bound inside a 12x12 post-bound scrapbook. Many more filed items remain to be sorted through.

Antique Photographs »

The oldest photographs in this collection date to somewhere approximately between 1911 and the early 1920s. They should be digitized at no less than 1200 DPI for large-scale (20" or larger) reproduction and then be professionally restored, as they have suffered some damage over time. Once they are cleaned up, they should be printed on a quality, matte-finish photo paper, mounted, and custom-framed with museum glass.

8x10 Building Profiles »

I have reconstructed a binder of 8x10 black-and-white photographs of all of the buildings at the Ladd School. The pictures were probably taken in the 1980s (Gleason House, demolished in 1980, is absent from this collection). Each photograph is accompanied by a physical description of the building it depicts.

The original binder was in fairly poor shape, so most if not all of the photographs are a little curled, but the new binder is lying flat and I hope will help to restore their shape. Though preserved in the same archival-safe manner as other documents, these photographs should be digitally scanned at a high DPI for preservation.

Using actual color samples from the grounds of the Ladd School (taken photographically), I've colorized one of these pictures with great results, and should like to follow through in the same manner with the remaining photographs.

35mm Slides »

This collection includes somewhere arond 450 35mm slides - the only surviving copies of irreplacable photographs. They date rougly from the mid-to-late 1950s to the 1980s. The photographers are unknown. Because the slides were previously stored in poor conditions, most of them are damaged by dust, mold, and moisture. I've personally cleaned and digitally restored some of what I consider to be the "best" or most significant pictures (many of which were published in American Gothic).

All of the slides have been stored in archival-quality page protectors and stored in a single 2.5" binder. They have been arranged by category, and individually assigned call letters that will be used to identify them. A database of thumbnail-size digital scans should be created for easy reference and review. It would be preferable if some time in the future, high-quality scans were made.

Found Art »

There are a number of 35mm slides in the collection that, even when taken out of context of the Ladd School, are fantastic photographs. These should be digitized and restored for use or reproduction. Textures and abstracts from other peripheral materials should as well be sampled and utilized.

Audio Tapes »

This is a collection of 2 Ladd School era audio cassette tapes. One seems to be a creation of the Ladd School audio-visual department; a public service message with music and song by Ladd School residents to accompany a paperback titled "Remember Me." The other tape, though I have yet to review it thoroughly, seems to be the minutes of a meeting of executives (psychiatrists and other leaders in the field) discussing the stigma of developmental disabilities. Both tapes should be digitized as soon as possible.