This week on The Malliard Report, Jim continues his trek down memory lane, and once again welcomes back another fantastic former guest. The self-proclaimed “no to it all”, fan of history, paranormal researcher, and lover of all things learned, Bryan M Bowden once again graces the report with his quick wit and funny insights to many of the current happenings within the paranormal field. Another episode that is over before you know it, Bryan and Jim cover the drama happening within MUFON, what type of locations they think are the most active, what type of spirits to NOT interact with, the timelessness of George Carlin’s comedy, which paranormal topics Bryan just does not buy into, his investigation at Letchworth Village, and much, much more.
Tucked away in the recesses of the south-eastern part of New York sits one of the most notorious locations within the recent paranormal community. Featured on several prominent television series, and a destination for the enthusiast investigators, Letchworth Village has become a location synonymous with high levels of activity, and a painful past forever marring its name.
Upon retiring at the age of 50, successful businessman and philanthropist William Pryor Letchworth sought to create a more suitable environment for those with disabilities and other needs than that of the failing almshouses and asylums of the era. Letchworth envisioned a fully self-sustaining village made up of small cottages and a working farm, with exceptional care provided the best physicians and doctors within the region. The state approved his plans in 1907 and work quickly was underway. Unfortunately in 1909 Letchworth passed, unable to see his plan come to fruition, but his namesake stayed with the institution, and on July 10, 1911 the first patient was admitted. Under the direction of Dr. Charles Sherman Little, Letchworth village quickly grew to 130 buildings spanning more than 2000 acres and had the ability to house and care for up to 3000 patients. The facility ran efficiently under Little’s direction, and while the classification levels of the patients is something rather barbaric by today’s standards (there were three categories of “feeble-mindedness: idiot, imbecile, and moron”) they were taught many great skill such as farming, sewing, cooking, carpentry and many others.
Dr. Little continued the very successful program and became a leading researcher in the field of mental retardation offering coursers to doctors and researchers throughout the US and Europe, but as with all things, success eventually comes to an end. By 1935 the facility had surpassed its 3000 patient limit and funding was quickly depleting. Rumors of neglect and less than unsanitary conditions quickly began to surface and in the 1940s investigative journalist Irving Haberman released a collection of photos that showed patients dirty, nude, and sleeping on floor mattresses. The overcrowding continued, conditions worsened (they even performed human testing of vaccines on patients) and by the 1960s the population had soared to well over 5000. After an expose’ by a then small time reporter named Geraldo Rivera things began to slowly change for the better, but in the end it was too little too late. The facility closed its doors in 1996 sending the patients throughout the state and selling off portions of the land.
Bryan shares how Letchworth was one of their most active investigations and their website has all of the evidence that they collected from that investigation. You can find their site at www.bronxparanormalsociety.com and you are able to find Bryan on just about every social media platform that is out there. reach out to the duck via Twitter @Malliard.
