Institutional Propaganda & Public Relations

The Veil of Secrecy: Institutional Propaganda and Public Relations

Throughout its nearly 80 years of operation, Pennhurst State School and Hospital maintained a carefully constructed public image that stood in stark contrast to the reality behind its walls. Through annual reports, promotional materials, staged photographs, and controlled media access, the institution presented itself as a progressive, therapeutic environment—a "model institution" providing humane care and treatment.^[1] This elaborate propaganda effort enabled decades of abuse and neglect to continue hidden from public scrutiny.

The "Model Institution" Myth

When Pennhurst opened in 1908, it was hailed as a model facility representing the most progressive thinking in institutional care. The cottage-style architecture, landscaped grounds, and self-sufficient campus were presented as evidence of Pennsylvania's enlightened approach to caring for its "feeble-minded" citizens.^[2]

1954 Promotional Pamphlet

The following promotional pamphlet from 1954 exemplifies Pennhurst's propaganda efforts during the mid-20th century. Published during the institution's peak population years, this document presents an idealized vision of life at Pennhurst that contradicts the reality documented by survivors and investigators.

Pennhurst Promotional Pamphlet, circa 1954
This official publication showcases the institution's propaganda apparatus at work—presenting staged photographs, selective statistics, and idealized descriptions while concealing the reality of overcrowding, abuse, and neglect.
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Early 1920s image of the Pennhurst Cottages, I can tell you they DID not look good on the inside, from the outside they are beautiful, inside? no, they were not.

Pennhurst Cottages, 1922.

Image Credit: Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance / Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia

Early promotional materials emphasized Pennhurst's bucolic setting along the Schuylkill River, its modern facilities, and its mission to provide training and care. The reality—severe overcrowding, chronic understaffing, and systematic neglect—was carefully concealed from public view.

Annual Reports and Official Propaganda

From its founding, Pennhurst's Board of Trustees produced annual reports sent to the Pennsylvania Legislature. These reports presented statistics, budget requests, and sanitized accounts of institutional operations.^[3] The archival images used in early promotional materials primarily came from these reports sent to the legislature in Pennhurst's first 20 years of existence.

The reports emphasized:

Residents engaged in productive labor (framed as "training" rather than exploitation)
Medical and educational facilities (despite severe shortages of qualified staff)
Self-sufficiency and cost-effectiveness
Population growth as evidence of public need and confidence

What these reports omitted was far more revealing: the actual conditions residents endured, the lack of individualized treatment, the use of restraints and isolation, and the deaths that occurred within the institution.

The "Happy Slaves" Imagery

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Pennhurst's propaganda effort was the imagery used to depict institutional life. Elwyn Institute, a private institution in Delaware County founded by Martin Barr, openly likened institutions to plantations. The image of "happy slaves toiling in the fields" appears to have carried over into Pennhurst culture.^[4]

Two frescoes still visible in the Administration Building depict romanticized scenes of residents working in fields—propaganda images that portrayed forced, unpaid labor as benevolent and therapeutic.^[4]

These murals remain in the Administration Building today, serving as haunting reminders of how the institution marketed exploitation as treatment.

This imagery served multiple propaganda purposes:

It justified the institution's reliance on unpaid resident labor
It suggested residents were content and well-cared-for
It portrayed work as therapeutic rather than exploitative
It masked the reality of institutional peonage—forced labor that wasn't outlawed in Pennsylvania until 1973

Staged Photography and Controlled Access

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Pennhurst made attempts at positive imagery, carefully staging photographs that showed clean facilities, organized activities, and residents engaged in supervised tasks.^[5] These images bore little resemblance to the daily reality of institutional life but served their purpose: maintaining public confidence and legislative funding.

This is a photograph of Pennhurst's Orchestra.

This is a "promotional" image I guess, this was taken in the 1960s to show Pennhurst's Orchestra performing on the admin quadrangle located between Administration and the West Dining Hall (Franklin Hall)

Staged photo of residents at social dance in Assembly Building, showing organized recreational activity

Propaganda photo of a social dance in the Assembly Building, suggesting robust recreational programming. Such events were rare and access was limited to higher-functioning residents.

Advertisement showing Pennhurst Industries handicraft products including wicker furniture and crafts, marketing forced resident labor as therapeutic vocational training

"Pennhurst Industries!" advertisement marketing handicrafts made by residents. This promotional material reframed forced, unpaid labor as "vocational training" and "therapeutic activity."

Staged photo of marching band parade with residents in uniforms on campus grounds

Propaganda image of marching band parade on campus. Such staged events were photographed to suggest normalcy and community integration while most residents had no access to such activities.

Staged outdoor pageant with residents in white dresses on decorated stage, for the 1954 Pennhurst May Queen event they had.

Elaborately staged outdoor pageant with residents in costume. These rare special events were photographed extensively for propaganda purposes while daily conditions remained abysmal.

Posed photo of institutional band with residents holding brass instruments, adult male supervisor standing behind

Posed photograph of institutional band. Such images suggested extensive music programming while most residents had no access to therapeutic activities or education.

Pennhurst baseball team photo with residents in uniforms, suggesting organized athletics

Baseball team photograph used to suggest robust athletic programming. Only a small fraction of higher-functioning residents had access to organized sports.

Baseball team posed on Administration Building steps, integrated racial composition used for progressive image

Team photo on Administration Building steps showing racial integration - used to project progressive image while systematic abuse continued behind closed doors.

Staged dining hall photo showing orderly rows of residents at tables with white tablecloths, presenting false image of dignified meals

Carefully staged dining hall photograph with white tablecloths and orderly seating. Reality: food dumped together in bowls, 10 minutes to eat, inadequate nutrition, roaches and rat poop in most of the food. The dining halls were... pretty bad.

Staged May pole dance with residents in white dresses, suggesting cultural activities and normalcy

May pole dance staged for photographs. Such carefully choreographed events existed primarily for propaganda purposes rather than resident enrichment.This photo was taken in the 1940s on upper campus.

Female residents with violins posed in front of music stands, suggesting music education program

Female residents posed with violins and music stands. Images suggested robust music education while most residents received no therapeutic programming. The photo you see here was taken in 1922 and probably just near Building K (girls cottage adjacent to Building I (Industry Hall)

Residents working in agricultural fields, propaganda image portraying forced labor as healthy outdoor work

Residents performing agricultural labor - presented as "healthy outdoor activity" and "vocational training" rather than unpaid forced labor that benefited the institution. The Image here shows what was the Pennhurst Orchard, they have these residents picking peas for essentially a penny, the photo is from the 1918 Board of Trustees Report.

Pristine dormitory room with neat beds and large windows, showing idealized living conditions never experienced by most residents

Propaganda photograph of "model" dormitory - clean, orderly, spacious with large windows. Reality: severe overcrowding, residents in cribs, unsanitary conditions. this photo was taken in 1912, overcrowding began not even two years after the institution opened in 1908

Western-themed band with residents in cowboy costumes, showing institution's attempt at wholesome entertainment image

"Western Band" in costume - elaborate staging for photographs suggesting extensive entertainment programming available to residents. this image is from Pennhurst's 1954 yearbook.

Romanticized image of residents collecting hay, this image is from 1918. Residents performed agricultural labor without pay - institutional peonage outlawed in Pennsylvania only in 1973.

Residents at looms in industrial training room, presenting forced labor workshops as educational opportunities

"Manual and Vocational Training - Rug Weaving" - propaganda caption presenting forced industrial labor as educational opportunity and skill development.

Residents in woodworking shop with tools and supervisor, marketing exploitation as vocational education

Woodworking shop photograph used to suggest comprehensive vocational training in the 1926 Trustees Report (in reality, you were lucky to not rot on a bed.). Residents performed unpaid labor producing goods that benefited the institution financially. The image was taken in the basement of Industry Hall or Building I, I've been down in the basement where the woodshop photo was taken.

Pennhurst Girls viewing baseball game. From 1918 board of trustees report.

Funnily enough this old photograph from 1918 is showing the girls watching a baseball game, Pennhurst even had a pool just behind the Devon Building at one point but you can guess what role that played otherwise I wouldn't bring it up here.

Large Fourth of July gathering on campus lawn in 1954 with hundreds of residents, suggesting community integration and patriotic activities

Fourth of July celebration photograph showing hundreds gathered on lawn - such mass events were photographed to suggest community integration and normalcy while residents remained segregated from society.

Access to the institution was tightly controlled. Family visits were limited and often discouraged. Professional observers who did gain entry typically received carefully orchestrated tours showing only the most presentable wards and activities. The worst conditions—overcrowded dayrooms, isolation cells, restraints—remained hidden from view.

The Progressive Reform Narrative

Pennhurst's founding occurred during the Progressive Era, and the institution carefully positioned itself within this reform narrative. The language of "training," "treatment," and "habilitation" masked what was essentially custodial warehousing.^[6]

Annual reports documented various "programs" and "services":

Work Programs: Residents labored in fields, dairies, workshops—unpaid labor presented as "vocational training"
Education: Minimal classroom instruction with untrained teachers, available only to a small fraction of residents
Medical Care: Severely understaffed medical facilities that provided little actual treatment
Recreation: Occasional supervised activities that bore no resemblance to quality of life

This progressive rhetoric served to legitimize the institution while obscuring the eugenic ideology that actually drove its policies.

Eugenics Propaganda: The "Scientific" Justification

Behind the progressive facade lay eugenics ideology that viewed people with disabilities as biologically inferior and a threat to society. The 1913 Commission report recommended permanent custodial care and preventing the "intermixing of genes" with the general population—language that reveals the true purpose of institutionalization.^[7]

Pennhurst's propaganda carefully avoided explicit eugenic language while implementing eugenic policies:

Lifelong segregation from society presented as "protection"
Prevention of reproduction framed as "preventing suffering"
Classification systems that dehumanized residents as "imbeciles" or "morons"
Expansion justified by claims of protecting society from the "menace" of disability

Concealing Abuse and Deaths

Perhaps the most crucial function of Pennhurst's propaganda apparatus was concealing abuse, neglect, and deaths. Annual reports acknowledged deaths only in statistical terms, never examining causes or acknowledging preventable fatalities. The institution maintained its own cemetery where hundreds were buried, often with only numbers marking their graves—the final erasure of identity.^[8]

When concerns were raised—by staff members, visiting family members, or occasional outside observers—the institution's response followed a consistent pattern:

Deny or minimize problems
Blame inadequate funding rather than systemic failures
Promise reforms that rarely materialized
Limit access to prevent further scrutiny

The Breakdown: 1968 and the End of the Myth

The propaganda system that had protected Pennhurst for six decades finally failed in 1968 when Bill Baldini gained unprecedented access to the institution. His documentary "Suffer the Little Children" shattered the carefully constructed public image by showing the reality behind the propaganda.^[9]

Baldini's footage revealed:

Half-clothed residents wandering aimlessly in overcrowded dayrooms
Adults strapped to cribs and confined for hours
Residents sitting in their own waste due to inadequate staffing
Complete absence of the therapeutic programming claimed in official reports

The exposé demonstrated the persuasive power of unfiltered visual evidence to overcome decades of institutional propaganda. Once the public saw the reality, the "model institution" myth could no longer be sustained.

Post-Exposé: Defensive Public Relations

Following the 1968 exposé, Pennhurst's propaganda shifted from promoting the institution to defending it. Officials blamed inadequate funding, argued that conditions weren't as bad as portrayed, and promised reforms.^[10] The Pennsylvania Legislature allocated $21 million in emergency funding—a tacit admission that the propaganda had been masking severe problems.

However, even this defensive PR couldn't prevent the legal challenges that would ultimately close Pennhurst. The Halderman lawsuit documented conditions in ways that no amount of public relations could counter: court-ordered investigations, expert testimony, and comprehensive findings of fact that exposed the full scope of constitutional violations.

The Legacy of Institutional Propaganda

Pennhurst's propaganda apparatus reveals how institutions maintained operations despite widespread abuse. The carefully constructed public image served several functions:

Political: Secured continued legislative funding and support
Social: Reassured families and the public that institutionalization was appropriate and humane
Ideological: Legitimized eugenic policies through progressive rhetoric
Economic: Justified reliance on unpaid resident labor
Legal: Protected the institution from accountability until evidence became overwhelming

Modern Relevance: Understanding institutional propaganda is crucial because similar dynamics can occur in any closed system—prisons, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes, or immigration detention centers—where vulnerable populations lack voice and visibility. The lessons of Pennhurst remind us to look beyond official narratives and demand transparency, accountability, and independent oversight.

Contemporary Exploitation

Ironically, Pennhurst continues to be exploited through propaganda today, though of a different sort. Since 2010, portions of the abandoned campus have operated as "Pennhurst Asylum," a controversial Halloween haunted attraction that markets the site based on its history of suffering.^[11]

The Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance opposes this commercialization, arguing it disrespects those who suffered at the institution and perpetuates harmful stereotypes about people with disabilities. This modern exploitation demonstrates how institutional propaganda—now in the form of horror marketing—continues to obscure the human rights history that the site represents.

The propaganda images that once concealed abuse now serve as historical evidence of systemic deception—reminders of why transparency, independent oversight, and the voices of those directly affected are essential to preventing institutional abuse.

Pennhurst State School & Hospital