Vineland Training School

12/10/2019

In 1887, Garrison started the feeble minded school in his home. Garrison received 40 acres and the Scarborough mansion and decided to open up a bigger school. The Vineland school opened in 1888, as a school to care for "feeble minded children". After Garrison passed away, Professor Johnstone became the head of the school. He also opened a research lab on the grounds, which was first of it's kind. The laboratory studied mental illness and made many advancements in knowledge and mental illness. At the school they administered the Binet IQ test on the students. One of the scientist working in the lab published a book called "The Kallikak Family- A Study in the Hereditary of Feeble-mindedness". Goddard created a team with the U.S government to go to Ellis Island and test mental illness on immigrants. In 1919 they had built enough buildings to hold 120 boys, and their care was paid for from selling food from the farm. The boys in the school were very happy doing labor and contributing to their little society. Patients had jobs like construction and farming, and would build the buildings for all the expansions. The new expansion was called The Menantico Colony, with the whole lands being entirely self sufficient. This helped the boys feel human, being able to be occupied with work, and helped with getting aggression out. In1945 Johnstone passed away and Dr.Jacobs took over the school for him.