Hello! My name is Ashten 🙂 

I first heard about Mansfield Training School through other students. Mostly whisperings about “haunting.” I was already deeply interested in the history of deinstitutionalization and Disability Studies. I couldn’t get the thought of MTS out of my head. Especially as a UConn student, the erasure of Mansfield Training School’s history was hard to grapple with. I had been to the site and paid my respects, but I felt like a proper acknowledgement of the site was needed. 

That next semester, I was taking Brenda’s course on Disability in American Literature and Culture. During one of the classes, Jess and Brenda presented the work they had done on the Mansfield Training School Project. I was so overcome with appreciation that there were people out there working on a project like this. I knew that I had to try to learn all that I could about the project. Luckily, I was able to join an amazing team of researchers to continue the project. 

I feel an obligation to honor the residents of MTS and those impacted by its legacy. The history of institutionalization in this country is egregious. It is so ingrained in our society that one has to make a conscious effort to understand and dissect the role it has played for so long and the power structures that enable it, and continue to perpetuate carceral modalities of “care.” As a kid and teenager, I was institutionalized. I will never forget how much the pain that has caused me and how it continues to impact me today. As a result, I was unsure if I would have the opportunity to attend college. Now that the university I am attending is so closely tied with institutionalization, I cannot ignore it. I will never understand what it was like to be a resident at MTS, but I do understand the importance of helping the stories be told. I am so lucky that I get to work alongside such an amazing, thoughtful, and dedicated group of people on this project. I am hopeful for the education, conversations, and change that this project will bring.