All That’s Left
Blog Posts
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The Stories Are Still There
On November 9, 2025, journalist Emilia Otte published a feature in The CT Mirror examining the history and legacy of the Mansfield Training School. The article follows the work of UConn English professor Brenda Brueggemann and her students as they piece together the school’s complicated past. The team has worked to ensure this history is not forgotten…
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Fred’s Story: What is the Value of a Human?
Written by Hannah Dang with support from the DAC Team Caption: A poster promoting the documentary screening and discussion on “Fred’s Story” at the University of Connecticut. The poster has four different pictures, from varying angles, of an elderly man named Fred Calabrese, a man who was institutionalized at the Mansfield Training School. Dim the lights.…
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Thank You
Written by: Gabby Disalvo Gratitude is a powerful feeling. It can be based on how you are treated, how you perceive the world, and how you see yourself. Gratitude can come from a present time, past event, and “anticipatory gratitude” of the future. While visiting the Willowbrook Archives, I experienced all three tenses in just…
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Restricted
Written By: Gabby Disalvo I had a busy few days leading up to my visit to the Archives, so my mental battery was draining lower than my power wheelchair’s battery. I had just finished my junior year, travelled home independently for a disability convention, returned to UConn with my mom, packed away my dorm for…
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to restore lost things
Written by: Hannah Dang One of my favorite pastimes is cleaning. One of the first things I do after I wake up–and after doom-scrolling on Instagram and YouTube–is make the bed. I tug at the thin sheets and then the thick comforter till each edge aligns perfectly with every corner of the bed. Fluff one…
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Cradling the Embers: A Visit to the Archives
Written by: Hannah Dang Based on our visit to the Connecticut State Archives on May 6, 2025~ I was born into a line of oral storytellers. Ever since I was a small child and even now, my mother and her mother before her, loved to tell me stories, using their voices to transport me to…
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A First Day of Many Questions
By: Matt Iannantuoni My fellow researchers, Jess and Brenda, had found in the archive inventory list a box titled “Dismissal and legal action regarding Elly C. Fischer, Florence M. Nichols, James P. Purcell, and Dr. Helen T Warner (1942-5.)” Knowing that I am eventually bound for Law School, they suggested I read through it as…
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Ambiguity of Responsibility
By: Matthew Iannantuoni Enraptured by the findings of the termination papers, I dove back into the folders of the “Dismissal and legal action regarding Elly C. Fischer, Florence M. Nichols, James P. Purcell, Dr. Helen T. Warner” where I found another shred of evidence that seems to only muddy the story I was trying to…
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Hauntings and Horror: Institutionalization and the Urge to Embrace the Paranormal
By: Jess Gallagher “[D]espite the mostly positive, caring work that went on here (and at other similar facilities), there seems to be a story or two of negative incidents, any one of which is enough to initiate stories of restless souls and troubled spirits.” –Damned Connecticut “Mansfield Training School has gotten plenty of attention, for…
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Why I’m Here-Lillian
I fell in love with the archives after touring the university’s shelves. The vast amounts of material in particular drew me in, the amount of information held on those shelves was staggering. The stories hidden within the shelves fascinated me as did their preservation. As a history major I knew the importance of reading, of…
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Why I’m Here! -Paula
Hi, I’m Paula! 🙂 As a long-time museum lover, when Brenda reached out with the opportunity to apply to be part of the MTS team, I was immediately intrigued. I’ve always been interested in “untold stories” and the amplification of voices who historically haven’t been heard in different fields. For museums, this was a very…
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Why I’m Here: Where Have We Been, And Where Are We Going? -Jess
As we round closer and closer to the day this project (or at least the idea for it) began just two years ago, I honestly still can’t believe this is just the beginning. To me, the years we spent working, researching, writing, and thinking just blurred together. Every moment leading to this blog was a…