Episode One: Labor, Language, and the Institution

In the first episode of In Our Backyard, hosts Kiara Korten and Payton James look at the gap between how the Mansfield Training School presented itself to the public and what residents lived through. Kiara and Payton are 2026 SHARE Apprentices working with Professor Brenda Brueggemann. The pair draws on promotional posters, an internal document on kitchen equipment safety, the documentary Fred’s Story, and the case of Gladys Burr. They examine how the institution described forced, unpaid labor as “occupational therapy.” They ask why work is the only kind of therapy that appears in the records, and what that says about whom society values.

To read a transcript of this episode, click here.

Content note: This episode discusses institutionalization, abuse, and forced labor.