In the fall of 2019, the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council and Keith Ludden of Oral History and Folklife Research Inc collaborated to collect six stories – from five individuals and the sister of one individual who lived at Pineland.
The rallying cry of the disability rights movement is “Nothing About Us Without Us!” We could not faithfully tell the history of this institution without including the voices of those who endured it. Thank you to Jim Reed, Richard Raymond, Maryann Preble, Vanessa Munsey, Paul Easton, and Vicki Schad for sharing their stories with us, so that we can have a more complete understanding of this history.
Listen below to their stories.
Paul Easton
“It was like going to a strange place. I had to get used to the place. What they did was my mother and father drove over to the building where they did the signing to let the person come to Pineland and then from there I went to a hospital.”
Read the transcript of this interview by clicking here.
Jim Reed
“They had to have bodyguards when I take a shower and everything. Just for one minute they didn’t leave the area. They had to have bodyguards there to watch out what you’re doing. I didn’t like that either. Privacy. That’s not good.”
Read the transcript of this interview by clicking here.
Vicki Schad
“But when he came back home I believe there was a time when Mom and Dad talked to him, not knowing really if he understood, but just telling him that “We didn’t know. We didn’t know what was happening, we didn’t know how sad you were We didn’t know what was going on and we will never, ever send you away again.” And he just began—I think at that point he began to heal.”
Read the transcript of this interview by clicking here.
Richard Raymond
“When night time comes, you know, one of the worst things that happened was that superintendent was leaving the building, you know, and leaving the kids all unattended and they had big guys up there, coming down, beating us up, you know.”
Read the transcript of this interview by clicking here.
Maryann Preble
“My folks couldn’t come for a while, because where I was just—It hurt me to see them to leave and I got really upset and crying and stuff and they were going to come in and put me in a straitjacket and give me a shot. I finally calmed down, you know, it took me a while, but it was just like they put me there and they went off. It hurt me so bad, you know. It wasn’t my kind of place to be.”
Read the transcript of this interview by clicking here.
Vanessa Munsey
“This aide come took me down the stairs and ripped my dress and they treat me like a wild animal. If you don’t get up at roll call they put you in the other bed until you get up. They treat you like a crazy person.”
Read the transcript of this interview by clicking here.