By Taylor Akers, Preservation Associate
From 1897 to 2023, Polk Center operated as an institution for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Historically, the largest in Pennsylvania, Polk housed more than 3,400 residents, including at least 500 children, at its peak population in the mid-1950s.
The Consortium has chronicled Polk’s history through multiple projects, including “Voices of Change,” a multimedia initiative featuring oral histories from people connected to Polk Center, and participation in short films such as From Wrong to Rights and Polk Center 1897–2023: A Reflection.
Since the Consortium’s founding in 2015, we have been pleased to serve as a liaison between Pennsylvania’s Office of Developmental Programs (part of the Department of Human Services) and the Heinz History Center, a museum and professional repository. As a liaison, we advocated for selected artifacts from Polk to be donated to Heinz History Center, whose mission of preserving and sharing the history of Western Pennsylvania includes disability history and changing attitudes toward residential care and community inclusion.
Acquiring these artifacts from Polk Center’s past has been a journey. Starting in 2016, Emily Ruby, a curator at Heinz History Center, obtained several items from Polk Center. These items included an adaptive walking device from the early 1910s, chemistry shaker, hemocytometer from around 1965, Merril-Palmer Scale of Mental Tests kit, a scale to measure dosage of medications, and a variety of clothing that were hand-made by residents as a part of their “work therapy.”
While these items are no longer on display, they are findable online through Heinz History Center, Archived papers, records and other photographs may also be found at the Pennsylvania State Archives.
The Polk collection continued to grow. Two years after the closing of Polk Center in 2023, Emily conducted a review of the list of materials the museum still wished to obtain for its collection. This review – and subsequent discussions with the Office of Developmental Programs – resulted in the addition of 40 new items to the collection, representing religious, medicinal, sewing, recreational, and other aspects of daily life.
Among these were band uniform pieces, two batons, a music stand, a rug made on loom by residents, and a bass drum labeled “Polk State School Band.” These items collectively reflect the provision of arts and recreational activities at the Polk Center. Throughout the years, its bands and drill teams participated in many parades on the grounds and in the community.
The new acquisition also included items such as framed circus or festival tags and buttons, memorabilia from annual “Dinner Date” dances held between 2003 and 2009, a finger painting created by an unidentified resident, a winter sled modified for a resident’s use, and a theater costume depicting a wise man or shepherd from a 1970 Christmas program. Together, these items offer insight into moments of creativity, celebration, and everyday life both within and outside of the institution.
Like the first acquisition, these 40 items will be processed and conserved and have the potential to be displayed at the Heinz History Center in the future. The Consortium is grateful for the partnership with Heinz History Center and Pennsylvania’s Office of Developmental Programs.
As Emily stated, “The history of this institution [Polk Center] and the people who lived and worked there document an important chapter in disability history and advocacy, not only in our region, but throughout the nation. It is vital that these people and their stories be preserved, shared, and never forgotten.”
