Nov 21, 2024 - Sale 2687

Sale 2687 - Lot 122

Price Realized: $ 875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(DISABILITY.) Group of press photographs of Colorado's Ridge Home for Mental Patients. 65 original press photographs, most about 8 x 10 inches and some smaller, with captions and other Denver Post markings on verso, some with related clippings attached; a few crop marks, occasional retouching, generally minimal to minor wear. Colorado, 1952-1969 (bulk 1963-1969)
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Additional Details

The Ridge Home was located in Arvada, CO, northwest of Denver. Opened as the Colorado State Home and Training School for Mental Defectives in 1910, it often attracted controversy for squalid living conditions and reports of abuse by staff members. Admission was generally permanent and lifelong. The complex was mostly closed by court order in 1990, and the abandoned complex soon became a popular "haunted" hangout for adventurous teens before making way for a shopping mall.

These photographs helped the Denver Post tell the story of the Ridge Home in the 1950s and 1960s, with their access undoubtedly tied to telling a story which painted the administration in a positive light. Poor conditions and neglect are certainly on display, but also evidence of caring professionals doing their best for the home's residents against the odds--and also the residents themselves, finding happiness where they could. Field trips, concerts, and holiday dinners are on display.

If you are interested in under-documented communities, the intellectually disabled would be near the top of the list.