Biography
We are the people you see in the photo above, each with our own connection to disability. Two of us lived at Pennhurst ourselves. Have you heard of Pennhurst? Pennhurst was an institution for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, run by the state of Pennsylvania. More than ten thousand people lived there from 1908-1987. Who were these people? Every one of them had a file and a life. What can we discover in the files, and what is missing? What could their lives have been like, and how do they connect to our lives? For 20 months, we came together to learn from one another, to collaborate and create, to process our thoughts and feelings, and to dream up ways of telling the stories you’re about to see, hear and feel. That’s what we invite you to do, too: look, listen, feel, imagine, remember, reflect, ask questions, make connections. And tell these stories to others.
File/Life was produced by the Institute on Disabilities, Temple University CEHD. Our work was made possible through the generous support of the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.