# Fate of mentally disabled child born in 1920s in Detroit **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194 "2013-10-25T08:24:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194/21 "2013-10-28T14:39:31Z")
I had a great-uncle, born in 1924 and living in the Detroit area, who was run over by a cart when he was in grade school and became mentally disabled. He was sent to the [Ypsilanti State Hospital](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypsilanti_State_Hospital) (near Ann Arbor - about 70 miles or so from Detroit). It wasn’t built til 1931, but perhaps your infant could be transferred there as an older child? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194/22 "2013-10-28T15:08:03Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > I had a great-uncle, born in 1924 and living in the Detroit area, who was run over by a cart when he was in grade school and became mentally disabled. He was sent to the [Ypsilanti State Hospital](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypsilanti_State_Hospital) (near Ann Arbor - about 70 miles or so from Detroit). It wasn’t built til 1931, but perhaps your infant could be transferred there as an older child? Bingo! For proximity to Detroit, Ypsilanti State Hospital (known familiarly as “Ypsi State” (pronounced ‘Ip-see’)) would be a good bet. I worked there (as did many others from my family and friends) before it was closed down. Met some interesting people there… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194/23 "2013-10-28T23:21:54Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > [They could tell in 1917](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E06E3DF103BE03ABC4D51DFB166838C609EDE). If you open the whole article, you’ll see where the doctor refused to save the day-old baby girl he said would “probably be an imbecile.” He let several newborn babies die, before his own death in 1919, in the name of eugenics. “for nature to dispose of”? 😕 Wow. But it sounds to me like this baby had anencephaly, which is still incompatible with life and probably always will be. I wonder what kind of operation the parents wanted. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194/24 "2013-10-29T02:07:29Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > I had a great-uncle, born in 1924 and living in the Detroit area, who was run over by a cart when he was in grade school and became mentally disabled. He was sent to the [Ypsilanti State Hospital](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypsilanti_State_Hospital) (near Ann Arbor - about 70 miles or so from Detroit). It wasn’t built til 1931, but perhaps your infant could be transferred there as an older child? Ypsi is only about 35 miles from Detroit, although the hospital, actually closer to Saline, was around 45 miles from Detroit–and the road to get from downtown Detroit to Ypsi before the expressways were built would have meant driving past Eloise. 😛 It is possible that Eloise did not treat children, making Ypsilanti a better choice if it did. Alternatively, Eastern Michigan Asylum, (later, Pontiac State Hospital), would have been even closer (30 miles _vs_ 45 miles) and I know that it was on an interurban route. ---
**Author:** ![NoriMori](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/norimori/32/13254_2.png) [@NoriMori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoriMori)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194/25 "2013-11-07T13:23:16Z")
Thanks everyone for the responses! However, I’ve changed the story — now she was born in 1946. Does this widen the pool? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194/26 "2013-11-07T14:02:37Z")
Y’know, I’ve been reading [“Annie’s Ghosts”](http://www.amazon.com/Annies-Ghosts-Journey-Family-Secret-ebook/dp/B002EBDPHI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383832864&sr=8-1&keywords=Annie%27s+Ghosts) (which previous people have mentioned), and you really owe it to yourself to take a look at it. The detail it has about a scenario that’s so much like yours (woman born in Detroit, institutionalized, etc) would really be worthwhile it seems. ---
**Author:** ![bubba001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@bubba001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba001)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194/27 "2013-11-08T06:52:25Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Ypsi is only about 35 miles from Detroit, although the hospital, actually closer to Saline, was around 45 miles from Detroit–and the road to get from downtown Detroit to Ypsi before the expressways were built would have meant driving past Eloise. 😛 > > It is possible that Eloise did not treat children, making Ypsilanti a better choice if it did. Alternatively, Eastern Michigan Asylum, (later, Pontiac State Hospital), would have been even closer (30 miles _vs_ 45 miles) and I know that it was on an interurban route. There was a state hospital in Northville. One of my grandmother’s worked there, but I have no idea what patients they housed there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fate-of-mentally-disabled-child-born-in-1920s-in-detroit/672194.md?page=1)