The Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities
mn.gov/disability-mn
Providing information, education, and training to build knowledge, develop skills, and change attitudes that will lead to increased independence, productivity, self determination, integration and inclusion (IPSII) for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Willowbrook State School

Flagship Institution of the New York Department of Mental Health

A Photo Essay by William Bronston M.D.

Music: Excerpts from Echo-d by Gordon Mumma (1978) from Studio Retrospective, Lovely Music LTD.

Willowbrook State School on Staten Island in New York was a notorious example of the failure of institutions to meet the needs of the people they were intended to serve, and the subject of the 1972 ABC news exposé Willowbrook, the Last Great Disgrace.

Willowbrook Related Milestones

New York's Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) held a "landmark event" November 13, 2007 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of closing Willowbrook and posted a timeline outlining events related to Willowbrook.

Updated April 22, 2018

©2025 The Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities
Administration Building   50 Sherburne Avenue   Room G10
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155
Phone: 651-296-4018   Toll-free number: 877-348-0505   MN Relay Service: 800-627-3529 OR 711
Email: admin.dd.info@state.mn.us    View Privacy Policy    An Equal Opportunity Employer 

The GCDD is funded under the provisions of P.L. 106-402. The federal law also provides funding to the Minnesota Disability Law Center, the state Protection and Advocacy System, and to the Institute on Community Integration, the state University Center for Excellence. The Minnesota network of programs works to increase the IPSII of people with developmental disabilities and families into community life.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2401MNSCDD, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

This website is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,152,808.00 funded by ACL/HHS and $222,000.00 funded by non-federal-government source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.