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With An Eye to the Future

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Historical Photographs

This series of photos have been shared to illustrate progress in attitudes and media coverage.

Please note that captions were changed occasionally to use more up-to-date terminology. The Council thanks Jo Erbes for her diligent work in finding the images contained in this Photo Album; Stephanie Boucher for organizing the Photo Album and making the wording come alive; and Brian Anderson for creating the online website feature.

The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) has graciously granted us (the Council) permission to display its images online for this project. The MHS retains all rights to images duplicated from the MHS collections. When known, the Council will provide photo credit to the creator of the original work or the current copyright owner. Photographs may have been cropped to suit design and layout.

(February 4, 2019, July 19, 2019, updated January 15, 2020)

Photo Album: 1900s

Gillette State Hospital for Crippled Children

Gillette Hospital was established as the State Hospital for Indigent, Crippled, and Deformed Children, due to the efforts of its founder, Dr. Arthur Gillette, to entrust the state with the care of children with orthopedic disorders whose parents could not afford treatment. For more information, see the Minnesota Historical Society article on the Gillette State Hospital for Crippled Children.

All of these photographs were taken in 1905 at the Gillette State Hospital in St. Paul.

Black and white photo shows a beautiful building with several wings and a spacious lawn. Two groups of children are on the lawn, with boys to the left and girls to the right. Both groups appear to be wearing uniforms.
Many patients were confined to the Gillette State Hospital for several months or years, so an education program from kindergarten to post-high school was provided, in addition to medical and orthopedic treatment, 1905.
Four boys wearing coveralls are standing at what appear to be workbenches. Two of the boys are using crutches, and one boy is wearing a head and neck brace. They may be learning woodworking.
Boys learned in the classroom and the work room at the Gillette State Hospital, 1905.
A large group of children are sitting in a library, with their heads down, reading.
Children in the library at Gillette seemed engrossed in their books, 1905.
Four boys wearing coveralls are standing at what appear to be workbenches. Two of the boys are using crutches, and one boy is wearing a head and neck brace. They may be lA horse-drawn buggy carried four young girls with bows in their hair.
Young girls posed in a horse-drawn carriage outside the front door of the Gillette State Hospital, 1905.
A large, covered swing holds five somber-looking toddlers.
These toddlers seemed more interested in the camera than they did in their swing on the grounds of the Gillette State Hospital for Crippled Children, 1905.
A long, low, rectangular table near a large window has about 20 children around it, seated in wooden chairs, listening to their teacher.
Classroom learning was just as much a part of life at the Gillette Hospital as physical therapy, 1905.
About 20 children with a variety of crutches and braces stand around a swing to have their photo taken.
A large group of young children, using a variety of crutches and braces, stood around a swing on the grounds of the Gillette Hospital, smiling for the camera, 1905.
1900s