With an Eye to the Past

1970s: One Step Forward

With an Eye
to the Past
Introduction
Index of
Historical
Documents
Index of
Video
Access Press
History Notes
Columns
State
Legislative
Summaries
Welsch Trial
Photo
Gallery
Council
Home

Zoom Text:

75%
100%
125%
150%

Introduction
1940s - 50s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s & Beyond

By 1970, the state Department of Public Welfare reported that state institutions might no longer be necessary within another decade or two. Despite this prediction, construction of new buildings moved forward.

Molly Woehrlin, President of Minnesota Arc, and the state mental health association responded quickly, urging that no new buildings be constructed on state hospital grounds and calling for all state institutions to be phased out.

Nevertheless, expansion continued. In 1970, a new unit for people with developmental disabilities opened in Hastings.

Video: Molly Woehrlin, past President of Arc Minnesota

Part 1: Parent Advocacy in the 1960s

Part 2: Visiting State Hospitals with Legislators

Part 3: The Role of Parents and the Sense of Urgency

Click here for a list of documents (Adobe Acrobat PDF format) related to developmental disabilities policy in the State of Minnesota from 1880s to the present time.

Molly Woehrlin was a formidable force in the debate surrounding construction of new hospital buildings.

1 of 6

Previous
1 of 6
Next

Partners In Policymaking Program
Partners Online Courses (5 Free Courses)
Parallels In Time (A History of Disabilities)
With an Eye to the Future (Minnesota History from the 2000 to Present)
A History of Human Services (Wolf Wolfensberger – 10 Hours of Lecture)
Disability Justice Resource Center (A Resource Center for Students, Lawyers and Advocates)
The DD Act (A History of the Developmental Disabilities Act from 1970 to Present)
The Learning Center (Historical Documents of the Council)

©2024 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 2301MNSCDD-02, 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 $1,120,136.00 with 83 percent funded by ACL/HHS and $222,000.00 and 17 percent 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.