Research

Scope and Content Note

The series consists of a daily log of attendance, scheduling, and treatment information for inmates at the Westfield State Farm nursery facility. There are entries from August 1961 to January 1962 (volume 1) and April 1963 to September 1963 (volume 2). Entries typically include date; population count (morning and evening); names of patients admitted or discharged; names of visitors (with time); names of officers and others on duty (and shift times); orders; and activity notes (on medications, monitoring, scheduling, etc.)

Orders and notes typically refer to regularly scheduled duties (such as taking babies' temperatures, or monitoring formula in the refrigerator), as well as individual medical orders and treatment directives. There are also scheduling notes for more personal activities, including baby baptisms, "nursery girls" writing "regular letters," and prohibitions against baby viewing "at the outside door" without special permission.