Research

Scope and Content Note

B1652-99: The accretion consists of subject files of Dr. Jacob Sneider, who was director of the Syracuse State School from 1962-1965. The files are scanty and were probably weeded significantly from the director's working files.

Records include minutes of staff meetings; charts listing numbers of residents by age group; charts of female and male residents by age (also showing I.Q. and admission date or the number of years in residence); census data on colonies, and especially details of the sale of Westcott Colony (1962); reports on delinquent convalescent care accounts (with amount owed); employment applications for domestic work; monthly statistical reports from the Department of Mental Hygiene on all its institutions; and a small amount of general planning and administrative files.

Of special interest is a small amount of memorandums and reports on the school's education program, including curriculum development. An important pilot project (1962) was opening a half-way house (the "Onondaga Street residence") for the vocational rehabilitation of girls of the Syracuse State School.

B1652-09: This accretion consists of subject files of Syracuse State School (after 1973, Syracuse Developmental Center) Director George J. Buchholtz. The bulk of the accretion is composed of monthly and annual reports documenting various departments of the facility, such as Vocational-Industrial, Recreation, Social Service, Food Service, Dental, and Academic; and manuals, handbooks, and publications, many of which were issued by the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene for use by nurses, attendants, and facility managers. There are also statistical tables, correspondence, memorandums, and a few patient lists found throughout. A number of files in the accretion relate to the new State School facility.