View source for Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Short description|Historical hospital in Massachusetts}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox hospital
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| name        = Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center
| org/group   = Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation<!-- org or group that owns/manages the hospital -->
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| region      = [[Waltham, Massachusetts|Waltham]]<!-- e.g. City or County -->
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| former-names = Walter E. Fernald State School<!-- Former name(s) of used by the hospital if different from its current name -->
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{{Infobox NRHP
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| name         = Walter E. Fernald State School, Waltham, MA.
| nrhp_type    = hd
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| image        = Walter E. Fernald State School - IMG 1879.JPG
| caption      = 
| location     = 200 Trapelo Rd., [[Waltham, Massachusetts]]
| coordinates  = 
| locmapin     = Massachusetts#USA
| built        = 1888
| architect    = [[William G. Preston]]; [[Clarence P. Hoyt]]
| architecture = Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
| added        = January 21, 1994
| mpsub        = Massachusetts State Hospitals And State Schools MPS
| refnum       = 93001487<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
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}}

The '''Walter E. Fernald State School''', later the '''Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center''', was the [[Western hemisphere]]'s oldest publicly funded institution serving people with [[developmental disabilities]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Walter E. Fernald Association |url=http://fernaldassociation.com/fernaldCenter.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117182356/http://fernaldassociation.com/fernaldCenter.htm |archive-date=January 17, 2010 |access-date=2009-06-09}}</ref><ref name=ansberry2013/>  Under its third superintendent, Walter Fernald, it became a model for state institutions for the developmentally disabled. It later was the scene of [[human experimentation|medical experiments]] in the 20th century. Investigations into this research led to new regulations regarding human research in children.

The school occupies a {{convert|186|acre}} property off Trapelo Road in [[Waltham, Massachusetts]].

==History==

===Early history===
The Fernald Center, originally called the Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children,<ref>{{cite web |title=Fernald State School - Asylum Projects |url=http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=Fernald_State_School |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708231547/http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=Fernald_State_School |archive-date=July 8, 2024 |access-date=2017-01-31 |website=www.asylumprojects.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=1909 |title=Letters and Journals of Samuel Gridley Howe |url=http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/dhm/lib/detail.html?id=1683&page=36 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228021527/https://www.disabilitymuseum.org/dhm/lib/detail.html?id=1683&page=36 |archive-date=February 28, 2023 |access-date=2017-01-31 |website=www.disabilitymuseum.org |language=en}}</ref> was founded in Boston by reformer [[Samuel Gridley Howe]] in 1848 with a $2,500 appropriation from the [[Massachusetts State Legislature]]. The school gradually moved to a new permanent location in Waltham between 1888 and 1891.  It eventually encompassed 72 buildings across {{convert|196|acre|km2}}. At its peak, the school confined some 2,500 people, most of them "[[feeble-minded]]" boys.

Under its third [[Superintendent (education)|superintendent]], Walter E. Fernald (1859–1924), the school was viewed as a model educational facility in the field of [[mental retardation]] and doctors and politicians from across the country and the world would travel to Waltham to study the methods employed at the center. Fernald was instrumental in the establishment of the first independent farm colony for the disabled ([[Templeton Developmental Center|The Templeton Colony]]) and early concepts of special education. However, though he never supported forced sterilization, Fernald was an important figure in the eugenics movement, advocating for the segregation of mentally disabled children from society and coining the term “Defective Delinquent” to describe criminally-inclined mentally disabled children.<ref>Fernald, Walter E. “The Imbecile with Criminal Instincts.” American Medico-Psychological Association, May 1908.</ref> It wasn’t until the end of his life that he had a reversal of many of these ideas, fighting against the segregation of most mentally disabled children, rejecting IQ tests, and supporting community education and out-patient clinics.<ref>AFTER-CARE STUDY OF THE PATIENTS DIS- CHARGED FROM WAVERLEY FOR A PERIOD OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS By WALTER E. FERNALD, M.D. 
Reprinted from UNGRaDeD, Vol. V, No. &, November, 1919.</ref><ref>AN OUT-PATIENT CLINIC IN CONNECTION WITH A STATE INSTITUTION FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDED.* BY WALTER E. FERNALD, M. D., WAVERLEY, Mass.</ref> However, by this time, many of his ideas about forced segregation and mass institutionalization had already entered the American mainstream. The school was renamed in his honor in 1925, following his death the previous year.<ref>School., Walter E. Fernald State. “Annual Report of the Trustees of the Walter E. Fernald State School at Waltham for the Year Ending November 30, 1925.” DSpace Home, Walter E. Fernald State School, 1 Jan. 1926, http://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/782009.</ref>

The institution did serve a large population of children with cognitive disabilities (referred to as "mentally retarded children"), but ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' estimates that upwards of half of the inmates tested with [[IQ]]s in the normal range. In the 20th century, living conditions were spartan or worse; approximately 36 children slept in each [[dormitory]] room. There were also reports of physical and sexual abuse.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Glen |date=12 October 2009 |title=Apology sought for abuse at Fernald School |url=http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/x2118273746/Apology-sought-for-abuse-at-Fernald-School |url-status= |access-date=2 November 2009 |work=The Daily News Tribune |publisher=Gatehouse Media Inc.}}{{dead link|date=August 2024}}</ref>

===Nuclear medicine research in children===
The Fernald School was the site of the 1946–53 joint experiments by [[Harvard University]] and [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] that exposed young male children to tracer doses of [[radioactive isotope]]s.<ref name="pmid13278403">{{cite journal |vauthors=BRONNER F, HARRIS RS, MALETSKOS CJ, BENDA CE | title = Studies in calcium metabolism. the fate of intravenously injected radiocalcium in human beings | journal = [[The Journal of Clinical Investigation]] | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | pages = 78–88 |date=January 1956 | pmid = 13278403 | pmc = 438780 | doi = 10.1172/JCI103254 }}</ref> Documents obtained in 1994 by the [[United States Department of Energy]]<ref>{{cite web |title=OT-19. Radioisotope Studies at the Fernald State School, Massachusetts |url=https://ehss.energy.gov/ohre/roadmap/achre/chap7_5.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623112841/https://ehss.energy.gov/ohre/roadmap/achre/chap7_5.html |archive-date=June 23, 2024 |access-date=2017-06-24}}</ref> revealed the following details:
*The experiment was conducted in part by a research fellow sponsored by the [[Quaker Oats Company]]. Part of the study involved adding radioactive iron and calcium into oatmeal and milk, then feeding the mixture to Fernald students.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Boissoneault |first2=Lorraine |title=A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Radioactive Oatmeal Go Down |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spoonful-sugar-helps-radioactive-oatmeal-go-down-180962424/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817081310/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spoonful-sugar-helps-radioactive-oatmeal-go-down-180962424/ |archive-date=August 17, 2024 |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
*MIT Professor of Nutrition Robert S. Harris led the experiment, which studied the absorption of [[calcium]] and [[iron]].
*The boys were encouraged to join a "Science Club", which offered larger portions of food, parties, and trips to [[Boston Red Sox]] baseball games.
*The 57 club members ate [[iron]]-enriched cereals and [[calcium]]-enriched milk for breakfast. In order to track absorption, several [[radioisotope|radioactive]] [[calcium]] tracers were given orally or intravenously.
*Radiation levels in stool and blood samples would serve as dependent variables.
*In another study, 17 subjects received iron supplement shots containing radioisotopes of iron.<ref name="pmid">{{cite journal |vauthors=SHARPE LM, PEACOCK WC, COOKE R, HARRIS RS | title = The effect of phytate and other food factors on iron absorption | journal = [[The Journal of Nutrition]] | volume = 41 | issue = 3 | pages = 433–46 |date=July 1950 | pmid = 15428911| doi = 10.1093/jn/41.3.433| url = http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=15428911 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
*Neither the children nor their parents ever gave adequate [[informed consent]] for participation in a scientific study.

The [[Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments]], reporting to the [[United States Department of Energy]] in 1994, reported on these experiments:<ref>{{cite book |title=ACHRE Report |chapter=Chapter 7: The Studies at Fernald School |quote=It is clear that the doses involved were low and that it is extremely unlikely that any of the children who were used as subjects were harmed as a consequence. |chapter-url=http://www.hss.energy.gov/HealthSafety/ohre/roadmap/achre/chap7_5.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802234648/http://www.hss.energy.gov/HealthSafety/ohre/roadmap/achre/chap7_5.html |archive-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref>
{{blockquote|
In 1946, one study exposed seventeen subjects to radioactive iron. The second study, which involved a series of seventeen related subexperiments, exposed fifty-seven subjects to radioactive calcium between 1950 and 1953. It is clear that the doses involved were low and that it is extremely unlikely that any of the children who were used as subjects were harmed as a consequence. These studies remain morally troubling, however, for several reasons. First, although parents or guardians were asked for their permission to have their children involved in the research, the available evidence suggests that the information provided was, at best, incomplete. Second, there is the question of the fairness of selecting institutionalized children at all, children whose life circumstances were by any standard already heavily burdened.
}}

It has been claimed that the highest dose of radiation that any subject was exposed to was 330 [[millirem]], the equivalent of less than one year's [[background radiation]] in [[Denver]].<ref name=MIT>{{cite news |first=Zareena |last=Hussain |title=MIT to pay $1.85 million in Fernald radiation settlement |work=The Tech |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V117/N65/bfernald.65n.html |volume=11 |issue=65 |date=January 7, 1998 |access-date=2009-06-09 |archive-date=June 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621145956/http://tech.mit.edu/V117/N65/bfernald.65n.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> A 1995 class-action suit resulted in a 1998 District court decision awarding the victims a $1.85 million settlement from MIT and Quaker.<ref name=MIT/>

The school also participated in studies of [[thyroid]] function in patients with [[Down Syndrome]] and their parents.<ref name="pmid13406017">{{cite journal |vauthors=KURLAND GS, FISHMAN J, HAMOLSKY MW, FREEDBERG AS | title = Radioisotope study of thyroid function in 21 mongoloid subjects, including observations in 7 parents | journal = [[The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism]] | volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 552–60 |date=April 1957 | pmid = 13406017 | doi = 10.1210/jcem-17-4-552| url = http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=13406017 | url-access = subscription }}</ref>
This study showed that their iodine metabolism was similar to normal controls.

===Reform lawsuit===

This situation changed in the 1970s, when a class action suit, ''[[Ricci v. Okin]]'', was filed to upgrade conditions at Fernald and several other state institutions for persons with intellectual disability in Massachusetts.  U.S. District Court Judge [[Joseph Louis Tauro]], who assumed oversight of the case in 1972, formally disengaged from the case in 1993, declaring that improvements in the care and conditions at the facilities had made them "second to none anywhere in the world". A result for Fernald residents of the class action suit which took effect in 1993 was the provision of "a guaranteed level of care, regardless of cost, to compensate for decades of neglect and abuse".<ref name=ansberry2013/>

===Twenty-first century===
The buildings and grounds survived into the 2000s as a center for mentally disabled adults, operated by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} In 2001, 320 adults resided at Fernald, with ages ranging from 27 to 96 years and an average age of 47 years. According to a December 13, 2004 article in the ''Boston Globe'',{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} Massachusetts Governor [[Mitt Romney]] announced in 2003 that the facility would be closed and the land sold by 2007. In 2003, a coalition of family advocates and state employee unions began a campaign to save Fernald and asked Judge Tauro to resume his oversight of the "Ricci v. Okin" class action lawsuit that had led to improvements at Fernald and the other state facilities beginning in the 1970s.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

In an August 14, 2007 ruling, Judge Tauro ordered the Department of Mental Retardation to consider the individual wishes of all 185 institution residents before closing the facility.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} However, in September 2007, the new administration of Governor [[Deval Patrick]] appealed Tauro's ruling to the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston. In a statement, the Patrick administration contended that Fernald had become too expensive to continue to operate and that equal or better care could be provided in private, community-based settings for the remaining Fernald residents.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} The administration's cost claims have been disputed by the Fernald League for the Retarded, Inc., the Massachusetts Coalition of Families and Advocates for the Retarded, Inc. (COFAR) and other family-based organizations, which have continued to advocate for the preservation of Fernald as a site for ICF/MR-level care for its current residents. Those advocacy organizations proposed a "postage-stamp" plan under which Fernald would be scaled back in size and the remaining portion of the campus sold for development.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} The Patrick administration, however, declined to negotiate with those Fernald advocates, and pressed ahead with its appeal and closure plans.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

A significant portion of the Waltham campus, encompassing its facilities established through Fernald's tenure, was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1994.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url=https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=wlt.ab|title=MACRIS inventory record for Walter E. Fernald School|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts|access-date=2014-04-25}}</ref>  Fernald was the subject of a 2005 documentary film "Front Wards, Back Wards" directed by W.C. Rogers, which has been shown on some [[PBS]] television stations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.gpb.org/frontwardsbackwards|title=Front Wards, Back Wards|date=2009-04-28|newspaper=Georgia Public Broadcasting|language=en|access-date=2017-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://itvs.org/films/front-wards-back-wards|title=Front Wards, Back Wards {{!}} ITVS|website=itvs.org|language=en|access-date=2017-01-31}}</ref>

{{As of|June 2013}}, Fernald remained open with 13 residents living on grounds, the oldest of whom was 84 years old and a resident since the age of 19.<ref name=ansberry2013>{{cite news |title=At Nation's Oldest Institution For the Disabled, 13 Lives in Limbo |first=Clare |last=Ansberry |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=29–30 June 2013 |type=paper |pages=A1, A6 }}</ref> It was reported to cost approximately {{currency|1000000|US}} per client per year, or about four times the United States national average for a state-supported institution.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The Fernald Center's last resident was discharged on Thursday, November 13, 2014,<ref>{{cite news| author =Josh Kovner| title =Opposing Sides Clash As Debate Resumes Over Closing Southbury Training School| quote = Molly Cole, who directs the disabilities council, pointed to an institution in Massachusetts, the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, that was finally shut by the Bay State last month.| newspaper =[[Hartford Courant]]| date =December 3, 2014| url =http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-southbury-closing-battle-1204-20141203-story.html| access-date =January 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| author = Ralph Edwards| title =Closing of Fernald Developmental Center| quote = On Thursday, November 13, 2014, Fernald Developmental School closed its doors.| newspaper =[[TASH (organization)|TASH]]| date = November 19, 2014| url =http://tash.org/blog/2014/11/19/closing-fernal-developmental-center/| access-date =January 18, 2015}}</ref> after a protracted legal and political battle which cost the Commonwealth of Massachusetts over $40 million in additional costs over the projected closure date of 2010. Remaining residents were integrated into community services or other state-operated programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Fernald-Finally-Closes.html?soid=1101398806423&aid=MDurx4OJtWw |title=Fernald Closes Doors after 126 years of Operation |website=myemail.constantcontact.com |access-date=2019-05-27}}</ref>  In 2014 the land was purchased by the city of Waltham in two parcels, 139 acres for $2.7 million paid out of Community Preservation Act funds, and 40 acres for $800,000 of city funds. The CPA section may only be used for open space, recreation, or historic preservation. The 40 acre portion has no restrictions for future use.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Waltham closes deal on Fernald purchase|url=https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/waltham-news-tribune/2014/12/24/waltham-closes-deal-on-fernald/35642071007/|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Wicked Local|language=en-US}}</ref> There was a period of discussion about building a new high school for Waltham on a section of the site,<ref name="comments1">{{cite web|date=6 August 2014|title=Bill allows Waltham to buy Fernald site for $3.7m|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2014/08/06/bill-allowing-waltham-purchase-fernald-property-awaits-governor-signature/ZgiWS7QiXxnT14thuS7O9I/story.html|work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Patkin|first=Abigail|title=Waltham officials grapple with challenges of Fernald as high school site|url=https://waltham.wickedlocal.com/news/20170629/waltham-officials-grapple-with-challenges-of-fernald-as-high-school-site|website=Wicked Local Waltham}}</ref> but eventually the proposal was discarded due to difficult topography, potential soil contamination, and a denial of approval from the Massachusetts Historical Commission related to the demolition of certain buildings on the site.<ref>{{Cite web|title=State commission urges city to avoid school at Fernald|url=https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/waltham-news-tribune/2016/10/25/state-commission-urges-city-to/24675247007/|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Wicked Local|language=en}}</ref>

==Current status==
In May 2017 and 2018, the Waltham Lions Club held a fundraising carnival on the grounds with rides, games, prizes, a petting zoo and food.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-05-16|title=Waltham Lions Family Carnival Roars Into Town|url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/waltham/waltham-lions-family-carnival-starts-wednesday|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Waltham, MA Patch|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Waltham Lions Club Carnival {{!}} walthamma|url=https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/home/events/62283|access-date=2021-12-23|website=www.city.waltham.ma.us}}</ref>

In November/December 2020 and 2021, the site became the home of the Greater Boston Lights Show, a fundraiser for the Waltham [[Lions Club]] chapter.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Greater Boston Light Show, Waltham, MA - 200 Trapelo Rd. Waltham MA|url=https://greaterbostonlightshow.com/|access-date=2020-12-19|website=Greater Boston Light Show, Waltham, MA|language=en-US}}</ref> The decision to host a holiday lights display at this location angered disability rights advocates.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-19|title=In Waltham, A Holiday Light Show For Charity Stirs Up Controversy|url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/11/18/in-waltham-a-holiday-light-show-for-charity-stirs-up-controversy|access-date=2020-12-19|website=News|language=en}}</ref>

In December 2021, the Waltham Recreation Department held an online meeting to collect public input for potential recreational development on the Fernald property.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Virtual Public Input Meeting regarding Fernald Property {{!}} walthamma|url=https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/home/events/117896|access-date=2021-12-23|website=www.city.waltham.ma.us}}</ref> While many suggestions were made around walking paths, gardens, and other passive recreation facilities, the majority of the meeting focused on the need to honor and respect the history of Fernald and the treatment of the residents.<ref>{{Cite web|last=ClockerResident|date=2021-12-08|title=Fernald Reuse|url=http://www.reddit.com/r/Waltham/comments/rbvdhl/fernald_reuse/|access-date=2021-12-23|website=r/Waltham}}</ref>

In 2022, an "amusement park" was approved by the City Council for the Fernald, complete with an electric train, mini golf, open green space, tennis and pickleball courts, a massive athletic complex, eight parking lots, an amphitheater, and a universal playground for children with disabilities. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/04/16/walthams-amusement-park-plan-on-fernald-school-land-draws-criticism-and-praise/ | title='Amusement park' plan for Waltham's Fernald draws criticism, praise }}</ref> At a Waltham City Council meeting in December 2023, members approved a $9.5 million loan authorization for the project. As of early 2024 construction on the project has begun with no completion date announced. Many residents have opposed the plan for its lack of transparency and for its perceived offensiveness to the disabled community.  

In January 2024, Oliver Egger, a journalist and great-great-grandson of Walter Fernald, wrote an investigative piece in ''The Boston Globe'' describing how, despite knowledge by the City of Waltham and the state, thousands of confidential patient records were left on the campus after its closure. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/10/opinion/shameful-afterlife-fernald-school-waltham/?fbclid=IwAR0o7e0wmWQKni0_kCjAlGL79ClMCOecmBwwzR2GYqBgAAPJFyyAbrH5rOQ | title=The shameful afterlife of the Fernald School in Waltham - the Boston Globe | website=[[The Boston Globe]] }}</ref> This was in violation of [[HIPAA]]. Soon after the article's publication, the state removed the documents from the campus and admitted wrong-doing. <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.mass.gov/news/hipaa-breach-notification-the-former-fernald-developmental-center | title=HIPAA Breach Notification: The Former Fernald Developmental Center | website=www.mass.gov | date=2024-03-11}}</ref> The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Health and Human Services has formally launched an investigation. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2024-04-04/feds-launch-civil-rights-investigation-into-patient-privacy-breach-at-abandoned-fernald-school | title=Feds launch civil rights investigation into patient privacy breach at abandoned Fernald School | date=April 4, 2024 }}</ref> In April 2024, ''The Globe'' reported that in addition the Massachusetts State Police left decades’ worth of confidential case files at the school for years, removing them in 2017. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04/10/metro/fernald-developmental-center-waltham-documents-records-state-police/ | title=State Police left decades' worth of confidential case files at old Fernald school in Waltham - the Boston Globe | website=[[The Boston Globe]] }}</ref>

on April 19th, 2025 a four alarm fire at the abandoned site was extinguished by firefighters, less than a year after another fire at the same location.

==See also==
{{Portal|United States}}
*[[Human experimentation in the United States]]
*[[Templeton Developmental Center]], another state facility originally established under Fernald's tenure
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Waltham, Massachusetts]]
*[[Metropolitan State Hospital (Massachusetts)]], the state hospital located across the street at 475 Trapelo Road
*[[Wrentham State School]], Massachusetts' last remaining large scale institution for developmentally disabled people
*[[Belchertown State School]], a similar state institution that existed from 1922 to 1992 and was built to alleviate overcrowding at Wrentham and Fernald.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*D'Antonio, Michael. ''The State Boys Rebellion''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.

==External links==
{{commons category|Walter E. Fernald State School}}
* [http://www.brandeis.edu/lemberg/SGHL/PDF/Bibliographies/Walter%20Elmore%20Fernald.pdf Excerpts from the writings of Walter E. Fernald]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/05/23/in_the_swim_of_things/ In the swim of things]
* [http://www.boston.com/yourtown/waltham/news/gallery/050809_fernald_waltham/ Fernald through the years (photo gallery)]
* [http://www.tuftsdaily.com/closure-of-tufts-dental-clinic-leaves-disabled-patients-without-care-1.2212574 Closure of Tufts dental clinic leaves disabled patients without care]
* [http://www.city.waltham.ma.us/sites/walthamma/files/file/file/fernald_center_history.pdf History of the Fernald Center, City of Waltham]

{{Hospitals in Massachusetts}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Human subject research in the United States]]
[[Category:Hospitals in Middlesex County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Waltham, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Special schools in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Waltham, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1888]]
[[Category:Psychiatric hospitals in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis sanatoria in the United States]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1888 establishments in Massachusetts]]