the FR old school is the oldest institution of its kind in the country at its peak some 2500 people were confined here at a time most of them children all of them called feeble-minded whether they were or not the people who ran FAL back in the bad old days are no longer alive but many of the victims still are victims like Fred Boyce who is locked up here for 11 years he came back to fernal with us we thought for a long time that we belonged there that we were not part of this species we thought we were some kind of you know people that wasn't supposed to be born and that was precisely the idea the fern old school and others like it were part of a popular American movement in the early 20th century it was called the Eugenics movement the idea was to separate people considered to be genetically inferior from the rest of society to prevent them from reproducing Eugenics is usually associated with Nazi Germany but in fact it started here in America not only that it continued here long after Hitler's Germany was in Ruins at the height of the movement in the 1920s and 30s exhibits were set up at fairs to teach people about Eugenics it was good for America good for the human race that was the message I would estimate that at least at least 50% would function in today's world well take Fred boy he was just 8 years old in 1949 when his foster mother died in the state of Massachusetts committed him to fernal Fred's records from fernal show they labeled him as a [ __ ] even though Tess showed his intelligence was within the normal range not bad for a boy with no education at all do you know why the state recommended that you come here it was the easy way out they didn't have to look for homes for you so they could just dump you off in these human warehouses and just let you rot you know and that's what they did they let us rot they said you were feeble-minded yeah you weren't feeble-minded they kept you here 11 years of the most precious time that you have as a child most of the school is closed now including Fred Boyce's old dorms they'll be torn down soon the relics of a childhood without Joy about 36 children slept in each room with the beds jammed together the children received little education and less affection and how long would they stay at fernal the kids were told they could be here for life I kind of thought for a while maybe there was something wrong with me or why would I be here there was in fact nothing wrong with Joe almea but that didn't prevent him from getting swept up in the system he was an abused child and when he was eight his father took him for a drive to the fern old school and told him to wait in the hallway when I wonder with Dad where you going you know he goes oh you wait right there he goes I got to go get the car and he went and that was the last I seen of him Joe had no idea where he was no idea that he now wore an invisible label which read [ __ ] the school made sure at least 30% of the kids admitted had normal or near normal intelligence the school needed those kids to work you had to have somebody with a certain level of intelligence in order to run this place in effect you were very cheap labor definitely and I can remember like being out in the Gardens from morning till night in the sun didn't have any unions did you didn't have much of anything you know Joe alme had an unusual job and the fruits of his labor are still there 50 years later my job was to was to cut these up what he cut up were the brains of severely [ __ ] people who had died at fernal he cut them into thin slices so they could be studied by scientists nothing ever came with the research but the bits of brains are still there they're still sitting here years later I mean what was it all for worse than the work he says was the abuse he suffered from the attendants who staffed the place they had what they call red cherry day okay what red cherry day was they set us all in a circle and uh they C you up alphabetically and lucky me my name is what El you'd get up in front of all these kids and You' pulled on your pants and You' pulled on your underpants they'd make you turn around and it' whack your ass with this Branch until it was red like a cherry few of the attendants showed any kindness he says but some of them should have been institutionalized themselves this Mr roia used to have three or four kids urinate in a bucket and she have them throw it in your face I mean these people were sick that worked here sexual abuse of course there was sexual abuse the place was tell orade for it as the boys Grew Older many rebelled Often by running away they always got caught Fred Boyce showed us what happened then the kids were taken here to the infamous War 22 the school's detention Center you couldn't escape you know this was the prison Fred was locked up in solitary confinement here and they had a little mattress on the floor there as a further humiliation kids were stripped naked back then the windows had bars he just this child and you're just in this cell because you ran away you ran away for the reasons of abuse and thinking that you don't belong here you want to have a a life outside they took away my childhood my education the two things that you need to make it in life they took from me and that's not all more than 30 years after Fred and Joe were released they found out that the school had allowed them to be used as human guinea pigs the uh nation was shocked to learn that the federal government sponsored radiation experiments on human subjects without their consent in Senate hearings in 1994 it came out that scientists from MIT had been giving radioactive oatmeal to the boys men now in a nutrition study for Quaker Oats we were never told anything all they knew is that they've been asked to join a science club one of those who attended the hearing was Joel MAA a member of the club he says the boys were recruited with special treats we were getting special treatment extra dessert we got to eat away from the other boys we were getting extra oatmeal get extra milk Fred also in the science club got a group of the other memb together and they sued each received about $60,000 in compensation from MIT Quaker Oats and the government but Fred and Joe never got what they really wanted an apology for sending them to fernal and calling them morons a label that remains on their State records to this day you are 63 years old 63 yeah you have never received from the state of Massachusetts or from any agency at all a statement saying that you are not feeble-minded that they made a mistake absolutely not stays with you sorry what's what stays with you the most being a [ __ ] never uh never get to know what what I could have been