Lincoln Developmental Center

Lincoln Developmental Center
  • Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children
  • Lincoln State School
Illustration, 1891
Interactive map of Lincoln Developmental Center
40°8′26″N 89°22′47″W / 40.14056°N 89.37972°W / 40.14056; -89.37972
TypeState school
LocationLincoln, Illinois
History
Founded1865

The Lincoln Developmental Center, historically also known as the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children and the Lincoln State School, was a state school and psychiatric hospital for people with developmental disabilities in Lincoln, Illinois. It was founded in 1865 and was notorious for widespread patient abuse. It was closed in 2002 by Illinois governor George Ryan after reports of abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths. The property is now used for a youth detention center.

History

The Lincoln Developmental Center was established in 1865 by board members of the Illinois Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. It was incorporated as the Illinois Institution for the Education of Feeble-Minded Children in 1871, and plans for a permanent location were started in 1875. The facility opened in 1878.

The facility was understaffed, unsanitary, and overcrowded. Residents that died were often buried on the property and their deaths frequently went uninvestigated. Notable residents included artist and writer Henry Darger as well as John Doe No. 24, an unidentified deaf, mute, and blind man. In 1907, seventeen-year-old resident Frank Giroux suffered severe burns at the asylum due to falling onto a hot radiator while having an epileptic seizure. His severe injury and inadequate treatment caused public scandal, and the Illinois state legislature conducted an investigation into all public residential institutions.

Jack Dykinga took photographs of the facility's conditions for a 1971 Chicago Sun-Times investigation and won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

The facility was closed in 2002 by Illinois governor George Ryan after reports of abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths. In 2021, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice proposed using the Lincoln Development Center property for a new youth detention center. The new facility, called the Monarch Youth Center, opened in 2025.

References

  1. ↑ "Inmates' personal accounts, 1865-1935". researchworks.oclc.org. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  2. ↑ Bakke, Dave (February 4, 2016). "Old Lincoln state mental facility still causes grief". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Henry Darger: The Room Revealed | Exhibition". Intuit Art Museum. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  4. ↑ Draper, Nick (July 21, 2015). "Two mysteries still unsolved in Jacksonville". Jacksonville Journal-Courier. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  5. ↑ James W. Trent Jr. (2016) [1995]. Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Intellectual Disability in the United States (2nd ed.). Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 116–17. ISBN 9780199396184.
  6. ↑ "State Charities Are To Be Probed: Inquiry Ordered By Legislature Of Illinois". Warsaw Daily Union. Warsaw, Indiana. January 15, 1908. p. 2.
  7. ↑ "Jack Dykinga | The Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  8. ↑ Brean, Henry (March 10, 2025). "A lens on life: Jack Dykinga still breathing, still making great photographs". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on February 19, 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  9. ↑ Lowe, Kenneth (August 26, 2012). "Behind Closed Doors: Lincoln, 10 years after LDC closure". Herald-Review.com. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  10. ↑ Miller, Jean Ann (February 2, 2021). "New facility to locate at former Lincoln Development Center". Lincoln Courier. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  11. ↑ Stevenson, Will (September 4, 2025). "A new approach to juvenile corrections opens in Lincoln". Capitol City Now. Retrieved May 3, 2026.