Jacket
Object number2016.29.4
MediumCanvas; Cotton; Fabric
Credit LineGift of Polk State Center
DescriptionOff-white canvas child's jacket. Open down back with six cotton tie straps (three pairs). Pleated neckline.DimensionsHeight x Width: 11.25 × 22 in. (28.6 × 55.9 cm)Historical NotesThis baby jacket was made at Polk State Center. When Polk Center opened in 1897 it became the second institution in Pennsylvania built expressly to house and care for people with intellectual disabilities. The 2,000 acre site in rural Venango County allowed access to Pittsburgh via the railroad, but also isolated residents far from their families. Change in the care of people with disabilities over the past 100 years has influenced the lives of the residents and staff at Polk, as well as the surrounding community. This object is part of a collection that documents that important story. Label TextAt its peak in the mid-1950s, more than 3,400 people, including at least 500 children, lived at Polk. The objects that survive in the Polk collection document the care and treatment of people with intellectual disabilities over the course of the 20th century.
Related institution
Polk State Center
(founded 1897)
On View
Not on view
1959
1974-2012
1926
1950
1920-1969