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I am trying to figure out a mystery...any help would be greatly appreciated....
In 1950 my Grandmother gave birth to a daughter with severe down syndrome in Troy NY-near Albany, the infant was taken soon after birth to an institution in Amityville NY and left with them. She died at approx 2 months of age and was said to have been buried in Amityville.
Due to the my Grandmothers wishes-- it was not discussed further.
I do know the childs full name and possible date of birth- but we are reasonably sure of the year-being 1950. Both my grandparents are deceased and none of the siblings really know anything much other than some details my grandfather told my mother in the late 1980s.
I have had little luck trying to figure out where she was sent and where she may be buried.......hoping a "local" may have an idea.
Did you try callling South Oaks Psychiatric Hospital in Amityville? They may know something... Also, back then, most of those institutions were State run, so you may think about calling Mental Health Services in Albany to see if they have any info. You may also try calling AHRC (Association for the Help of Retarded Children)
Last edited by omigawd; 09-09-2008 at 09:52 PM..
Reason: addition
Here's an article I found on the internet about a man who owned a facility in Amityville that housed mentally retarded children:
Benjamin M. Stein, ’35 Great Neck, N.Y. August 21, 2005
Dr. Benjamin Stein is remembered as one of Maryland’s most loyal alumni. After graduation he served two years of internship at the Jamaica Hospital in New York. From 1941 to 1946, he was a medical officer in the European Theater of Operations, and nearing the end of World War II, he established and supervised radiology departments at U.S. hospitals in Frankfurt and Berlin. Dr. Stein entered private practice in Hempstead in 1946 and shortly afterward became director, co-chief of radiology, and joint owner of the Brunswick Home, Inc., in Amityville. In 1957, he became the sole owner of the home, which operated the Brunswick General Hospital, the Brunswick Nursing Home-Geriatric Unit and a unit for mentally retarded children. He purchased the Louden-Knickerbocker Hall a year later, incorporating the institution into the Brunswick Home and Hospital. The complex was renamed The Brunswick Hospital Center in 1960. Dr. Stein was the first president and chairman of the board of the Federation of American Hospitals and was vice president of the Accredited Private Hospital Association of Nassau-Suffolk. In the mid 1960s, he initiated a continuing education program at the Brunswick Hospital Center, conducted by Maryland’s continuing education committee. Maryland faculty members often flew to and from the meeting in Dr. Stein’s private plane. He was a member of the advisory board to the president of the University of Maryland and served as 108th president of the Medical Alumni Association in 1982. Dr. Stein and wife Claire were among the founding members of the John Beale Davidge Alliance in 1978. He is survived by Claire and son Douglas, ’77.
You might also consider contacting the Dominican Sisters of Amityville..... They are nuns who have done a lot of work with children in the past. There is also the American Association of Retarded Children.
Did you try callling South Oaks Psychiatric Hospital in Amityville? They may know something... Also, back then, most of those institutions were State run, so you may think about calling Mental Health Services in Albany to see if they have any info. You may also try calling AHRC (Association for the Help of Retarded Children)
Isn't South Oaks gone? Whatever property they had north and south of Sunrise is now a massive sea of condos. I heard Brunswick Hospital has closed down too.
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no, South Oaks is still there. It is right across the street. What was where the new condos are were probably the homes that the doctors and clinical staff lived in back in the forties & fifties (sort of like Spellbound with Gregory Peck). There is a tunnel that goes underneath Sunrise. It was there only a few years ago, but may be blocked now with the new homes there.
I imagine it was once a beautiful hospital. And, it still is pretty with tall trees and winding pathways . Brunswick's a nursing home now.
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Is it possible to check with the town records as far as deaths go? I would try calling The Amityville Registrar and explain the situation (631)264-6000. Someone there may know which facility handled such cases. There might be special records kept for deaths at such a facility.
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You all are wonderful to give so much help and I really would like to know the ending to this mystery, wouldn't you? I have a sad image of that poor little baby in my mind , I guess. If she had been born today, she probably would have gone home with her parents and been much loved.
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