# Willowbrook State School · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

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The Cult Dossier · No. 159 · Psychiatry / The Asylum
Willowbrook State School
Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace
1947 – 1987 · Staten Island, New York
XV. THE ASYLUM — WHEN MEDICINE DECIDED WHOSE MIND WAS WRONG
None.
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 1947 Opens on Staten Island. Designed for around 4,000 residents.
- 1956–1970s THE HEPATITIS STUDIES. SAUL KRUGMAN deliberately infects children at Willowbrook with hepatitis in order to study its course and test gamma globulin. Parental consent was obtained — but admission to the overcrowded institution was easier for families who agreed, WHICH IS NOT A FREE CHOICE. The science was real and produced useful findings. It remains one of the most cited research-ethics scandals in American medicine.
- 1965 ROBERT F. KENNEDY tours the institution and says residents are living in filth and dirt, their clothing in rags, in conditions worse than cages at a zoo. By then the population is above 6,000, well beyond its design.
- JANUARY 1972 GERALDO RIVERA, then a local ABC reporter, enters unannounced with a film crew, using a key supplied by DR MICHAEL WILKINS, a staff doctor who had been fired for organising parents. WILLOWBROOK: THE LAST DISGRACE is broadcast and seen by millions. It shows naked residents, untreated injuries, and one attendant for dozens of children.
- 17 MARCH 1972 Parents file a federal class action, NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION FOR RETARDED CHILDREN v. ROCKEFELLER, in the Eastern District of New York.
- 5 MAY 1975 GOVERNOR HUGH CAREY SIGNS THE WILLOWBROOK CONSENT DECREE, establishing enforceable standards of care and a right to community placement. It becomes a foundation of American disability rights law.
- 17 SEPTEMBER 1987 Willowbrook closes permanently.
- Present The site is the College of Staten Island. The WILLOWBROOK MILE marks the grounds, and the consent decree is still cited.
### Its people
### Saul Krugman
—
Directed the Willowbrook hepatitis studies · 7 April 1911 – 26 October 1995 · active 1956–1970s
Before the law. Never sanctioned. The studies had institutional approval under the standards of the time.
Where things stand. Deceased 1995. THE CASE IS TAUGHT IN EVERY RESEARCH ETHICS CURRICULUM and remains genuinely contested — the science was real, the consent was not free, and both statements are true at once.
- 1956 The hepatitis studies begin at Willowbrook.
- 1960s Findings distinguish hepatitis A from B; contribute to later vaccines.
- 1970s The studies end amid growing ethical criticism.
- 1972 The Rivera broadcast; the wider scandal engulfs the institution.
- 1995 Dies.
Checked 2026-09-05
### Geraldo Rivera
—
Reporter; made Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace · born 4 July 1943 · active 1972
Before the law. None arising from the broadcast.
Where things stand. Living. THIS FILE RECORDS THE 1972 BROADCAST AND MAKES NO CLAIM ABOUT HIS CURRENT EMPLOYMENT, which has changed repeatedly and is the kind of detail that goes stale fastest.
- JANUARY 1972 WILLOWBROOK: THE LAST DISGRACE is broadcast.
- 17 MARCH 1972 Parents file the federal class action.
- 5 MAY 1975 Governor Hugh Carey signs the Willowbrook Consent Decree.
- 17 SEPTEMBER 1987 Willowbrook closes.
Checked 2026-09-05 · living: health details are kept at home
### Bernard Carabello
—
Willowbrook resident; disability rights advocate · born c.1951 · active 1957–present
Before the law. None. He was detained by administrative placement, not by any court.
Where things stand. LIVING — confirmed active and publicly honoured in 2025. HE IS THE STRONGEST SINGLE ARGUMENT AGAINST THE INSTITUTION: everything Willowbrook concluded about him was wrong, and it took eighteen years and a television camera to correct it.
- c.1957 Admitted to Willowbrook as a child.
- 1972 Speaks to Geraldo Rivera; leaves Willowbrook after eighteen years.
- 1986 Founds the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State.
- 1970s–2010s Serves for decades as an advocate within New York State disability services.
- 2025 Publicly honoured for his advocacy.
Checked 2026-09-05 · living: health details are kept at home
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