What Would You Do?

The year is 1934. You live in Butler, Pennsylvania, and you keep seeing news stories about the poor farm of Butler County. You don’t know much about poor farms in general, so here are some helpful pieces of information.

The newspaper stories about the farm, however, suggest not all is going according to plan. Some locals are outraged about the tax increases needed to support the facility. Others are horrified that the county is housing so many supposedly “disgraced” people so close to their homes. What is even more alarming, however, is that there have been investigations into abuse and brutality that has gone on inside the walls of the poor farm. The superintendent of the facility, Fred C. Herold, is being accused of abusive treatment toward the residents of the poor farm, and many people in the area can agree that it was expected. The investigators are claiming that this might have been an ongoing problem, and that the only way to fix it is to shut down the facility. There is to be a vote to shut down the Butler County Poor Farm. Will you...

In 1910 a Butler citizen, John Vogan, 60 years of age, refused to go to the Butler County Poor Farm and was then sent to jail. Vogan, who was in poor health, was receiving care from local residents. His neighbors then attempted to take him to the Poor Farm to receive care, when he refused. The matter was then resolved by the county commissioners, who had him arrested until a permanent solution for his care could be made.

 

If your neighbor needed care from others and was incapable of taking care of themselves, would you have also tried to get them to the poor farm? Keep in mind that the Poor Farm was the closest thing to a retirement home at this time.

It's 1900 in Butler County and according to the local paper, Howard Goehring just got out of the Poor House by getting a job at Wm. Mitchell's Restaurant. They say in the paper that many come to the Poor House when they're unable to find work outside of it. Winter in these parts are mighty cold and there aren't many willing to hand out food to those on the streets. Winter is hard for everyone around here.

 

With winter coming and no work available, will you try to move on towards another town? Possibly hope for the best in the bleak winter here in Butler County? Or will you head to the Poor House to avoid freezing and starvation?

It’s 1915 and you and your family are facing hard times. You have faced legal troubles and your husband is out of work because of them. You were sent to live at the poor farm in Butler, but it hasn’t gone well. You may have food provided and a bed to sleep in, but you feel that you’ve lost your freedom to find other opportunities in the process, not to mention the conditions of the home that pose a health risk. You could stay at the poor farm, or you could try returning to your home outside of Butler. You don’t have much at home, and you aren’t supposed to leave the farm unannounced, but it may be worth it to protect your children.

The year is 1920 in Milwaukee County and the health care for poor Americans was non-existent, especially for pregnant women in poor houses. An investigation was being conducted on Rose Derra, age 22. Rose delivered her baby by herself in a Milwaukee boarding house. Rose claims that the baby was born dead however the authority’s believed the baby was alive and rose killed it in order to keep it a secret. Rose did take the time to wash the blood off of the dead child before wrapping the baby in newspaper and placing it in a suitcase for the father of the child to “take care” of its disposal. Rose insisted that the child was born dead. However, the authorities found it suspect that rose had not been to see a doctor or midwife during her whole pregnancy. They also questioned why, even as she was giving birth, she told the father not to contact the hospital. For context, rose was a young woman with no permanent home and was pregnant out of wedlock. The stigmatism of those two reasons alone is a lot for one woman to handle let alone adding medical oppression and sexism on top of it. The rise of modern medicine in the United States throughout the 19th century completely changed pregnancy and childbirth into pathological conditions. This change allowed physicians access and control over women’s bodies. A large part of the criminalization of woman who fail to carry their babies’ full term or babies who die shortly after birth is personhood. Personhood is the emotion of the baby and the life it has. Some debate that the baby has personhood far before birth and some say it becomes more established through clothing, names, relationships. Roses actions after she gave birth reflect the ambiguity of perinatal personhood. My question for you is, what would you do in this situation? Remember that abortions were illegal and health care was horrible. You make this decision knowing you could not provide for your child either way due to living in a poor house- would you keep it a secret and potentially lose your own life along with the baby like Rose? Or would you try and get ‘help’?