[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     ELWYN, INC'S 150TH ANNIVERSARY

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                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 24, 2002

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute and 
honor the accomplishments of Elwyn, Inc. on its 150th Anniversary Year 
of exemplary service to people with special needs in Pennsylvania.
  Elwyn, Inc. is among the oldest and largest human services 
organizations in the nation. Founded in 1852 in the Germantown section 
of Philadelphia by James B. Richards, a teacher, and Dr. Alfred L. 
Elwyn, a physician, Elwyn is now a community-based network of programs 
headquartered in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania and 
serving 12,000 children and adults with disabilities and disadvantages 
each year in Delaware, New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania.
  I salute Elwyn, Inc. on the outstanding role it has played in 
teaching people with disabilities and disadvantages how to be as 
productive and independent as possible. The longevity of the 
organization is a testament to its deeply committed staff, board 
members, families and financial supporters who all play an essential 
role in the ongoing evolution of the collective energy focused on 
helping people with special needs. I join with the residents of the 7th 
Congressional District of Pennsylvania in celebrating Elwyn, Inc.'s 150 
years of making a difference.
  I would like to include a brief history of Elwyn to be printed at 
this point.

                          The History of Elwyn

       In 1852, James B. Richards, a teacher, came to Philadelphia 
     and opened a private school for ``mental defectives'' on 
     School Lane in Germantown. He enlisted the sympathies of Dr. 
     Alfred L. Elwyn, a physician, and together they were able to 
     arouse interest in the endeavor in Philadelphia. Their 
     efforts led, in 1854, to the incorporation of The 
     Pennsylvania Training School for Idiotic and Feeble-minded 
     Children, later renamed the Elwyn School. An appropriation 
     from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of $10,000 and 
     provisions for ten students were obtained. The school and its 
     17 students were moved to Woodland Avenue in 1855. Edouard 
     Seguin, then a political refugee from France, was appointed 
     educational director the following year.
       Before the end of the decade, dissension and financial 
     difficulties threatened to close the new school. Richards 
     retired from the field of special education. Dr. Joseph 
     Parrish was appointed Superintendent and was able to bring 
     about financial stability. An additional appropriation of 
     $20,000 by the legislature for buildings provided an 
     opportunity for expansion and the search for a permanent 
     location began. Dorothea Dix, who had paved the way for 
     humanitarian treatment of both the mentally ill and mentally 
     retarded in Massachusetts, assisted in choosing a new site, 
     fifteen miles south of Philadelphia at Media. Miss Dix was 
     instrumental in securing state appropriations for the new 
     campus.
       In 1857, the cornerstone of the main building was laid, and 
     the new school was dedicated to the shelter, instruction, and 
     improvement of mentally retarded children. On September 1, 
     the entire school and its 25 children, attendants, and 
     teachers were loaded into two Conestoga wagons and brought to 
     their new quarters. The formal opening took place on November 
     2, 1859.
       In the early days, Elwyn was a simple, insular, self-
     contained, and self-sustaining community. The emphasis at 
     Elwyn, and at institutions across the nation, was on 
     segregating people with mental retardation and providing them 
     with care away from the community, for life. In the 1960s, 
     Elwyn began to turn away from the closed institution model, 
     moving toward helping people with disabilities to live and 
     achieve their fullest potential within the larger community.
       In 1969, Elwyn established a rehabilitation center in West 
     Philadelphia. Delaware Elwyn in Wilmington and California 
     Elwyn in Fountain Valley opened their doors to the community 
     in 1974. In 1981, the Training School at Vineland in New 
     Jersey came under Elwyn's management, and in 1984, Elwyn 
     initiated programs for both Palestinians and Israelis in 
     Jerusalem, Israel.
       Today, under the leadership of Sandra S. Cornelius, Ph.D., 
     the eighth president of Elwyn, the agency continues to lead 
     the way by developing innovative, dynamic programs for adults 
     and children with physical and mental disabilities, mental 
     illness and socioeconomic disadvantages. The new century 
     finds Elwyn with an expanded continuum of care, offering new 
     services in the areas of juvenile justice, child welfare, 
     mental health and case management, and a strong resolve to 
     help people build better lives long into the future.

     

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