Syracuse Developmental Center Historic Prints and Negatives

This series consists of historic photographic prints and negatives that were collected, maintained, and (sometimes) displayed by Syracuse Developmental Center museum staff. Most of the images date from the early 1920s, a period when the institution was named the Syracuse State Institution for Mental Defectives.

About half of the images are student portraits that seem to have been removed from early institutional case files or admission books. About 100 of such photos are filed in unnumbered envelopes (in alphabetical order) that bear the individual's name and the date 1924. They may have been removed for microfilming and later salvaged. A group of negatives appears in numbered envelopes (1-61). These may be from a general negative collection. Each envelope includes a caption sheet with the negative. A third group includes pictures and unsorted negatives. These may be those for which cataloging was unfinished. Some of the photos have inked captions and/or a date (ca. 1922-1923).

Access to items depicting patients is restricted in accordance with Section 33.13, Mental Hygiene Law, relating to confidentiality of clinical records. Access permitted under certain conditions upon approval by the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.