The facade concealing decades of injustice against local men, women and children with disabilities is now the face of a somber memorial traveling through the county this spring — and challenging us to do better today.

A photo of the worn brick exterior of the Pennhurst State School and Hospital in East Vincent is a key piece of the three-part historical exhibit bringing Intellectual Disabilities Awareness Month to life for Chester County.

“For almost 80 years, the institution housed more than 10,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” a report in The Mercury News stated. “These residents were segregated from society, ignored and often abused. The Pennhurst story is a poignant reminder of past errors, helping to ensure these mistakes are never repeated.”

Broken into the themes of “A World Apart,” “The Fall of Pennhurst” and “The Legacy of Pennhurst,” the exhibit tells the story in timelines, photos and a 1968 TV expose.

More than 25 years after its demise via a federal district court ruling that it violated patients’ constitutional rights and closure a decade later, “today the county’s Department of Mental Health/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities promotes inclusion, compassion and respect for this population, striving to support and empower individuals with intellectual disability,” the article read.

The exhibit is on display at the Chester County Government Services Center in West Chester through April 11, then at the Chester County Library in Exton until April 30 and back to West Chester at The Arc of Chester County on May 1.

Read more about the traveling exhibit and history of Pennhurst in The Mercury News here.

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Top photo credit: Green Hell via photopin (license)