Twenty years ago today: “A small group of people gathered in front of the welcome sign at Fairview Training Center on February 17th, 2000, to send off the last residents of the institution to new homes in the community.”
We commemorate this pivotal moment in Oregon’s history by sharing multiple articles from The Oregon Clarion, an essential news source for people with disabilities,their families, and community advocates in the nineties and aughts. Follow the link below to read about the history of Fairview’s closure and to check out an extraordinary photo gallery on its history. Established by the Oregon legislature in 1908 as “an institution for the feeble-minded, idiotic, and epileptic,” Fairview housed thousands of children and adults with disabilities for nearly one hundred years.
“As they waved at the departing blue van, smiles beamed all around. These well-wishers, including Fairview staff, self-advocates, Office of Developmental Disabilities Services staff, and community and family advocates were celebrating the culmination of a plan they all had a hand in – the closing of Oregon’s largest institution.”