The Fernald School, originally called the Massachusetts School for Idiotic Children, was founded by reformer Samuel Gridley Howe in 1848 with a $2,500 appropriation from the Massachusetts State Legislature.
The Fernald School, originally called the Massachusetts School for Idiotic Children, was the Western hemisphere's oldest publicly funded institution serving people who have developmental disabilities. Reformer Samuel Gridley Howe founded the school in 1848 with a $2,500 appropriation from the Massachusetts State Legislature.