Rebecca T. Nourse Collection, 1960-1993

Title:

Rebecca T. Nourse Collection, 1960-1993

Creator:

Nourse family

Accession / Call Number:

2019.054

Object ID:

2019.054

Date:

1960-1993

Physical Description:

1 box ; 0.21 linear feet

Scope and Content:

The Rebecca T. Nourse Collection contains correspondence between family members and officials of the Laconia State School, social workers, and others overseeing the care and placements for Rebecca Nourse. It illustrates the issues involved in de-institutionalization and the subsequent efforts to establish, fund, and supervise community resources for intellectually disabled people. Although nothing in the collection was produced by Rebecca herself, her parents and sister wrote to those responsible for her care about their concerns. Those supervising her care in turn wrote her parents about Rebecca and how she was doing, as well as about their efforts to find safe accommodations and appropriate activities for her. There is some financial information in the 1960s and 1970s about how Rebecca's care was paid for and what it cost. Folder 8 contains printed material regarding N.H. House Bill 298, "An Act to Limit the Period for which Past-Due Support of Institutional Inmates may be Recovered and the Rate of Support of Inmates at Laconia SS." As noted above, there is nothing in this collection written by Rebecca herself, nor are there photographs. There is also no documentation of her early years, her eleven years at Belchertown (MA) State School (1949-1960), or her last years (1984-1993), outside of a 1993 death certificate.

Subjects:

Intellectual disability , People with disabilities--Deinstitutionalization , People with disabilities--Social aspects , Social workers

Locations:

Concord, NH
Laconia, NH
Lebanon, NH

People:

Nourse, Rebecca Towne, 1928-1993 , Nourse, Laurence, 1893-1973

Organizations:

Laconia State School
New Hampshire. Department of Health and Welfare
Guardianship Trust and Home Program, Inc.

Credit Line:

Gift of Shelley Brooks.

Restrictions:

Available for research.

Level Description:

Collection

Finding Aid Link:

RS58310_Nourse_Rebecca_T._Collection_2019.054-original.pdf