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HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES

07/19/2025
Part 1 of 7 - Origins & Vision: The Birth of Oakdale State Home (1893–1895)
Discover how Oakdale began in 1893 with big promises of care and reform, shaping Lapeer’s history as Michigan’s home for the “feebleminded.” In the summer of 1893, Michigan lawmakers gathered in Lansing to debate a growing social dilemma. Across the state, poorhouses were overcrowded, jails were taking in people who hadn’t committed crimes, and families were overwhelmed with the care of loved ones who suffered from epilepsy or intellectual disabilities. The prevailing belief of the era was that these individuals could be “trained” to live useful lives, but if they could not, they should be cared for—and contained—in a special setting.
07/19/2025
Part 2 of 7 - Growth of a Self-Sustaining Community (1900s–1950s)
Learn how Oakdale grew into a self-contained city with farms, schools, and workshops, housing over 4,600 residents at its peak. By the turn of the 20th century, the Michigan Home for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic was no longer just a small collection of cottages on 160 acres. In less than a decade, it had begun to transform into something far larger—an entire community within itself. What started with fewer than 150 residents would soon swell into the thousands. The institution, later known as Oakdale, would become a miniature city, complete with its own farms, school system, workshops, recreation programs, and a workforce that rivaled many small towns.
07/19/2025
Part 3 of 7 - Oakdale Policies, Eugenics & Treatment
Explore Oakdale’s role in Michigan’s eugenics era, from forced sterilizations to regimented treatment policies that shaped thousands of lives. As Oakdale grew from a modest cluster of cottages into Michigan’s largest institution for people with epilepsy and developmental disabilities, it also became a microcosm of the era’s most controversial medical and social policies.
07/19/2025
Part 4 of 7 - Life at Oakdale – Residents & Staff
Step inside Oakdale’s walls to see the daily routines, work, joys, and struggles of residents and staff who lived and served there for decades. Beneath Oakdale’s sprawling campus of dormitories, workshops, and farmland were the daily rhythms of thousands of lives. To the outside world, it was an orderly institution, a place where “inmates” were cared for and trained. But for the people who lived and worked there, Oakdale was its own complex community, filled with routines, relationships, small joys, and quiet sorrows.
07/19/2025
Part 5 of 7 - Oakdale Decline & Deinstitutionalization (1970s–1991)
Discover how changing attitudes and policies led to Oakdale’s decline, closure in 1991, and the relocation of its last residents. By the 1970s, the towering presence of Oakdale—once a symbol of stability and progress—began to feel outdated, even oppressive. The world outside its gates was changing rapidly. Attitudes toward mental health, disability, and civil rights were shifting. What had once been celebrated as a model institution was now being questioned for its size, its methods, and the very philosophy that had built it.
07/19/2025
Part 6 of 7 - Oakdale Aftermath – Demolition, Preservation & Legacy
See what happened after Oakdale closed—demolition, repurposed buildings, and relics like the cemetery and cupolas that keep its memory alive. When Oakdale finally closed its doors in September 1991, it marked the end of nearly a century of institutional care in Lapeer. For decades, the institution had been a city within a city—employing thousands, housing generations of residents, and shaping the economy and identity of Lapeer County. But after the last residents left, the sprawling property stood eerily silent, its purpose erased almost overnight.
07/19/2025
Part 7 of 7 - Reflections on Oakdale’s Legacy
Reflect on Oakdale’s complex legacy—its care and its control—and how it shaped disability rights, Lapeer’s history, and today’s views on community care. Oakdale’s story spans nearly a century. It began with optimism—a belief that creating a specialized home for people with epilepsy and developmental disabilities would provide care and structure that families could not. It grew into a self-contained city that shaped the lives of thousands of residents and staff, influencing Lapeer’s economy, culture, and identity. And in the end, it faded into history, leaving behind a complex legacy that still stirs strong emotions today.

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