PA PA - Philadelphia, WhtFem 40-60, UP17721, upper denture w/D Spizzirri, frontal lobotomy, May'72

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fred&edna said:
Name: Daurtha M Spizzirri
Birth Date: 22 Mar 1929
Birth Place: Windsor, New York, USA

NY state birth index

'Could "Daurtha" be correct or a variation of "Dorothy"?

Dorothy Spizzirri (age 1)
St Mary's Orphans Home (per 1930 census report)
Binghamton, Broome Co NY
and
Dorothy Spizzirri (age 11)
Rome State School - Mental Defectives (per 1940 census report)
Rome City, Oneida, NY

ETA: It also appears Dorothy could have had siblings (born in PA) residing at St Mary's... one of which might have been rejoined with parents in PA at a later time.
Click to expand...

This seems like a very good lead. If she was in a state school for "mental defectives", you can easily see where that could lead to a frontal lobotomy based on the practices of the time. The age is spot on, as well.
 
fred&edna said:
Name: Daurtha M Spizzirri
Birth Date: 22 Mar 1929
Birth Place: Windsor, New York, USA

NY state birth index

'Could "Daurtha" be correct or a variation of "Dorothy"?

Dorothy Spizzirri (age 1)
St Mary's Orphans Home (per 1930 census report)
Binghamton, Broome Co NY
and
Dorothy Spizzirri (age 11)
Rome State School - Mental Defectives (per 1940 census report)
Rome City, Oneida, NY

ETA: It also appears Dorothy could have had siblings (born in PA) residing at St Mary's... one of which might have been rejoined with parents in PA at a later time.
Click to expand...

Rome State School neglect and abuse was exposed in the 70’s. Records from that time would be interesting to see if any Spizzirri was institutionalised during that time. They housed people from 6 months to 75 years, so quite possible she may have lived there -

Some parents of the 3,000 residents at the Rome facility, whose ages run from 6 months to 75 years, are convinced that violence by employes is a way of life at Rome. Yet they concede they have no real proof.

There also were many deaths -

He also said, in response to an inquiry, that of the 69 deaths that occurred at Rome in 1972, 30 were “accidental or unexpected” and thus reported to the local coroner's, office.

According to school records, the deaths included nine from choking on food and two from brain injuries that could have resulted from a blow or a fall. According to the coroner, Thomas Cox, none were turned over tb the state police for investigation because none of the deaths were suspicious.

Allegation of Staff Violence Tainting Rome State School
 
fred&edna said:
Name: Daurtha M Spizzirri
Birth Date: 22 Mar 1929
Birth Place: Windsor, New York, USA

NY state birth index

'Could "Daurtha" be correct or a variation of "Dorothy"?

Dorothy Spizzirri (age 1)
St Mary's Orphans Home (per 1930 census report)
Binghamton, Broome Co NY
and
Dorothy Spizzirri (age 11)
Rome State School - Mental Defectives (per 1940 census report)
Rome City, Oneida, NY

ETA: It also appears Dorothy could have had siblings (born in PA) residing at St Mary's... one of which might have been rejoined with parents in PA at a later time.
Click to expand...
Wow fred&edna I really think your on to something here. Super Great Find!
 
madamx said:
Wow fred&edna I really think your on to something here. Super Great Find!
Click to expand...
fred&edna said:
Name: Daurtha M Spizzirri
Birth Date: 22 Mar 1929
Birth Place: Windsor, New York, USA

NY state birth index

'Could "Daurtha" be correct or a variation of "Dorothy"?

Dorothy Spizzirri (age 1)
St Mary's Orphans Home (per 1930 census report)
Binghamton, Broome Co NY
and
Dorothy Spizzirri (age 11)
Rome State School - Mental Defectives (per 1940 census report)
Rome City, Oneida, NY

ETA: It also appears Dorothy could have had siblings (born in PA) residing at St Mary's... one of which might have been rejoined with parents in PA at a later time.
Click to expand...
that is interesting about the Daurtha spelling.. maybe a typo.. everything was written by hand then. Maybe the person (who wrote the birth certificate) wrote it as they heard it and heard it by someone who had an accent. When it's actually spelled Dorothy but the person heard Daurtha
 
madamx said:
that is interesting about the Daurtha spelling.. maybe a typo.. everything was written by hand then. Maybe the person (who wrote the birth certificate) wrote it as they heard it and heard it by someone who had an accent. When it's actually spelled Dorothy but the person heard Daurtha
Click to expand...

That is quit a good possibility...in my search for and reconstruction of my family tree (mother's line) I came across many handwritten documents and they were always very difficult to decipher if you don't have any idea what might have been written. Also names changed trough the years. For example my grand-grand-mother was born with the name Fisver...when she moved to Rotterdam it became Visser.
 
bbm

madamx said:
I noticed the article says Spizzirri was not a common name. I just checked online and found TONS of Spizzirri's in PA and even a bunch in Philadelphia. Some are in their 80s and even 90.. Veromi.net | People Summary
Click to expand...

Remember, you're searches are occurring 45 years after-the-fact; more than enough time for Spizzirris to have been fruitful and multiplied.... ;)
 
Dorothy was in the orphanage with 3 other siblings I 1930

Name: Dorothy Spizziri
Birth Year: abt 1929
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthplace: New York
Marital Status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Inmate
Home in 1930: Binghamton, Broome, New York, USA
Map of Home: View Map
Street address: Chestnut Street
Ward of City: 3
Block: 492-see also sheets 3A, 3B, 4A
Institution: St. Marys Orphan Home
House Number: 75
Dwelling Number: 3
Family Number: 3
Attended School: No
Father's Birthplace: Italy
Mother's Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Household Members:

The others were Mary 6, Margarine 3 and Frank 2

1940 census Dorothy in Rome State School

Mary and Margarine with parents in 1940 census
Can’t find Frank, sad such hard times for them I wonder if he survived. Whether or not this is the JD family one piece of information might click.

Name: Frank Spizzirri
Age: 44
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1896
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: Italy
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: Binghamton, Broome, New York
Map of Home in 1940: Frank Spizzirri 44
Anna Spizzirri 30
Mary Spizzirri 15
Margarine Spizzirri 13
 
StarrChance said:
Dorothy was in the orphanage with 3 other siblings I 1930

Name: Dorothy Spizziri
Birth Year: abt 1929
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthplace: New York
Marital Status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Inmate
Home in 1930: Binghamton, Broome, New York, USA
Map of Home: View Map
Street address: Chestnut Street
Ward of City: 3
Block: 492-see also sheets 3A, 3B, 4A
Institution: St. Marys Orphan Home
House Number: 75
Dwelling Number: 3
Family Number: 3
Attended School: No
Father's Birthplace: Italy
Mother's Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Household Members:

The others were Mary 6, Margarine 3 and Frank 2

1940 census Dorothy in Rome State School

Mary and Margarine with parents in 1940 census
Can’t find Frank, sad such hard times for them I wonder if he survived. Whether or not this is the JD family one piece of information might click.

Name: Frank Spizzirri
Age: 44
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1896
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: Italy
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: Binghamton, Broome, New York
Map of Home in 1940: Frank Spizzirri 44
Anna Spizzirri 30
Mary Spizzirri 15
Margarine Spizzirri 13
Click to expand...


Yep, that's the info I found... and it seems the 15 year old sister went on to marry and have children of her own. Should I even worry about how to prove this might be a match or just submit it and hope LE can follow-up somehow??
 
fred&edna said:
Yep, that's the info I found... and it seems the 15 year old sister went on to marry and have children of her own. Should I even worry about how to prove this might be a match or just submit it and hope LE can follow-up somehow??
Click to expand...

Rosso on post number 6 said they were contacting authorities and would let us know any feedback, wait and see I suppose ? The more information we can find to support the suggestion could help. Very hard without DNA to compare with any living relatives.
 
StarrChance said:
Rosso on post number 6 said they were contacting authorities and would let us know any feedback, wait and see I suppose ? The more information we can find to support the suggestion could help. Very hard without DNA to compare with any living relatives.
Click to expand...

'I missed that post (my nose was stuck in ancestry) :)

I don't know how old cases are solved without DNA.
 
'Just wanted to add (possible relatives)...

Mary (sister) also might have grown-up and married OR there is some possible confusion as mom is listed as Elizabeth Stevenson NOT "Anna" (as in previously posted census reports). This Elizabeth married to Frank Spizzarri had another child (Orlando b: 8/31/22 d: 10/23/1924). I'm not sure if Frank remarried or if this is a different family entirely. Maybe others here have better insight. OR maybe none of this is important. :confused:
 
ChuckMaureen said:
bbm

Remember, you're searches are occurring 45 years after-the-fact; more than enough time for Spizzirris to have been fruitful and multiplied.... ;)
Click to expand...
Your right.. it never crossed my mind. I guess I was focused on the ones that were I. Their 70s be older.. but yes your absolutely right!!!!!!
 
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Does somebody has access to this article? Its about the Rome State School - Mental Defectives (per 1940 census report)
Rome City, Oneida, NY, where the possible match to this Jane Doe might have gone. Allegation of Staff Violence Tainting Rome State School

Found it.

ROME, N.Y. — For many parents of retarded children at the Rome State School in upstate New York, it is a familiar scene. The child comes home for a visit, covered with welts and bruises. The school says the child took a fall or got into a fight with another child. The child says an attendant beat him.

“You never know whom to believe,” said Mary Ellen Burkle, an anguished parent who is president of the Rome chapter of the Association for Retarded Children, the parents’ group.

Earlier this month the Pirandellian issue of alleged abuses at state institutions for the mentally retarded came to a head when 24 Rome State School employes were arrested on indictments charging them with mistreating 40 patients.

The indictments did not describe the incidents of “unprovoked physical and mental abuse,” and Richard D. Enders, the Oneida County District Attorney, will not discuss them for fear of prejudicing the case.

Two Willowbrook employes were arrested on abuse charges last December, two employes of the West Seneca facility were dismissed on abuse charges last year and a clerk at the Morton Street unit in Greenwich Village was arrested last month on charges of raping a 12‐year‐old resident there.

Some parents of the 3,000 residents at the Rome facility, whose ages run from 6 months to 75 years, are convinced that violence by employes is a way of life at Rome. Yet they concede they have no real proof.

The acting director, who is now in charge of both Rome and the nearby Syracuse State School since the death last December of Rome's regular director, talks of a “few bad apples” among a dedicated staff.

I see now that this was already posted...but it doesn't hurt.
 
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1972 - Television documentary - written and narrated by TV news journalist Geraldo Rivera - reveals deplorable living conditions at New York's Willowbrook State School.

I don't have words for it.....
44_hard_huilend_gezicht.png
 
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Richard D. Spizzirri
I found an obituary for a Richard D. Spizzirri from Colorado. He was married to a Lucy Irvine Forkner. This wedding announcement from June 1957 has a photo of the bride.
LUCY I.FORKNER IS MARRIED HERE; Wed to Richard D. Spizzirri, Harvard Law Student, in Central Presbyterian According to Richard's obit and the wedding announcement they had connections to locations on the east coast. I'm not suggesting she is D. Spizzirri but I do find it odd that they divorced in 1971. The obit lists names of their children. I wonder if Lucy is still alive or was involved in their lives after 1972. I had no luck finding anything on a Lucy Irvine Forkner Spizzirri. Perhaps a look into this family tree will reveal more info on D. Spizzirri. I wish pics were available of the dentures so we could see whether the initial is clearly a "D".
 
YaYa_521 said:
Richard D. Spizzirri
I found an obituary for a Richard D. Spizzirri from Colorado. He was married to a Lucy Irvine Forkner. This wedding announcement from June 1957 has a photo of the bride.
LUCY I.FORKNER IS MARRIED HERE; Wed to Richard D. Spizzirri, Harvard Law Student, in Central Presbyterian According to Richard's obit and the wedding announcement they had connections to locations on the east coast. I'm not suggesting she is D. Spizzirri but I do find it odd that they divorced in 1971. The obit lists names of their children. I wonder if Lucy is still alive or was involved in their lives after 1972. I had no luck finding anything on a Lucy Irvine Forkner Spizzirri. Perhaps a look into this family tree will reveal more info on D. Spizzirri. I wish pics were available of the dentures so we could see whether the initial is clearly a "D".
Click to expand...
YaYa really good find. It is interesting that they were divorced in 1971 and this woman was found in 1972. Oh I know I really wish there was some way to see a photo of the dentures to see if anything was lost in translation.

But if it’s D then it has to be Dorothy .
 
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