Lost in Laconia:
Looking Back to Understand the Road Ahead

This landmark documentary film  tells the story of the Laconia State School, an institution that for most of the 20th century housed thousands of children and adults with disabilities.

Watch Lost In Laconia on Keene Cable Channel 8
You can also watch live online at www.cheshiretv.org.
* Friday 11/19  7:00 p.m.
* Sunday 11/21  6:00 p.m.
* Tuesday 11/23  9:00 a.m.
* Wednesday 11/24  3:00 p.m.
* Friday 11/26  6:00 p.m.
Filmmaker Gordon DuBois and MDS Executive Director Alan Greene discuss the film and its implications with Chris Coates, host of Town Crier and MDS Director of Community Services.

Monday, November 1, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Peterborough Community Theater,
6 School Street in downtown Peterborough

Monday, November 15, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
KSC Alumni Center on Main Street
Keene State College

Free and open to the public.  Discussion will follow.

About the film: Not so long ago, when people were branded and stigmatized as "feebleminded" and a danger to society, they were banished to a life of isolation and total segregation. Thousands of children and adults were institutionalized in large state-operated institutions throughout the country. In the case of New Hampshire, that place was the Laconia State School.  This documentary traces the history of the institution from its initial beginnings as the New Hampshire School for the Feebleminded in the early 1900s until its closure in 1991.

Using archival footage and current interviews with former residents of the institution, families of former residents, and people who worked at the institution, along with an extensive collection of photos, state documents and newspaper articles, this documentary examines the social values and cultural ideals of the twentieth century, relative to individuals and families who were labeled "feebleminded", deficient, or disabled in New Hampshire.

Gordon Dubois, producer of Lost in Laconia, who also worked at the Laconia State School for 14 years, will attend both showings and join in the discussion and Q&A following the presentation. The film was produced under the auspices of Community Support Network Inc (CSNI).

For more information, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at 603-352-1304.

Sponsored by Monadnock Developmental Services and Keene State College's History Department and Office of Disabilities Services.

Lost in Laconia on NHPR's The Exchange
Listen to a podcast of this 9/29/2010 discussion about the Laconia State School with Laura Knoy, the filmmakers and listeners' calls.