The Ladd School Historical Society

10/05/2025

They buried the sick and blamed the dead.

At Wallum Lake Sanatorium, tuberculosis spread faster than hope. Outside its walls, Rhode Islanders turned to vampire legends, searching for someone, or something, to blame.

Listen to “In the Shadow of the Asylum: Vampirism and Tuberculosis” on This Week in Dust, now streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

10/03/2025

A deadly illness swept Rhode Island...so families hunted for vampires among their own.

Desperate rituals and failed institutions blurred the line between medicine and superstition.

Listen to “In the Shadow of the Asylum: Vampirism and Tuberculosis” on This Week in Dust, now streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

09/28/2025

Ever hear of witches in Johnston?

Back in 1942, belief in witches wasn’t just a campfire story. At the State Hospital for the Insane here in Rhode Island, fear and accusation still had real consequences.

Discover how one woman’s fate got tangled up in superstition and state power. Listen to “Tormented by Witches: Morality, Madness, and the State” on This Week in Dust, now streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

09/26/2025

She said witches ruined her life.

In 1942 Rhode Island, a mother's fear became evidence; the state called her mad.

Belief, gossip, and desperation collided - and a new kind of witch trial began.

Listen to “Tormented by Witches: Morality, Madness, and the State” on This Week in Dust, now streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

09/21/2025

The old State Almshouse and Infirmary in Cranston still stands. Today it's the Department of Labor and Training.

Just a short distance away, the State Farm Cemetery holds thousands of Rhode Islanders who once lived and died there.

These photos, from the original Almshouse to the cemetery grounds, are part of the story in this week’s episode: Confessions of a Streetwalker: Buried in the State Farm Cemetery.

Listen to This Week in Dust on Spotify.

09/19/2025

A single confession turned into a life sentence.

In 1922, Marina Coutre told the truth about her life. The state gave her a label, and the asylum took the rest.

And her story was buried in a case file for nearly a century.

Listen to “Confessions of a Streetwalker: Buried in the State Farm Cemetery” on This Week in Dust, now streaming on Spotify.

09/14/2025

These woods still hold their secrets.

In the fall of 1952, nine-year-old Gary Hayman disappeared from the Ladd School in Exeter. His mother spent days riding through the back roads, calling his name through a police megaphone. Hundreds searched... but Gary was never found alive.

Today, the woods and swamps remain unchanged. The mystery is still unsolved.

Hear the story of Rhode Island’s lost boy and the questions that still haunt these ground on the latest episode of This Week in Dust.

Listen now on Spotify.

09/12/2025

How did a missing boy survive nearly a week in the Rhode Island woods?

In 1957, thirteen-year-old Samuel Finn vanished from the Ladd School. Hundreds searched the swamps and forests. Bloodhounds lost the trail. Days passed. Then a National Guard helicopter spotted him. Starving, but alive. It was called a miracle.

But five years earlier, another boy disappeared from the very same place. His name was Gary Hayman. What happened to him remains one of Rhode Island’s most haunting mysteries.

That's the story we tell in our new episode: The Bones of Gary Hayman: Rhode Island’s Lost Boy.

Hear it now on This Week in Dust, on Spotify.

09/07/2025

Did Rhode Island really have a "home of the eternally doomed"?

We explored this abandoned hospital back in 2001. What we found out about it later changed how we saw the place forever.

Discover the real story of the Ladd School's Greene Building. Full episode on This Week in Dust, now on Spotify.

09/06/2025

Ladd School Cemetery

09/05/2025

“Home of the eternally doomed.” A Rhode Island legislator used those words for Ladd School's hospital in 1955.

Hear what he saw, in his own report.

Episode 9: The Home of the Eternally Doomed: Exeter, 1955

Our podcast is called This Week in Dust, and it’s on Spotify.

09/05/2025