Governor Kirk visiting Tallahassee Sunland Center

The W. T. Edwards TB Hospital opened in Tallahassee in 1952. It stopped serving TB patients in the 1960's, when effective antibiotic therapy made TB an essentially outpatient disease by removing most of the public health threat. In 1968, the hospital was converted to a Sunland Training Center. Governor Claude Kirk is shown visiting a child at Sunland in that year. This picture contains several points of interest including the physical disability of the child. There were instances of children placed in the Centers who did not meet the criteria for mental disability. However, there were also children suffering from both mental and physical disability. Also noted is the very traditionally dressed nurse next to the Governor. Most Sunland Centers featured large dormitories for the children, but I believe they also had infirmaries on campus. The centers varied in the severity of the disabilities they served. The Tallahassee Sunland closed in 1983. Source for above and for photograph: Florida State Archives, Tallahassee.