Letter from Arthur P. Noyes, Superintendent of Norristown State Hospital

Excerpt from letter to the men of camp #66 from Arthur P. Noyes, hospital superintendent:

"It is a pleasure, in behalf of the Norristown State Hospital, to express appreciation and greetings through this medium to the Civilian Public Service men assigned to this institution. It has been the privilege of the hospital to have transferred to it the largest number of such men who have undertaken work in an institution of this character."

"To some of you your assignment meant not only an abrupt separation from home ties and chosen occupation but the projection into an environment quite foreign to previous experience and the assumption of duties that may superficially seem to contribute little experience of value to your future careers."

"The opportunities which you have had, however, to observe closely the extremes to which, if unrestrained, the unwholesome methods of thinking and feeling which we are all prone to employ more or less in our daily problems may lead, can scarcely fail to impress upon you that such methods are apt to destroy our happiness and impair our social usefulness."

"Your experience will have revealed to you the great problem presented by a disability for which more beds are required than by all the general hospitals."

"When you return to your homes you will not only know the extent of this problem but you will realize how much more can and should be done to promote the comfort and welfare and in many instances the recovery of a large group of citizens whose careers have been blighted, often not through their own fault, but through circumstances and experiences beyond their control. Possessed of this knowledge you can point out to others the needs of this large group too ill to present its own needs."

"In the meantime you have made it possible for this hospital to provide, if not a desirable or even adequate degree of care to thousands of disabled, at least a degree far greater than would have been possible had it not been for your aid."

--Taken from Files, a publication of camp #66. p9. In "'Files,'" folder 14/5, series IX-13-1. MCC Records Collection, Akron, PA.