The Abandoned Forest Haven Institution in Laurel, Maryland | Abandoned America

The abandoned hospital building at Forest Haven
The Abandoned Forest Haven Institution in Laurel, Maryland | Abandoned America (Abandoned America)

Forest Haven in Laurel, MD was never a great place, even when it was open. Now that it’s abandoned, it’s become something of an urbex playground despite its dark past.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where the District Training School made the transition from a relatively innocuous treatment and training center to what one investigating attorney described as “the deadliest known example of institutional abuse in recent American history.” In the beginning, at least, things appeared uneventful. Then, in 1954 a man was arrested in…

CrimethInc. : Escaping Washington for Freedom : Let’s not Celebrate George Washington, but the Slaves Who Escaped Him

CrimethInc
Escaping Washington for Freedom (CrimethInc.)

This text is part of a larger examination of the Founding Fathers, colonialism, and resistance.

President’s Day, a federal holiday, observes George Washington’s birthday on February 22. Yet as a slave owner and profiteer on others’ servitude, George Washington is a poor exemplar of the struggle for freedom. Rather than looking to him for a model representing resistance to tyranny, let’s remember the slaves and indentured servants who sought to…