Dozier nurse saw no evidence of atrocities at former reform school 3.bp.blogspot/-2CjZxSS7BoI/U2V_Z2OIKgI/AAAAAAAALZA/mzFG_4imC1E/s1600/PostcardND.jpg Cottages where students lived at Dozier School State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection A registered nurse who worked the night shift at Dozier School for Boys during the 1960s and 1970s says she saw no evidence of beatings, murders or atrocities. Her name is being withheld at her request due to the verbal harassment and personal attacks directed at others who have dared to speak out on the issue. She has had a long career in nursing, however, and has achieved note in working to protect young victims of child abuse. In an interview this week, I asked her if she had ever treated a student for injuries inflicted by a staff member: 1.bp.blogspot/-corWFaktfWk/U2V-e_RRMaI/AAAAAAAALYo/f9v6HA1DkJE/s1600/WP_20140125_035+%282%29.jpg Dozier School Football Team, ca. 1960 The schools sports teams competed against public school teams from throughout Northwest Florida, often with considerable success. I never had a student present to medical with an injury that was sustained from an employee, however I had students present with injuries sustained from other students and sports activities. She added likewise that she did not recall ever having an employee present to medical who had been injured by a student. These statements are significant because she worked as a nurse at Dozier School on the night shift during the era of the White House allegations. 4.bp.blogspot/-r9A_3POwdU0/U2V_Se6qNTI/AAAAAAAALY4/YvzdSICxCT4/s1600/WP_20140125_012+%283%29.jpg Dozier School Baseball Team, ca. 1960. Some former students claim they were beaten in a building on campus called the White House. They allege that beatings during the night were so severe that students had to be treated by a nurse. On most of those nights, however, the individual who spoke to me this week would have been that nurse and she is emphatic that she never saw or treated any student with such injuries. She did recall treating students for various illnesses or when they were injured playing sports. Others, she remembered, received treatment after they were injured in assaults by other students. This is confirmed by legal documents that reveal a number of assaults by students against other students took place on campus. In one case, a student was badly injured by a group of students that beat him with a baseball bat. 4.bp.blogspot/-ACuB9a0YnYE/U2WAdaHw7rI/AAAAAAAALZI/cb_IFj6z7AI/s1600/WP_20140125_030+(2).jpg Christmas Party at Dozier School, ca. 1960 Her relationship with the students was good and she noted that her young son often played with the children who had been admitted to the campus infirmary. The only death she remembered was that of Martin Williams, who drowned in the Chipola River in 1973 while on a canoe outing with other students and staff chaperons. He and another student saw a snake and became afraid, falling out of their canoe. The other student was rescued, but Williams drowned before the employees and students could save him. She also indicated that former employees of the school for juvenile offenders are angry over the medias rush to judgement and the failure of reporters to give them the same treatment that they do former students making allegations. Staff that I have had contact with are disappointed and angry at the media and their characterization of employees, she said. She also expressed frustration with Sen. Bill Nelson and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi - as have many former employees - for their comments about the school. Posted by Dale Cox at 4:56 PM blogger/post-edit.g?blogID=6317175977606206014&postID=2992592717623849477&from=pencil
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 12:40:15 +0000
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