Newtown High School senior Audrey Srebotnik is excited to have her very own exhibit on display at C.H. Booth Library for the next three months.

“Fairfield Hills: A History of Mental Health in Newtown” is on display through Monday, June 30, in the Hawley Annex on the third floor of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street. The presentation explores the history of mental health and the experiences of patients and staff who lived and worked at Fairfield Hills Hospital.

The location’s storied history is covered through three large wooden cases filled with thorough research, old photos, and miscellaneous items such as a bottlecap or keys associated with the property.

Srebotnik’s exhibit acts as her Senior Capstone Project, which is a large-scale project every senior has to do that benefits the community. While not every senior chooses something they are passionate about, Srebotnik told The Newtown Bee last week that she had her project idea “for a very long time.”

“I wanted to do some kind of project involving Fairfield Hills since I was in middle school, but I just haven’t had the means to do it up until now,” she said.

Srebotnik said she has been fascinated with the former state hospital ever since she was a child. Having lived in Newtown her whole life, Srebotnik said she was always interested in the big, looming buildings throughout the property. She would ask the adults in her life why the buildings were there, but didn’t really get any answers.

“People were kind of hush-hush about it. I mean, maybe it was just my parents, but I’d ask around and still wouldn’t hear anything back,” Srebotnik said.

The lack of answers sparked Srebotnik’s curiosity, and she wanted to learn more about Fairfield Hills Hospital someday. The Senior Capstone Project, she said, offered the perfect opportunity for that.

Students start thinking of Capstone ideas in their junior year, but officially decide what they’ll do in their senior year. For Srebotnik, who wanted to research Fairfield Hills Hospital for years, she only had one topic in mind.

“I didn’t really have a backup,” Srebotnik said. “As soon as I heard of this, I thought, ‘This is the perfect opportunity.’”

Srebotnik tried combing through a few online resources on Fairfield Hills Hospital before she’d even heard of the Senior Capstone Project, but said it felt “kind of limited.” She added that she struggled to find anything beyond basic information, like when it was built.

However, as Srebotnik was assigned the project and started digging deeper, she found more information. Specifically, Srebotnik said she started searching more on The Newtown Bee and found a lot of great resources in the newspaper’s archive.

One thing she found was an interview series titled “Tales of Fairfield Hills,” which shared stories by those who worked and lived at the property when it was a functioning psychiatric institution. The series was largely active around 2012 and written by former Newtown Bee Editor Nancy K. Crevier.

According to Crevier’s work, the Fairfield State Hospital, later renamed Fairfield Hills Hospital, opened in June 1933 “to great fanfare. Thirty-two patients were transferred there ... from the Connecticut State Hospital in Middletown.” The sprawling property “would become a source of pride to the town and provided employment to hundreds of local people during the 60 years it operated as a psychiatric hospital,” Crevier also wrote in May 2012.

Srebotnik said she leaned on Town Historian Ben Cruson when she wanted to learn more. It was through him that she found a lot more information, particularly photographs. This was a big help to Srebotnik because, as she said, “You really can’t find any photographs of the inside of the buildings or of the patients online.” A vast majority, if not all, of the photos online show the inside of the institution long after it closed.

“You would have to go directly to [Cruson] and the Newtown Historical Society [for those old photos],” Srebotnik said.

Cruson said Srebotnik reached out around this time last year to ask Newtown Historical Society about partnering on her Senior Capstone Project. While Cruson said he liked the idea, he knew the historical society didn’t have space to host the exhibit. Cruson, who also works at the library, knew a space was available there and recommended she present the exhibit there.

Srebotnik took the reins on the exhibit from there, according to Cruson. She received a lot of guidance from Danbury Historical Society, where she worked. Cruson said he just facilitated the space and helped her find objects and photos in Newtown Historical Society’s collections that she could use for her project.

“Regardless of the part I played, it was refreshing to get to work with a young person who has an interest in history and it was rewarding to think that this experience might further encourage that interest,” Cruson said.

Srebotnik said she spent around 20 hours spread over a long time on her research. Since Srebotnik wanted to include many different perspectives, she said there was a lot for her to sift through. She also worked with Cruson to verify all her sources, which took a while as well.

Having a verified range of sources was important to Srebotnik because she wanted to highlight the experiences of everybody there. She explained there are good things about mental hospitals in that they are there to protect, heal, and help people. However, while the intentions may be good, she said the help isn’t always given in the best way.

“I really wanted to highlight the good things that have happened there, all the good that it led to, and also acknowledge the worst experiences,” Srebotnik continued.

It was also important for Srebotnik to work on something tied to mental health, as she said she and some of her friends and family members have struggled with it. Historically, Srebotnik said there has been an extremely negative stigma surrounding mental health. Destigmatizing it and getting people to see mental health for what it is, she said, is invaluable.

“For people to get the help and assistance they need, it’s so important that we destigmatize it and people don’t feel embarrassed or shameful getting help,” Srebotnik said.

With the exhibit now available for the public to view and learn from, Srebotnik said she feels accomplished having essentially finished her Senior Capstone Project. More than that, she said she is happy to have done something for the town. She also hopes people will become more informed about a topic with not a lot of information available on it.

“I feel like I’ve done a deed for the community and completed something that I wished was there when I was younger,” Srebotnik said.

The Mary Hawley Annex can be visited any time the library is open: Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am-8 pm; Friday and Saturday, 9:30 am-5 pm; and Sunday, 12-5 pm.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.