Minors’ internment experiences at the “Francesco Roncati” asylum of Bologna

Abstract

This article will investigate the reality of the “Roncati” asylum in Bologna during the first
decade of the twentieth century, focusing on the presence of minors within it, by
analyzing the documents kept in the “Gian Franco Minguzzi” institution archive. There
are ten folders in all, and even though they are few in number, their analysis makes it
possible to highlight some particularly significant aspects concerning the desire to
transfer the children interned in the asylum to the more functional medical pedagogical
institute of Bertalia - an indication of an evolution in the treatment and care of so-called
“deficient” children.