Bibliograph

The orphans of Davenport, eugenics, the Great Depression, and the war over children's intelligence, Marilyn Brookwood

Type

Label

The orphans of Davenport, eugenics, the Great Depression, and the war over children's intelligence, Marilyn Brookwood

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Illustrations

platesillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The orphans of Davenport

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1196173927

Responsibility statement

Marilyn Brookwood

Sub title

eugenics, the Great Depression, and the war over children's intelligence

Summary

"The fascinating--and eerily timely--tale of the forgotten Depression-era psychologists who overthrew long-accepted racist and classist views of childhood development. "Doomed from birth" was how psychologist Harold Skeels described two toddler girls at the Orphans' Home in Davenport, Iowa, in 1934. Following prevailing eugenic beliefs, Skeels and his colleague Marie Skodak assumed that the girls had inherited their parents' low intelligence and sent them to an institution for the "feebleminded" to be cared for by "moron" women. To their astonishment, under the women's care, the children's IQ scores became normal. This revolutionary finding, replicated in eleven more "retarded" children, infuriated leading psychologists, all eugenicists unwilling to accept that nature and nurture work together to decide our fates. Recasting Skeels and his team as intrepid heroes, Marilyn Brookwood weaves years of prodigious archival research to show how after decades of backlash, the Iowans finally prevailed. In a dangerous time of revived white supremacy, The Orphans of Davenport is an essential account, confirmed today by neuroscience, of the power of the Iowans' scientific vision"--, Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Prologue: Nature or nurture? -- Origins. How it all began ; Starting over ; Transparent waifs, pitiful creatures ; From a dog you do not get a cat ; A clinical surprise -- Backlash. A revelation and a mystery ; Orphan studies out in public ; The way the land lies ; "Even if it didn't work, it was a good idea!" ; A chill in the air -- Revival. Reversal of fortune ; The counter argument -- Epilogue: The miracle of science

resource.variantTitle

Beugenics, the Great Depression, and the war over children's intelligence

Classification