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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brookwood, Marilyn, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Eugenics--United States--History--20th century.

Eugenics.

Children of parents with mental disabilities--Intelligence levels--Iowa--Davenport--History--20th century.

Children of parents with mental disabilities.

Children of parents with mental disabilities--Institutional care--Iowa--Davenport--History--20th century.

Nature and nurture--United States--History--20th century.

Nature and nurture.

Child development--United States--History--20th century.

Child development.

Child psychology--United States--20th century.

Child psychology.

History.

Iowa--Davenport.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 339 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2021]

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.

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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781631494680

1631494686

OCLC:

1196173927