It follows the life and work of henry herbert goddard, americas first intelligence tester and author of the famous american eugenics tract, the kallikak family. The present study of the kallikak family is a genuine story of real people. Images of the supposedly feebleminded members of deborahs family were allegedly altered to appear sinister. Goddard was another leading proponent of the eugenics movement in new jersey and an influential actor throughout the nation.
A study in the heredity of feeblemindness, by goddard, was a widely publicized, influential eugenics study. Encyclopedia of criminological theory sage companion. A uniquely american remedy was to identify potential immigrants who were feebleminded, and prevent them from entering our country. The arguments were used to bolster advocacy of eugenics, or the pseudoscientific breeding of human beings, by demonstrating that traits deemed socially inferior could be passed down from generation to generation. This was part of the fraudulently done study by the vineland training school on the piney kallikak family in the early 1900s. The kallikak family is a work of pseudoscience that became one of the motivating manifestoes of the eugenics movement. First published in 1912, this infamous study helped establish henry herbert goddard as a leading figure in the eugenics movement, which sought to advance the human race through selective breeding.
This study examined two hereditary lines that had evolved from the same person, martin kallikak. Although the kallikak family study provides proof that criminality is more common in some families, subsequent studies have proven otherwise. Kallikak family goddard, intelligence, people, and. The ero promoted eugenics research by compiling records or pedigrees of thousands of families. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness macmillan, 1912. It is interesting from the pov of psychoceramics the study of crackpottery. In 1877, richard dugdale published a study of a family whom he called the jukes family. He is most famous for his study of the kallikak family gould, p. It branded all pineys as degenerates, and was brought to fame in henry goddards the kallikak family. Eugenics is the study of and policies related to improvement of the human race via control over selective reproduction. The zeros, the nams, the happy hickories, the family of sam sixty named for sams iq and the doolittles. Among the descendants were alcoholics, prostitutes, epileptics, criminals, illegitimate children, and children who died in infancy. American psychologist and eugenics advocate henry goddard 18661957.
Henry herbert goddards study, the kallikak family, tracks 480 descendants of martin kallikak, known as the old horror, the illegitimate son of a feebleminded girl. A study in hereditary feeblemindedness, followed the offspring of one p. Family studies in eugenics family studies eugenics. The science behind this book is rubbish, and it was used as the justification for a lot of evil by the eugenics movement. The immigration restriction act, passed in 1924 which remained in effect until 1965 was influenced by american eugenics efforts. Consequences of the kallikak family study back to outline the height of goddards success came at a time when america was experiencing a large influx of immigrants from europe.
The patient, emma wolverton, was presented in the book as deborah kallikak. Henry goddards the kallikak family university of missouri. Three children of the pseudonymous kallikak family, featured in henry goddards 1912 book on the. The results here presented come after two years of constant work, investigating the conditions of this family. David smith examines goddards evidence and looks at how goddards theory has. The work was an extended case study of goddards for the inheritance of feeblemindedness, a general category referring to a variety of mental disabilities including intellectual disability, learning. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness henry herbert goddard on. He expressed those views in his most popular book, the kallikak family.
Popular eugenics books showing 150 of 354 shutter island mass market paperback by. Dennis lehane goodreads author shelved 20 times as eugenics avg rating 4. Though only one component product of the larger eugenics movement, the eugenic family study proved to be, by far, its most potent ideological tool. This book would have a dramatic effect on american public policy for the next 50 years. The name is, of course, fictitious, as are all of the names throughout the story. The book traces the controversies surrounding goddards efforts to bring alfred binets tests of intelligence from france to america and to. Until i read this book, i thought eugenics was a nazi germany pseudoscience. Goddard invented the classification moron which he defined as high grade defectives who possess low intelligence, but. Eugenics and americas campaign to create a master race, expanded. Not surprisingly, the kallikak study was a landmark event for the eugenicist movement. Goddard, is a famous but controversial extended case study following the kallikak family a pseudonym from the greek words kallos beauty and kakos bad for the inheritance of feeblemindedness, a general. These same text books also characterized homosexuality as a mental illness. The american eugenics crusade, 18701940 provides an overview of the eugenics movement in the united states and in missouri. This is the book where photos of socalled feebleminded were.
In 1929 he published a book called the kallikak family. The kallikak family was a huge best seller for many, many years, references to the kallikaks were in the speeches of politicians, books, scholarly journals, popular. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness, written by famous american psychologist and eugenicist henry h. The jukes and kallikaks studies posted on january 2, 2018 by rachel macnair. Dugdale, placed considerable emphasis on the environment as a determining factor in.
This book, and many others like it, became best sellers of the time. This book was the story of two branches of a single family, both descended from the same man. The kallikak family by henry herbert goddard, paperback. A study in the heredity of feeble mindedness was goddards bestknown book. J david smith in 1912, henry goddard sighted the kallikak family as proof of his theory that mental retardation was hereditary. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness published in 1912 that became a cornerstone of the eugenics movement. The idea of compulsory sterilization of defectives gained support, buttressed in part by goddards apparently meticulous and mendelian kallikak family tree. Space and place in the eugenic family study ry marcattiliomccracken oklahoma state university stillwater, ok usa email. Eugenics and americas campaign to create a master raceexpanded edition edwin black. This book was highly influential in the eugenics movement, and used provocative photographs to further its theses. Goddard and the kallikak family human intelligence. As a general concept the jukes family represented inherited criminality and the kallikak family inherited mental retardation. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness was a 1912 book by the american psychologist and eugenicist henry h. The jukes family was a new york hill family studied in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Goddard was published, and soon became a bible of sorts for proponents of eugenics. Like most books in the genre, this pseudoscientific treatise described. Charles davenport created the family history book, which assisted field workers as they interviewed families and assembled pedigrees specifying inheritable family attributes which might range from allergies to civic leadership. Several books from the general collections of the indiana state library are included as well. The jukes and kallikaks studies consistent life blog. The jukes was the first in a long series of degenerate family studies by eugenicists. The kallikak family is significant because it was the first of its kind, and certainly quite popular. According to psychology historian david hothersall, goddard discovered that the inferior branch of martin kallikak s family included 46 normal people, 143 who were definitely feebleminded, 36 illegitimate births, 33 sexually immoral people, 3 epileptics, and 24 alcoholics. By contrasting two branches of the pseudononymous kallikak family, goddard argued.
In 1912 american psychologist and enthusiastic eugenicist henry goddard published his landmark book, the kallikak family. First published in 1912, this infamous study helped establish henry herbert goddard as a leading figure in the eugenics movement. A book written by goddard in 1912 cemented the eugenics hold on the american conscience. Published just six years after the science of genetics was given its name by william bateson, it lent a scholarly sheen to the cultural currents. Henry herbert goddard publishes the kallikak family. The history of eugenics in america, part iv debunking denial. But one of the other books that always has me baffled is the kallikak family. Emma wolverton, known in the kallikak family as deborah kallikak.
The work was an extended case study of goddards for the inheritance of feeblemindedness, a general category referring to a variety of mental disabilities including intellectual disability, learning disabilities, and mental illness. Undertaken by a number of eugenicists, family studies sought to track specific traits over two or more ideally three generations in order to establish hereditary relationships. One woman, a feebleminded tavern girl, allegedly gave. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness was goddards bestknown book. These people were horse thieves, paupers, convicts, prostitutes. Criminality and family traits galtons children onview. The us was full of these sciency guys like madison grant, who were welleducated in the new science of evolution that mr darwin had started, and. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness the kallikak family. So began the kallikak family, henry herbert goddards 1912 best selling addition. The kallikak family by henry herbert goddard goodreads. There was even mention of turning the book into a broadway play.
One branch started with his bastard son, was the result of a dalliance with a feebleminded barmaid. Goddards book used dubious facts and outright fabrications to promote eugenics. A study in the heredity of feeblemindedness was published in 1912. This guide provides citations to books, printed materials, and related holdings on the topic of eugenics which can be found in the indiana division of the indiana state library. Using a fictional family name, goddard shared the story of a family begun by an american revolutionary war soldier who married a worthy quakeress, but also dallied with a feebleminded tavern girl. This book offers the first complete study of the origins of american intelligence testing. Written by a eugenicist named henry goddard it was based on a case study of a patient under his care.
A partial view of one part of the kallikak pedigree from the kallikak family. Similar in nature to the jukes, it traces defectiveness from generation to generation. The studies are part of a series of other family studies, including the kallikaks, the zeros and the nams, that were often quoted as arguments in support of eugenics, though the original jukes study, by richard l. The book describes kallikak as she was in early adulthood and follows her pedigree, from a purported feebleminded ancestor to her parentage.
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