Library Collections: Document: Full Text

A peculiar but commonly repeated twist of logic in support of enlargement was advanced as early as 1895: "Each year the number committed to our care has been a considerable increase over that of the preceding; and we have now reached a population at which our extended accommodations are exhausted, with numerous applicants knocking at our doors for admission. Provisions to meet this demand are already near completion. This numerical statement is a most gratifying proof of the good work of the institution, and positive evidence of the full confidence of all public-minded, charitable citizens" (Winspear, 1895, p. 163). (7)

The menace image of the retardate, and the perceived necessity to farm large tracts of land for large groups of residents, combined to result in the locating or relocating of most institutions away from population centers and in rural areas where farm land could be had inexpensively. This exacerbated the trend toward isolation begun during the pity period: "Massachusetts has purchased for its school for feeble-minded at Waverley, 2,000 acres of cheap land, sixty-one miles from the parent institution and has already established on it three colony groups of about 50 boys each, the two extreme groups separated by two miles. These boys live amidst simple, plain environments and in almost primitive, yet comfortable style. Dr. Fernald is there making a practical demonstration of the possibility of carrying out the plan above indicated, in a manner both economical to the state and conducive to the best interests and happiness of the boys themselves. The plan is economical because of the simplicity of the equipment required. There is no necessity here for expensive buildings, like schools or hospitals, with their necessary apparatus" (Rogers, 1903, p. 257).

In 1913, Murdoch (p.36) called for institutions of 2,000-3,000 located "...far from any large city and rather isolated..." and on 3,000-4,000 acres of land. By 1930, isolation had become so accepted and real that he reversed himself slightly, advocating, in all seriousness, that institutions "...should not be too isolated, and should be near enough to a village where employees may do their shopping, find social interest, and entertainment" (p. 243).

For a long time, Johnstone (brother-in-law of A. Johnson) and Kirkbride where -sic- the only ones to raise a voice in partial opposition to the prevailing thinking. For several years, the myth was maintained that farm colonies would eventually attain self-sufficiency, and considerable discrepancies are apparent between euphoric public claims and actual cost figures. This led Johnstone (1906, p. 239) to observe: "The farm colony idea with a reasonable number of paid employes -sic- and a large extent of farm land, has made many institutions much nearer self-support, but still the per capita cost is over one hundred dollars per annum. Many of us have hitched our wagons to this star, but the millenium cometh not yet" (Johnstone, 1906, p. 239). He also objected to the continuing enlargement of institutions (e.g., 1908, 1913) and argued for some semblance of humanizing treatment of retardates generally: "I have not gotten beyond the five or six hundred mark as yet. From an economical standpoint, I believe about 750 would be the most desirable size. I have argued against a large number being placed in one institution for that reason. If the institution is not very large, we get good classes. When we put men in one institution, women in another, and children in another, are we not taking away entirely the family idea?" (1913, p. 40).

Johnstone can be seen as "least extreme," but as far as opposition to the principle of segregation was concerned, there was none from the professional ranks; "We must beware of assuming universal consent because no serious note of opposition has been heard" (Johnson, 1903, p. 245). Personally, I found it both instructive and depressing that between about 1890 and 1918, I found not a single speaker or writer in opposition to the prevailing views of the retardate as a sinister menace. It made me wonder what nonexisting voice future reviewers will seek for our own epoch.

Failure to Support Community Alternatives to Segregation.

The workers in the field painted themselves into a corner by advocating a practically unfeasible, scientifically invalid, and socio-politically unacceptable policy of segregation while systematically rejecting alternative provisions such as education and family support.

During the alarmist period, education was no longer seen as effective in diminishing the degree of a person's retardation, and was not believed to prevent a retardate's depravity: "When the state has taken the imbecile, and by training has brought out the best there is in him, when it has corrected his faults, so far as education can do it, when it has possibly taught him to read and write, to be more engaging in his manners and more attractive in appearance and bearing, and then has discharged him with his inherent defects in no way removed to marry and perpetuate his kind, has it really done a commendable deed?" (Wilmarth, 1902, p. 159).