The State Boys Rebellion

344 Pages·23.022 MB·English

by  Michael D'Antonio

Forced into institutions where they were drugged,
sterilized, abused and neglected, tens of thousands
of normal children were the victims of a misguided
campaign to improve the national gene pool.
A
handful fought back, and survived to tell the
inside story ofAmerica's eugenic era.
MICHAEL TON
D 'AN 10
$25.00
$37.50
A t age seven, an orphan boy namedFreddie Boyce
/ \ finallybelievedhehadfoundarealhomewitha
Jl jLkindlywidowwhoraisedfosterchildrenonher
farm inrural Massachusetts.Butwhenhisfostermother
died in the wintero{ 1949, Freddie was subjected to a
rudimentary IQtestandthensenttoastate institution
for the feebleminded. There, along with other rela-
tively normal State Boys, he would endure neglect,
abuse, and terror and live without the hope of ever
beingfreeagain.
Though they couldn't possible know it, the chil-
dren ofthe Fernald State School were the victims of
bad science and a newly developed bureaucracy
designed tosave Americafrom the so-called "menace
ofthefeebleminded." Beginningearlyinthetwentieth
century, United Stateshealthofficialsusedcrude ver-
sions of the modern IQ tests to identify supposedly
"deficient"childrenand lockthemaway. The ideawas
toprotect societyfrompotentialcriminals and topre-
vent so-called undesirables from having children and
degradingtheAmericangenepool.
Underprograms thatexisted in almosteverystate
and continued into the 1970s, more than 250,000
children were separated from their families. Tens of
thousands of these were not disabled but merely
unwanted orphans, truants, or delinquents. Yet they
were denied proper education, routinely abused, and
couldbesubjectedtoforcedsurgicalsterilization,lobot-
omy,shocktherapy, andpsychotropicdrugs.
TheStateBoysRebellionisthedramaticandmeticu-
louslyresearchedtruestoryofFredBoyceandagroupof
boyswhoneveracceptedtheirincarcerationattheFer-
nald State School in Massachusetts and insisted they
were normal. In manycases, school officials noted that
theywerenotdisabledanddid notbelong inan institu-
tion. But the school depended on their unpaid labor,
andsotheywerekept lockedawayinwardswheremam
were beaten, raped, forced to fight each other. They
wereoffered n<i hope torfreedom and knew thatothers
hadgrownold anddied withinFernaldVwalls.
Inspired by what they learned from television and
radio about the national civil rights movement, the
State Boys protested their mi ruled in
vain tor their freedom, and rel tng away.
(continuedon be
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ALSO BY MICHAEL D'ANTONIO
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= =
STATE BOYS
REBELLION
D
Michael 'Antonio
i
SIMON & SCHUSTER
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Copyright©2004byMichaelD'Antonio
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10
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-Publication Data
D'Antonio, Michael.
Thestateboysrebellion/MichaelD'Antonio.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
—
1.WalterE. FernaldStateSchool. 2. Boys Institutionalcare
— — —
Massachusetts Waltham History. 3. Childrenwithmental
— — — —
disabilities Institutionalcare Massachusetts Waltham History.
— — —
4. Inmatesofinstitutions Abuseof Massachusetts Waltham
— — —
History. 5. Childabuse Massachusetts Waltham History. I.Title
HV995.W262W3542004
362.196'8'00834097444—dc22 2003065741
ISBN0-7432-4512-1
PhotoCredits
1: Courtesyofhttp://galton.orgedited byGavanTredoux; 2: TheBlackStork(Oxford
UniversityPress, 1996); 3: CourtesyDepartmentofSpecalCollectionsand University
Archives, Stanford UniversityLibraries;4-6: CourtesyoftheAmerican PhilosophicalSociety;
7: CourtesyoftheState Historical SocietyofWisconsin; 8-25 and 27: Courtesyoftheauthor;
26: ©Corbis/EdQuinn; 28: © B. D. Colen/ADIOL.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
More than most books, this one has been blessed with the generosity,
kindness, and wisdom ofthose who lived the drama and wanted their
story told. Among the former state wards who offered me time and
support, I must acknowledge the extra efforts of Fred Boyce, Joseph
Almeida, Albert and Robert Gagne, Charles Hatch, Charles Dyer,
Robert Williams, Doris Perugini, and Lawrence Nutt. Retired Fernald
School staff members also contributed hours of interview time. I was
aided especially by Kenneth Bilodeau, Rose Terry, Raymond Pichey,
and Lawrence Gomes.
Along with those who once lived at the Walter E. Fernald State
School, I benefited from the aid ofthose who came to know and love
them in later years. Doris Gagne and Karen Gagne were especially
helpful to me, as was Abra Glenn-Allen Figueroa. Science Club attor-
neys Wallace Cummins, Mike Mattchen, andJeffPetrucellywere valu-
able sources of information and anecdotes. I also received assistance
from the staffofthe Massachusetts Archives and from the specialists at
Harvard University's Countway Library. Sandra Marlow, researcher
extraordinaire, freely shared from her trove ofdocuments, books, and
audiotapes.
Whatever grace may lie in the pages of this book is due largely to
the efforts of my editor, Geoff Kloske, and a team of readers who
offered general suggestions and specific criticisms. Ralph Adler was
brave enough to risk bruising my ego while demanding better prose. I
can say the same for B. D. Colen and Brian Lipson, who pushed me to
My
clarify the history that governed the State Boys' lives. wife, Toni,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
m
and my daughters Elizabeth and Amy, read early versions ofthe manu-
script and made suggestions that made the text more vivid. Fred
Wiemer, my copyeditor, smoothed many rough edges.
Finally, special thanks are given here to my literary agent David
McCormick, who recognized the merit ofthe State Boys' storyand gave
the project the attention and nurturing it needed from its inception.
His suggestions for tone, style, and substance are manifest throughout
this book.