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The State Boys Rebellion PDF

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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 ALLENCOUNTYPUBLICLIBRARY DPT 3 1833 04666 0590 ? ± ALSO BY MICHAEL D'ANTONIO Fallfrom Grace AtomicHarvest Heaven on Earth TheBestMedicine (with Mike Magee) Tin Cup Dreams Tour 72 Mosquito (with Andrew Spielman) nrup = = STATE BOYS REBELLION D Michael 'Antonio i SIMON & SCHUSTER NewYork London Toronto Sydney — ± *?1 Simon & Schuster RockefellerCenter 1230AvenueoftheAmericas NewYork, NY 10020 Copyright©2004byMichaelD'Antonio All rights reserved, includingtherightofreproduction inwholeorinpartinanyform. Simon&Schusterandcolophonareregisteredtrademarks ofSimon&Schuster, Inc. Forinformationaboutspecialdiscountsforbulkpurchases, pleasecontactSimon&SchusterSpecialSales: 1-800-456-6798 [email protected] DesignedbyKrisTobiassen ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 987654321 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.

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