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Henry H. Goddard and the immigrants, 1910‐1917: The studies and their social context
Author(s) -
Gelb Steven A.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6696(198610)22:4<324::aid-jhbs2300220404>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - immigration , mainstream , context (archaeology) , sociology , gender studies , history , political science , law , archaeology
The view that the “new” wave of immigration contained significant numbers of mental and physical degenerates was widespread before Henry H. Goddard began his work with the “feebleminded” in 1906. Initially Goddard believed that public alarm over the quality of arriving immigrants was unwarranted, and produced data in 1912 to support this position. Over the next several years, however, his views and studies shifted, evolving into the widely cited 1917 findings that more closely mirrored the alarmist mainstream of the age. Nevertheless, Goddard's publications and correspondence indicate that immigration and racial and national differences in intelligence were not important concerns for him. The 1917 findings must be interpreted within the cultural and historical context in which they occurred.