THE ORPHANS OF DAVENPORT Eugenics, the Great Depression, and the War Over Children's Intelligence

This audiobook about an institution for intellectually disabled girls and women in Davenport, Iowa, engages, shocks, and informs. Narrator Susie Berneis empathetically shares this true story about our evolving understanding of childhood development and the question of nature versus nurture. The story may surprise listeners with how little was once understood about childhood development in the early twentieth century, particularly a child's intellectual abilities. Listeners may be shocked by how the "feebleminded" were once treated. Berneis engagingly shares the stories of women, often just girls, who were institutionalized and the unsung researchers and psychologists who bucked the prevalent belief that children inherit their parents' low intelligence. There is great empathy in the account of this important moment in our understanding of childhood development. J.P.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2021]