Walter Fernald School for the Feebleminded
History of the Institution
The process of fully documenting, archiving, and analyzing the history of the Fernald School's 170 years is ongoing, and really just at its beginning. Read the following essays to get a sense of some of the history of the Fernald School.
How was the Fernald School involved in the eugenics movement at the beginning of the 20th century?
How did the "Science Club" at the Fernald School impact the development of scientific and medical research ethics?
How was the Fernald School built? What architectural choices were made in its establishment?
More questions!
In addition to the questions we've already researched, here are some more we're still curious about:
​
-
Did the Fernald School's population mirror the US population in terms of how many immigrant vs. native born students it served? If not, was the proportion higher? Lower? Why?
-
Did the employees at the school get paid well? did their pay impact their work?
-
What was the relationship between the rise of industrial production in New England in the 1800s and the establishment and growth of Fernald?
-
Did socio-economic class impact how well people did on IQ testing? Were people of higher class able to "get off the hook" if their IQs were below average?
-
How did the Nazi use of eugenics change the way it was perceived in the US?
-
How was eugenics related to progressive causes and the inclusion of people with disabilities?
-
How much of a role did government play in shaping students' experiences at Fernald?
-
How were people with disabilities viewed before the Fernald School's establishment, and how did institutions like the Fernald impact the way people with disabilities were perceived after?
-
How aware were other Americans of what life was like at the Fernald School and places like it?