----- Original Message ----- On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 10:43:55 -0400, Christopher D. Green wrote: > Mike Palij wrote: > > http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/kallikak.shtml > > >From the latter website we have the following text that may help > > set the context for what immigrants may have had to expect on > > reaching Ellis Island: > > > > "The height of Goddard's success came at a time when America > > was experiencing a large influx of immigrants from Europe. The > > Immigration Restriction Act, passed in 1924 (which remained in > > effect until 1965) was influenced by American eugenics' efforts. > > In 1913 Goddard was invited to Ellis Island to help detect morons > > in the immigrant population. In his Intelligence Classification of > > Immigrants of Different Nationalities (1917) he asserted that most > > of the Ellis Island immigrants were mentally deficient. For example, > > he indicated that 83% of all Jews tested were feeble-minded, as > > were 80% of the Hungarians, 79% of the Italians, and 87% of the > > Russians. The result was that many immigrants were turned away > > and sent back to Europe." > > Regretible as the experiment with Godard's test at Ellis Island was, my > understanding is that it was relatively limited in duration (although it > has gotten an enormous amount of "play" since Gould's _Mismeasure of > Man_ was published).
I admit to not understanding what your point is here, Chris. There are a couple of different readings that one can make of your text above, including: (1) Because Goddard's program was of limitation duration, any negative effects *might* be justified. One wonders what the acceptable/unacceptable threshold number is for people or families who were labelled unfit for entry to the U.S. and sent back to their country of origin which they may have left to escape economic, political, and/or religious persecution? (2) Are you saying that the percentage of Ellis Island immigrants for the different ethnic/religious groups above are wrong? As Miguel Roig-Reardon has pointed out in a follow-up response, there appears to be an article that appears to be source for the number provided on the website I cite above. This is: Goddard, H. H. (1917). Mental tests and the immigrant. Journal of Delinquency, 2, 243-277. And a copy of this article is available on web at: http://harpend.dsl.xmission.com/Documents/goddard.html It should be noted that Goddard does NOT claim to provide percentages of how much entire ethnic groups are composed of morons, thus undermining the claim above and leaves unanswered the question of whether there is another source for it. However, in the 1917 paper one can read for oneself what some of Goddard's goals and attitudes were: |Two problems were set: First, whether persons trained |in work with the feeble-minded could recognize, by simple |inspection, the feeble-minded immigrant. Second, to what |extent if any could mental tests be successfully applied to |the detection of defective immigrants. [Note: Is this an early form of profiling?] |For the purpose of the first question an investigator selected |39 cases - 20 were Italians and 19 were Russians - who |appeared to her to be feeble-minded. These were then tested |by the other investigator, the results being recorded for later study. | |For the second question cases were picked who appeared to |be representative of their respective groups. In this list we had |35 Jews, 22 Hungarians, 50 Italians and 45 Russians. (5 Jews, |2 Italians and 1 Russian were children under 12 years of age.) | |In both instances the cases were selected after the government |physicians had culled out all mental defectives that they recognized |as such. On the other hand the very obviously high grade intelligent |immigrant was not selected. Our study therefore makes no |attempt to determine the percentage of feeble-minded among |immigrants in general or even of the special groups named - the Jews, |Hungarians, Italians and Russians. At the same time it must be |remembered that these superior individuals, who were not included |in our study, were so small a part of the group that they did not |noticeably affect the character of the group. As stated the physicians |had picked out the obviously feeble-minded, and to balance this |we passed by the obviously normal. That left us with the great |mass of "average immigrants." So that while our results, even if |the tests are valid, will not give us the percentage of Ellis Island |immigrants who are defective, nevertheless the figures would only |need to be revised (reduced) by a relatively small amount. > Unfortunately, I don't have a reliable source ready > to hand. Does someone have a copy of Leila Zenderland's biography of > Goddard? Alas, I do not and the library's copy is out. However, because of the ambiguities above, I'm not entirely sure how relevant Zenderland's book is. From the reviews I've read (always a dangerous basis for evaluating a book) it seems to me that Zenderland attempts to rehabilitate Goddard's reputation by pointing out that he changed his position on issues, had a positive influence in other areas, and that we shouldn't judge people in past on the basis of our "present" values. You know, the same kind of thing that some folks have tried to do with Richard M. Nixon. ;-) [NOTE: I am really resisting the urge to bring up "Die Familie Kallikak" and its effects in Germany as well as on sterilization laws in the U.S. -- see: http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/static/themes/3.html "Three generations of imbeciles are enough" Oliver Wendell Holmes, though to fully appreciate the impact of this statement, one must see how it is used in the movie "Judgment at Nuremberg",] -Mike Palij New York University [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
