The Kallikak family : a study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness

Dublin Core

Title

The Kallikak family : a study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness

Subject

Goddard, Henry Herbert, 1866-1957 (author)
Eugenics
Frontispieces (illustrations)
Title pages
Kallikak, Deborah

Description

Henry Herbert Goddard’s study, The Kallikak family, tracks 480 descendants of Martin Kallikak, known as the “Old Horror,” the illegitimate son of a feeble-minded girl. Among the descendants were alcoholics, prostitutes, epileptics, criminals, illegitimate children, and children who died in infancy. As Goddard states, “The surprise and horror of it all was that no matter where we traced them, whether in the prosperous rural district, in the city slums to which some had drifted, or in the more remote mountain regions, or whether it was a question of the second or the sixth generation, an appalling amount of defectiveness was everywhere found.” Legitimate Kallikak descendants, however, proved to be prosperous and upright citizens.

Abstract

Title page and frontispiece of The Kallikak family : a study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness by Henry Herbert Goddard. The frontispiece is a 1912 photo of Deborah Kallikak.

Creator

Goddard, Henry Herbert, 1866-1957

Publisher

Macmillan

Date Created

1912

Rights

The Boston Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in this collection. For use information, consult Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu

Access Rights

Access to the original work depicted requires advance notice. Contact Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu for additional information

Is Part Of

Boston Medical Library Rare Books Collection (2.G.55)

References

Full text available online here through the Medical Heritage Library

Format

text

Extent

1 frontispiece and 1 title page

Language

English

Type

text

Identifier

0001940

Provenance

Purchased for the Boston Medical Library, 1913

Files

0001940_ref.jpg

Citation

Goddard, Henry Herbert, 1866-1957, “The Kallikak family : a study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness,” OnView, accessed March 28, 2024, https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/items/show/6220.