A mmmwa sum 0&2 THE mmm ms Puma EDUCA‘E'WN ma 3m merea m MEWLLY “WRAPPED CHELDR‘EN 1N NORTH mm m mmmm mm 1.9% T0 E3130 DESSERTATYON FGR THE DEGREE 0F PH: De mcmGAN STATE UNIVERSITY FRED DREWE ” ; 1976 W LIBRARY ,Michigan State j; University E This is to certify that the thesis entitled A Comparative Survey of the Provision of Public Education for Slow Learning and Mentally Handicapped Children in North Dakota and Manitoba from 1900 to 1940 presented by Fred H. Drewe has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. Education degree in W Major professor Date 10/26/76 0-7639 “/c’xfl /‘ .7 L ABSTRACT A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF THE EDUCATION OF SLOW LEARNING AND MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN NORTH DAKOTA AND MANITOBA FROM 1900 to 1940 By Fred Harold Drewe Little research has been done on the education of slow learning and mentally handicapped children from 1900 to 1940 in rural areas. This dissertation is a study of how such children were educated in com- parable rural areas, North Dakota and Manitoba, based primarily upon existing public school records and the reports made at the state institu— tion for the mentally handicapped at Grafton in North Dakota and the pro- vincial institution at Portage la Prairie in Manitoba. Such primary documents were supplemented by appropriate journals, newspaper articles, and by personal interviews. It was found in this study that the one major city in the region, Winnipeg, deve10ped special education services for its children in a man- ner similar to the major cities of the eastern seaboard in the United States, and Ontario in Canada. That is, special classes were begun not long after the turn of the century, were increased with the use of IQ tests in the 1920's and were extended to secondary schools in the 1930's. However, the remainder of North Dakota and Manitoba was primarily rural prior to 1940 dominated by small and one-room schools. Here it was found that slow learning and mentally handicapped children seemed to be integrated quite well with other students. There was no evidence that they suffered from the stigma associated with the eugenic alarm which Fred Harold Drewe was present in the larger eastern cities from 1900 to about 1925. There were few special classes or special programs, although some were begun in the larger towns in the late 1920's and 1930's, and slow learning and mentally handicapped children were largely unlabelled and non-segregated throughout the period of this study. It was found that the education of these children was very similar in North Dakota and Manitoba even though there was little influence of one area upon the other. There was a great contrast in the provision of education for the residents of the institutions for the mentally handicapped in North Dakota and Manitoba. Grafton, following the American tradition begun by Sequin, provided good education for its residents from its beginning in 1904. At the Portage institution, the mentally handicapped were not separated from the aged and infirm until the early 1930's and organized education was not provided until 1936. A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR SLOW LEARNING AND MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN NORTH DAKOTA AND MANITOBA FROM 1900 TO 1940. By Fred Drewe A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum 1976 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer wishes to express his appreciation to his advisor and committee chairman, Dr. Carl Gross, for his advice, assistance and en- couragement in the preparation of this study. The writer also wishes to especially thank Dr. E. Keller, who provided expert assistance on matters related to Special education. The writer would like to thank as well the other members of the doctoral committee, Dr. D. Dunham, Dr. S. Moore, and Dr. S. Wronski. Sincere appreciation is also extended to Dave Jenkinson and Sandy Gregor who each edited several chapters for the author. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importance of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parameters of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Organization of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . II BACKGROUND A_Comparability of North Dakota and Manitoba . History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Demography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Economic Base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . school systems 0 O 0 O O O O O O C O C O §_Background History of the Mentally Handicapped . . . The General History of the Mentally Handicapped in the Nineteenth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Social History and Prevailing Attitudes to the Mentally Handicapped from 1900 to 1940 . . . Education of the Mentally Handicapped in the School Systems of North America from 1900 to 1940 . III EDUCATION OF MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MANITOBA FROM 1900 to 1920 . F irst Decade O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 First Special Education Class. . . . . . . . . . . . iii 10 ll 12 15 24 24 26 35 44 44 50 CHAPTER Page Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Institution for Feebleminded Children. . . . . . . . . . . 54 School Retardation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 IV EDUCATION OF MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MANITOBA FROM 1920 to 1930 . 60 IQ Testing 0 C C O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C O O 0 60 Children's Code Commission, North Dakota . . . . . . . . . 63 School Retardation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Ability Grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Special Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 V EDUCATION OF MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MANITOBA IN THE 1930‘s . . . 81 Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 School Retardation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Individual Differences and Ability Grouping. . . . . . . . 89 Special Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Backward Children in Rural Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Secondary Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 VI EDUCATION OF THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED AT THE GRAFTON SCHOOL IN NORTH DAKOTA AND AT THE PORTAGE SCHOOL IN MANITOBA. . 117 The Grafton School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 The Portage School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Sterilization. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O 0 O O 129 VII CONCLUSION o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 13 1 BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The author has chosen to do this study because of his concern for slow learning and mentally handicapped children. Considerable reading about the education of the mentally handicapped indicated that there is very little written about the early history of the education of this group,1 particularly in regions of North America other than large eastern cities.2 North Dakota and Manitoba were chosen for study because of the author's familiarity with these regions, because they are relatively similar and thus comparable,3 and because they represent largely rural areas of North America. Purpose of the Study The author's general purpose in this study was to survey and com- pare the public education of slow learning and mentally handicapped chil- dren in schools and institutions in North Dakota and Manitoba from 1900 to 1940. There are,however, a variety of questions that follow from the Jerome H. Rothstein, Mental Retardation, Readings and Resources (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), pp. 630-631. This is the most recent and complete listing of the limited materials available. 2Please see, for example, J. E. Wallace Wallin, Education of Men- tally Handicapped Children (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1955), p. 18. 3 The similarities and bases of comparison of North Dakota and Manitoba will be established in Chapter Two. general purpose; for example, did North Dakota and Manitoba follow simi- lar patterns in the education of 31 w learning and mentally handicapped children? Did policy decisions made in one area affect educational leaders in the other region, or were they more affected by national or international trends? Finally, was the history of the education of slow learning and mentally handicapped children in two largely rural areas dif- ferent than that which occurred in more urban areas of North.America? Importance of the Study Throughout North America in the 1950's and early 1960's, there was a substantial growth in the number of Special classes for Slow learning and mentally handicapped children.4 Since the mid-1960's a number of ex- perts have challenged the concept of segregating many of the mentally handicapped in special classes, Special schools or indeed in state or 5 It seems imperative that those charged with provincial institutions. making decisions on the integration or segregation of slow learning and mentally handicapped children should have the benefit of information on how this type of children was handled in the past. Methodology Since the publication in 1964 of Comparative Method in Education by George Bereday there has been a controversy on methodology amongst Bernard Farber, Mental Retardation: Its Social Context and Social Consequences (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968), p. 225. 5For example, Lloyd M. Dunn, "Special Education for the Mildly Re- tarded - Is Much of It Justifiable?" in Mental Retardation, Readings and Resources, second edition, edited by Jerome H. Rothstein, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971) and the Commission on Emo- tional and Learning Disorders in Canada, One Million Children - The CELDIC Report (Toronto: Leonard Crainford, 1970). experts in the field of Comparative Education.and considerable litera- ture has appeared on this matter.6 Despite the dialogue, however, there is at this time no single ap- proved methodology in comparative education. The nature of comparison as employed in this study might best be indicated by citing from a paper7 delivered by Robin S. Harris of the University of Toronto at the 1970 Annual Meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society of Canada: Some months ago I read a doctoral thesis which dealt with the historical development of one of the classical colleges of Quebec. A very detailed study and one based on a thorough examination of a considerable body of primary source material, it provided a clear picture of all aspects of life at the institution during the period in question . . . . Nothing appeared to have been overlooked, and it was difficult to imagine a more complete analysis of an institu- tion. Nonetheless, the value of the thesis is limited. The institution is described essentially ig vacuo. One knows everything there is to know about it pg; gg rather than in relation to other institutions . . . there is no reference to the lycées of France, to the Gymnasia of Germany, to the high schools and colleges of English-Speaking Quebec or to other French-speaking secondary schools in the province. Consequently it is difficult, if not impossible to judge the signifi— cance of the developments that have been descrébed with such immacu- late care. There is focus but no perspective. For example, George Z. F. Bereday, Comparative Method in Education (Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964); Brian Holmes, Prob- lems in Education A Comparative Approach (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965); Edmund J. King, Comparative Studies and Educa- tional Decision (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1968); Harold Noah and Max Eckstein, Toward a Science of Comparative Education (Toronto: Collier-Macmillan, 1969); and numerous articles in Comparative Education Review and Comparative Education in recent years, in particular the October, 1970, issue of Comparative Education Re- View. 7Robin S. Harris, "Higher Education in Australia and Canada," The Comparative and International Education Society of Canada, Papers, 1970 (T6ronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 13-32). 81bid., p. 13. Thus the researcher's purpose in this study was not comparison p§£_§g, This dissertation is a survey of the education of slow learning and men- tally handicapped children in two Similar areas with comparison used as a means of providing an important perspective for the better under— standing of changes in educational policy in both North Dakota and Manitoba. Parameters of the Study The year 1900 was chosen to begin the study because the educational systems in Manitoba and North Dakota were Still very rudimentary. Begin- ning at 1900 made it possible to review the general situation for the mentally handicapped prior to any specific action being taken for provi— sion of educational services. The date, 1940, was chosen to end the study for several reasons: there is a natural division in the whole of society at this point in both the United States and Canada due to the beginning of World War II; it is possible to view the provision of educational services for the mentally handicapped and slow learning prior to any organization and action on the part of parental groups concerned with the mentally handicapped;9 and, 1940 represents the end of the "dark ages" on the education of the men- tally handicapped for there are a variety of theses at the University of North Dakota and the University of Manitoba as well as studies in the State Office of Education of North Dakota and the Department of Education in Manitoba that usually begin in the 1940's. 9A few parental groups concerned with the mentally retarded had been formed in North America by 1940 but no such groups had been organized in Manitoba or North Dakota. Secondly, the author has focused on the provision of educational services within the public school systems and the public institutions for the mentally handicapped and has not concerned himself with any private agencies or institutions. Finally, the author concentrated on the education of slow learning and mentally handicapped children, that is, children below the normal in- telligence range whose primary difficulty in learning is due to limited intelligence. A variety of other "exceptional children" such as the deaf, blind, or emotionally disturbed was not considered in this study. The actual terms used to describe children of below normal intelligence during the period of study were usually imprecise and changed somewhat from 1900 to 1940; the terms used and the gradual changes in the use of terms will, however, be described as far as is possible throughout the dissertation. Sources The primary source material used to discover how slow learning and mentally handicapped children were handled in the public schools of North Dakota were the Annual Re ort s of the S eri tende t of Pub ' I struc- .§igg, the Annual Reportgs) of the State Inspector, studies done by special commissions on education, unpublished master's theses and doctoral disser- tations related to the education of mentally handicapped children, pri- marily from the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State Univer- sity, miscellaneous unpublished papers, interviews with persons directly involved in education during the period under study, and newspaper articles. The primary source materials used to discover how mentally handi- capped children were educated in the state institution in North Dakota were the Annual Report(s) of the Institution for the Feeble-minded in North Dakota. The primary source materials used to discover how slow learning and mentally handicapped children were educated in the public schools of Manitoba were the annual reports of both Superintendents and InsPectors in the Manitoba Department of Education Annual Report(s), studies done by Special commissions on education, a few unpublished theses and doc- toral dissertations related to the education of mentally handicapped children, (University of Manitoba Library), miscellaneous unpublished papers, interviews with persons directly involved in education during the period under study, and newspaper articles. The primary source materials used to discover how mentally handi- capped children were educated at the provincial school at Portage la Prairie were the Annual Report(s) of the Manitoba School for Mental De- fectives, and interviews with persons connected with the school familiar with the period under study. This primary material has been supplemented by a variety of other items such as: books and articles on the education of the mentally handi- capped, and general books on the history, geography, economics and social development of Manitoba and North Dakota. Organization of the Study The background of the Study has been provided in Chapter Two. The validity of comparing North Dakota and Manitoba was established in Part A by examining the similarity of the two areas in terms of such factors as history, geography, demography, economics, and education. In Part B of the background, the general history of the mentally handicapped in the nineteenth century was reviewed, the social history and prevailing attitudes to the mentally handicapped from 1900 to 1940, and, a review of the education of the mentally handicapped in the school systems of North.America from 1900 to 1940 was provided. In chapters three, four and five, comparisons of the public educa- tion of slow learning and mentally handicapped children have been made. The first two decades of the twentieth century in both regions were con- sidered in chapter three, the 1920's in chapter four, and the 1930's in chapter five. The provision of educational services at the State School at Grafton, North Dakota and the provision of educational services at the Manitoba School at Portage la Prairie were compared in Chapter Six. Finally, Chapter Seven contains the author's conclusions. CHAPTER II BACKGROUND This chapter is divided into two parts: part A the validity of comparing North Dakota and Manitoba will be established; part B comprises the general history of the mentally handicapped in the nineteenth century, the social history and prevailing attitudes to the mentally handicapped from 1900 to 1940, and, a review of the education of the mentally handi- capped within school systems in North America from 1900 to 1940. A. Comparabilipy of North Dakota and Manitoba It is reasonable to compare North Dakota and Manitoba in the period 1900 to 1940 because they had a similar history during that period and were Similar on a variety of other factors such as geography, demography, economic base, and, of course, education. History North Dakota was largely unsettled until the arrival of the rail- ways that spurred national deve10pment. The Northern Pacific first touched North Dakota at Fargo in 1871 and was continued westward through the state.1 This one great railroad dominated many aSpects of the state economy and at one time owned one-quarter of all the land in North Dakota.2 Much of the next fifty years of state history was a struggle be- tween immigrant farmers and the eastern ownership of the Northern Pacific 1 Bernt Lloyd Wills, North Dakota, The Northern Prairie State (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Edwards Brothers, 1963), p. 110. 2 Ibid. Railway. Although political uprisings had occurred before the turn of the century, the unhappy farmers did not finally succeed in gaining con- trol of the state government until 1915 when the Non-partisan League came to power. A variety of reforms was introduced, but the feeling of anta- gonism towards strange forces of the east remained. The eastern interests were often blamed for the great depression of the 1930's, although clearly international factors and the unfortunate drought were more at the heart of the problem. Nevertheless, North Dakota suffered greatly during the depression and the population of the state declined by 3,000 a year as residents fled in search of more Stable living conditions. Manitoba's history is remarkably similar. The Canadian Pacific Railway built under the auSpices of John A” Macdonald to unite the nation on an east-west axis, reached Manitoba in 1881. From this point on the flourishing north—south links of ox-cart and steamboat of the previous decade or two were severed and were never revived to any large degree. The Canadian Pacific Railroad dominated the new province. Not only did it have a "monopoly clause," which ensured that no railroad could be built south of the C. P. R. line to the border, and thus prevented compe- tition from U.S. railways,3 but also, like the Northern Pacific in North Dakota, the Canadian Pacific was given vast land holdings, twenty-five million acres of the most productive land in western Canada,4 with Manitoba yielding its fair share. 3 W. L. Morton, Manitoba, A History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1957), p. 215. 4John C. Ricker and John T. Saywell, Nation and Province, the History and Government of Canada and Manitoba Since Confederation (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1963), p. 128. 10 Immigrant farmers did not take long to discover that eastern interests dominated too much of their economy and there were cries against the C. P. R. monopoly and the high tariff protecting eastern manufactured goods. This discontent led to the formation of grain co- operatives soon after the turn of the century and found political expres- sion in the Progressive Party, which first rose to national importance in 1921. When the Progressive movement lost its momentum, prairie discon- tent found new outlets in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the socialist party formed in 1932, and, the Social Credit Party, a right wing protest party which was formed three years later. Although Manitoba was not the centre of these political parties, many Manitobans were part of these new organizations and used them as vehicles to express their discontent. The 1930's brought the depression and disaster to Manitoba. Drought covered much of the province, and for those few who managed to grow wheat, the price fell to record low levels.5 Thousands of unemployed men took to boxcars in hopes that the situation was better in other parts of the coun- try. It was not until the onset of war preparation at the end of the de- cade that the situation began to normalize. Geography One glance at an atlas suggests that North Dakota and Manitoba are not comparable geographically. They both owe their topography to continen- tal glaciation, but North Dakota is only 71,000 square miles6 whereas 5Ibid., p. 214. 6 Wills, North Dakota, p. 2. ll Manitoba is a vast region of 251,000 square miles.7 With the exception of a few Indian communities and mining settlements, however, the vast majority of Manitoba's north was unsettled between 1900 and 1940. In fact, the northern boundary of the province was not extended beyond the southern region, or approximately the middle of Lake Winnipeg, until 1912. The population of Manitoba resides almost entirely on the Manitoba Lowland and Western Upland regions, a total area of 78,000 square miles.8 Thus, North Dakota and Manitoba are more comparable geographically than they at first appear. Demography North Dakota had a population of 320,000 in 1900 which doubled to 640,000 in 1940.9 The bulk of that increase, however, occurred between 1900 to 1910 with the state population in 1910 reaching 577,000.10 Manitoba had a population of 255,000 in 190111 which rose to 727,000 by 1941.12 Manitoba also experienced its greatest increase in population in the first decade of the twentieth century, with the population reaching 461,000 by 1911.13 Thus it can be seen that the total population in each area was remarkably Similar. The makeup of the p0pulation, however, was different. Thomas R. Weir, ed., Economic Atlas of Manitoba (Winnipeg: Department of Industry and Commerce, Province of Manitoba), p. 6. 8Ibid., p. 6 and p. 25. 9 Melvin E. Kazeck, North Dakota, A Human and Economic Geography (Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1956), p. 35. 10Ibid., p. 35. l Ricker and Saywell, Nation and Province, p. 128. 1 2Ibid. 3 Kazeck, North Dakota, p. 35. 12 North Dakota's population at about the middle of the period under study was diverse with 29 percent having emigrated from Norway, 23 per- cent from the Soviet Union, 12 percent from Canada (many of this latter group had originated in Europe and stOpped over in Canada for a year or two before moving south of the border), 9 percent from Germany, 8 per- cent from Sweden, 3 percent from Denmark, 2 percent from Rumania, and a variety at less than 2 percent from Czechoslavakia, Poland, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary and elsewhere.14 As might be expected with Canada's being part of the British Empire, 15 was 57 percent British. The next largest Manitoba's population in 1921 ethnic group was Ukrainian at 7 percent, the French at just Slightly under 7 percent, all Scandinavian groups at 4 percent, followed by German, Polish, and Jewish with each making up 3 percent of the population, leaving 16 percent unclassified.l6 Economic Base Both North Dakota and Manitoba have made considerable efforts to diversify their economies in recent years, but, in the period under Study, both areas were highly dependent on grain production, particularly wheat. Northern prairie soils and climate are especially conducive to wheat. The growing season is short and thus precarious, but hardy strains, with maturation periods of but 110 days, were introduced at the turn of the century17 and thrived on the black prairie topsoil. Because the soil is 14Ibid. 15Ricker and Saywell, Nation and Province, p. 264. 16Weir, ed., Economic Atlas of Manitoba, p. 36. 1 7Wills, North Dakota, p. 145. 13 good and the rain is at a minimum, the wheat kernel is hard and high in protein. Number one northern wheat grown in both North Dakota and Manitoba is the most desired wheat in the world. The century began with an economic boom in both North Dakota and Manitoba. Canadian historians describe the period from 1896 to 1914 as "the wheat boom" or ”the great boom,"18 whereas American historians des- cribe the period from 1898 to 1914 as the "second boom."19 Whatever the label, the characteristics of this boom period were almost identical in the two regions. In each case there was a flood of settlers who filled all productive unoccupied lands in an attempt to satisfy a world-wide demand for food. Wheat was king, with 160,000,000 bushels produced in North Dakota in 191520 and 60,000,000 bushels produced in Manitoba in 1911.21 In each region there was tremendous railway expansion as optimists saw nothing but a continuing boom ahead. Although both regions became major transportation links in an east-west pattern of trade, each was left at the end of the boom with an excess of railway track which had to be combined into some kind of coherent national system. The war period in both North Dakota and Manitoba brought labor un- rest, financial difficulties and little economic expansion. The beginning of the 1920's was little better. Many farmers had gone into heavy debt in an effort to expand but wheat prices were low until 1923 and most farmers simply struggled to hang on to the gains 18 Morton, Manitoba, A History, p. 273. Elwyn B. Robinson, History of North Dakota (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966), p. 235. 20Ibid. 2lMorton, Manitoba, A History, p. 297. 14 of the boom years. North Dakota diversified Slightly into sheep, hogs, and dairy cattle but still two-thirds of farm income came from grain crops.22 Manitoba farmers also shifted into livestock but prices of both wheat and livestock remained low until 1924 when the bottom of the depression was reached.23 In the latter part of the 1920's Manitoba made its first real attempt to open the north and diversify its economy by developing the mining and pulp and paper industries. In turn those industries spurred the development of hydro-electric power, and so within the space of a few years the basis for three new industries was established. The depression of the 1930's has been considered from several angles and little more can be done than to provide the basic economic facts that underlay the crumbling of a society. Both North Dakota and Manitoba were dependent on the production of raw materials, and they had little or no control over world markets and world prices. The price of wheat, the 24 backbone of the economy, fell to 36 cents a bushel in North Dakota and 25 34 cents a bushel that same year in Manitoba, and rose to but 53 cents a bushel in 1938.26 With such prices, it scarcely paid to seed a crop. Mercilessly, drought and dust storms hit at the same time, and with drought came hordes of pests. The situation gradually improved in the latter years of the 1930's. The drought subsided, grasshoppers were con- trolled, wheat crops and prices both improved; but the people of the 22Robinson, History of North Dakota, p. 373. 23Morton, Manitoba, A History, p. 380. 24Robinson, History of North Dakota, p. 399. 25Morton, Manitoba, A History, p. 422. 26Robinson, Historypof North Dakota, p. 399. 15 prairies had lived through a disaster which affected their outlook on life for many years. School Systems In much of the next four chapters the author will deal with various aspects of the development of the school systems of North Dakota and Mani- toba between 1900 and 1940, a few brief comments here will outline some of the major similarities and differences. The constitution of North Dakota as adopted in 1889 provided for a system of public schools "free from sectarian control"27 with an elected superintendent of public instruction and elected county superintendents. 28 but there were By 1900 some 78,000 children were enrolled in schools, serious problems. The system was dominated by rural one-room schools and deSpite con- stant attempts at consolidation there were still to be many one-room schools at the end of the period of the study. For example, even as late as 1926, 72,000 of the 174,000 pupils enrolled in North Dakota schools were in rural one-room schools.29 Teachers were poorly trained and poorly paid and often did not stay on the job for a full teaching year before moving to other more attrac- tive jobs in the developing west. State Superintendent Stockwell stated in his annual report for 1910 that: 27Ibid., p. 299. 2 . . . 8Seventh Biennial Report of The Superintendent of Public Instruction for school years ending June 30, 1902, State of North Dakota, p. 26. 2 9Ibid., 1924, p. 11. 16 Our records show that we are compelled to depend upon the transient for the bulk of our teachers; they also Show an almost entire change in the personnel of thg teaching force of a county takes place about every three years. 0 The school year through the first decade of the twentieth century was extremely short and varied from district to district. In 1911-1912 the average pupil in a rural one-room school was present for only 84 31 Most children, especially in rural areas, went to School only days. in the elementary grades in the first years of the twentieth century, although there was a rapid increase in secondary enrollment in the 1920's and 1930's. A major problem throughout the period of this study was the role of the county superintendent. These county officials were elected and often ill-qualified to be the professional leaders of education in their counties. State Superintendent Stockwell constantly pointed out the in- adequacies of county superintendents and each year he called for appointed professionals. For example, in his annual report for 1908, he emphasized in the section entitled "Needs of the rural school," the need for "Removal of the office of county superintendent from partisan politics and his selection preferably by a county board of education."32 The state superintendents of education varied greatly in ability, but generally the more talented served between 1900 and 1918. Walter Stockwell, Edwin Taylor and Neil Macdonald were outSpoken about the 30Ibid., 1910, p. 19. 31Robinson, History of North Dakota, p. 300. 32 Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, North Dakota, 1905, p. 22. l7 weaknesses of education and worked for a variety of reforms such as con- solidation of schools and longer school terms. In 1918, however, "in a 1133 campaign of slander and smear the state replaced Neil Macdonald, "a dynamic leader and nationally recognized authority on rural education"34 with the fiery but non-talented Minnie Nielsen. Miss Nielsen was followed in 1927 by the equally incompetent, Bertha Palmer, who served through the majority of the depression.35 The carefully written superintendent's biennial reports of the earlier years gradually dwindled in size and deteriorated in quality to the point where the report became simply a compilation of statistics. By the school year of 1919-20 the school population of North Dakota had increased to 168,000 pupils.36 Half of these students, however, were still in one-room schools; the school year was still only eight months long, and the average daily attendance was only two-thirds of enrollment. Rural teachers were still poorly trained and poorly paid; many made less than cooks and farm laborers.37 Education was generally somewhat better in the towns which had larger schools and more qualified teachers. The 38 but state spent enough money on education to rank eighth nationally, because of poorly qualified teachers and poor leadership the school sys- tem did not undertake Significant changes in the 1920's. 33Robinson, History of North Dakota, p. 306. 4 3 Ibid. 35Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, North Dakota, 1932, p. 52. 36 Ibid., 1920, p. 17. 37Robinson, History of North Dakota, p. 477. 38Ibid., p. 479. 18 The plight of North Dakota Schools in the 1930's became desperate. "Years of drought, depression, and tax delinquency brought many school districts to insolvency."39 Teachers bore the brunt of the hardship as many school boards simply fired their certified teachers and hired un- qualified people at lesser salaries. Those who retained jobs often went unpaid for months or had their salaries cut to a level below $500 a year. The school population declined from 169,000 in 1930 to 140,000 in 1940, largely because the state population as a whole declined as people left for economically more stable areas. The only positive feature was a 38 40 an indica- percent increase in high school graduates during the decade, tion that the trend of staying in school longer was continuing. In 1900 Manitoba schools were Still recovering from the effects of the Manitoba Schools Question, the struggle between French and English elements in the Schools which saw a nationally imposed compromise allowing the teaching of some French and religion in public schools.41 Although the issue recurs throughout the twentieth century in Manitoba, the domi- nation of English over French had been largely established in 1896 and only minor concessions have been gained by the French-speaking minority since. Although the Manitoba School Question has attracted the attention of historians to the point of exclusion of most other educational problems, Manitoba was in fact struggling to develop a comprehensive system of education in a prairie society in much the same manner as North Dakota. 39Ibid., p. 480. 40Ibid., p. 482. Please see Keith Wilson, "The Development of Education in Manitoba" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1967), pp. 244-246 0 19 There were 63,000 pupils in Manitoba schools in 1900,!"2 the majority of the children being in elementary one-room schools. Consolidation was a continuing theme and appears in the reports of rural inspectors con- stantly. For example, Inspector W. R. Beveridge of the Virden Division reported in 1920 that: Possibly the greatest progress in this division has been along lines of consolidations, five of which have been put into effect during the year . . . . There are now eleven consolidated schogls in the division which are running smoothly and doing good work. Attendance was a major problem throughout the province, with daily 44 Atten- average attendance being but 57.3 percent of enrolment in 1905. dance did not improve significantly until a provincial truancy officer was appointed in 1910 as a follow-up of a clause in the Children's Pro- tection Act passed in 1907. The work of the truancy officer can first be seen statistically in the school year 1913-14 when the daily average at- tendance for the entire province increased by 5.2 percent to reach 62.5 percent overall.45 Manitoba teachers were also poorly qualified, poorly paid and did not Stay long in one job, a comment of Inspector R. Goulet in 1905 is revealing on this point: 2Report of the Department of Education for the Province of Manitoba for the year ending December, 1905, p. 364. 3Report of the Department of Education for the Province of Manitoba for the school year of 1919-20, p. 24. 44 Ibid., 1913-14, p. 171. 45 Ibid., 1913-14, p. 215. 20 It would be gratifying to be assured that those whose diligence and intelligence give a promise for usefullness could be induced to con— tinue for a reasonable length of time in the work of teaching . . Male teachers are constantly adopting other modes of livelihood and their places are in a great part supplied by new inexperienced teachers. The organizational structure of Manitoba education was somewhat dif— ferent from that in North Dakota. Under the parliamentary governmental system there was a cabinet minister in the provincial government reSponsible for education, although in fact the real head was the deputy minister who was a full—time civil servant. Deputy ministers as career civil servants tended to be less prominent than the elected state superintendents in North Dakota, but did provide a consistency of steady leadership which North Dakota did not have. During the period 1900 to 1940 there were few divisional superintend— ents in Manitoba and only the largest divisions such as Winnipeg could afford this luxury. Winnipeg School Division was fortunate to have a very able educational leader, Dr. Daniel McIntyre, through much of the period of this study. Later in the dissertation, an attempt will be made to explain the vast discrepancies between the Winnipeg division and rural areas as a result, at least in part, of this strong superintendent. Through most of the provinces, however, the educational leaders were the government inspec- tors, with each assigned to a region of the country and responsible for seeing that standards were upheld and that government policy was carried out. North Dakota had few inspectors and the real leaders at the county level were the county superintendents. As stated earlier, there were vast discrepancies in the ability of the county superintendents, presumably because of the elective character of the office. 46Ibid., 1905, p. 396. AWE .. ‘ 21 47 still By 1920-21 the school population in Manitoba was 129,000, somewhat below the level of North Dakota. But both school systems had grown at about the same rate through the first two decades of the twen- tieth century. Manitoba, however, with fewer one-room schools, stronger truancy measures, and a longer school year, had somewhat greater atten- dance each year from each pupil. Yet, like North Dakota, Manitoba had great difficulty in retaining children beyond the elementary grades. Inspector Willows reported in 1919-20 that "Less than 7% of the enroll- ment remain at school until they reach grades VII and VIII."48 Then, too, like North Dakota, Manitoba suffered from low teacher salaries and frequent change of teachers. Nevertheless, some advances were made in the 1920's. A new province-wide program of studies was issued in 1927-28, and, with secondary attendance increasing, Winnipeg School Division con- fidently adopted a 6-3-3 plan of education which resulted in the construc- tion of many institutions that are now junior high schools. The 1930's brought disaster to all segments of Manitoba society, including education. As in North Dakota, Manitoba teachers did not fare well. Inspector A. J. Manning reported in the year 1932-33 that "salaries have again been sharply reduced . . . . The general decline for the two years just past is 32 percent."49 So many divisions were threatened with financial disaster that the Legislative Assembly set up a select committee in 1934 to inquire into administering and financing public education. New programs other than the university entrance course were desperately 47Ibid., 1924-25, p. 79. 48Ibid., 1919-20, p. 77. 49 Ibid., 1932-33, p. 23. 22 needed for a growing secondary population, but few changes were made be- cause of the cost involved. Probably worst of all, disParities between urban and rural education increased during this period of inactivity and decline. Inspector A. A. Herriot in his report of 1935-36 wrote passionately of the problem: The weakest link in our Educational chain is the rural school. This is due to the narrow basis of taxation for tax purposes and the primitive monetary system of administration which should have been reformed years ago. It is impossible under the units in cities and towns. In pioneer days in Manitoba the disparity was not so great, but under modern conditions it has become intolerable injustice. Attendance in Manitoba schools declined by over 16,000 in the de- pression years, not quite so dramatic a drop as the 29,000 loss in North Dakota schools, but important nevertheless. The drop in school attendance in Manitoba in the 1930's was not due to a drop in overall population as in North Dakota, for the population of Manitoba stayed approximately level during the depression.51 But in difficult times children were often kept at home to help out as best they could, eSpecially in the rural areas. In some cases, students could not attend because they did not have proper winter wearing apparel.52 In the school year 1939-40 Manitoba had 137,000 students enrolled,53 only 3000 less than North Dakota, and parallel to the situation in North Dakota, attendance figures were increasing in the senior high grades despite the overall drop. 50Ibid., 1935-36, p. 73. 51Ricker and Saywell, Nation and Province, p. 264. 52Ibid., 1938-39, p. 35. 53Ibid., 1939-40, p. 20. 23 The prairie economy and the prairie schools survived largely as a result of the determination and sacrifices of a hardy and stubborn people, not the least important of whom were the teachers. All in all, North Dakota and Manitoba were very similar between 1900 and 1940 and thus highly comparable. Despite this Similarity, however, North Dakota and Manitoba had very little effect on each other from 1900 to 1940. The North Dakota Teacher had only one substantial article relating to Manitoba which ap- peared in September of 1939 concerning an exchange visit of junior high school students from Grand Forks and Winnipeg.54 0n the other side, Th9 Manitoba Teacher did not have any items of significance relating to North Dakota prior to 1940. Official documents from the North Dakota and Manitoba Departments of Education made occasional references to atten- dance figures in the alternate region but nothing more. This is hardly an indication of close contact or major concern about the bordering region. North Dakota and Manitoba were affected by national trends in their own countries. Manitoba was affected by general trends in the United States as well, but there is no indication that either North Dakota or Manitoba had any significant influence one upon the other. Thus in making comparisons throughout the study, it may be found that the two areas were similar in the education of the mentally handicapped not be- cause one was being influenced by the other, but because they are so much alike that they would react in the same manner to similar problems, or, because they were affected by the same North American trends. 54"Winnipeg Students Visit Grand Forks," The North Dakota Teacher, Vol. XVIII, Sept., 1939, p. 15. 24 B. Background History of the Mentally Handicapped This section will have three parts: 1) the general history of the men- tally handicapped in the nineteenth century; 2) the social history and the prevailing attitudes to the mentally handicapped from 1900 to 1940; and, 3) a review of the education of the mentally handicapped within the school systems in North America from 1900 to 1940. The General History of the Mentally Handicapped in the Nineteenth Century Interest in mental defectives took hold in the first part of the nineteenth century in France and Switzerland and then spread to the re- mainder of Europe and North America. The work of Jean Itard with the ”savage of Aveyron" caught the interest of many followers. Itard worked with a boy found living in the woods, and attempted to bring him "from savagery to civilization, from natural life to social life.”55 Itard proved to the world that even a severe mental defective could be improved to some degree by appropriate training. Ironically, Itard considered his work a failure for the boy did not reach the level to which Itard had hoped. Nevertheless, he had learned to recognize ob- jects, identify letters of the alphabet and comprehend the meaning of many words. Johann Guggenbuhl of Switzerland devoted much of his life to the cure of cretinism and attracted much attention throughout Europe in the middle nineteenth century. He made exaggerated claims about his success, however, and as more and more visitors recognized that his cretins were not cured, Guggenbuhl fell into disrepute. 55J. M. Itard, The Wild Boy of Aveyron quoted in Leo Kanner, A History of the Care and Study of the Mentally Retarded (Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, 1964), p. 14. 25 The link of sensory training of mental defectives from Europe to North America lies with Edouard Seguin. Seguin used many of Itard's techniques on children in an institution outside Paris in the 1840's and attracted much attention. With the 1848 uprisings in Europe, Seguin moved to the United States where he continued his procedures in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York for another thirty years. Seguin's work and writings influenced a variety of leaders Such as Samuel C. Howe and led to the establishment of separate institutions for the care and education of the feeble-minded in several states on the east coast of the United States. All of these schools were organized with the hope of largely overcoming and quite possibly curing idiocy through the application of sensory teaching methods. Again, hopes and expectations were raised beyond the level of possible success and disillusionment set in. By the end of the century many of these schools had been converted to homes for custodial care of the feeble-minded. Much of the United States had already gone through the period of euphoria, with schools being developed for the sensory-training of the feeble-minded, and were well into the stage of disillusionment when it became clear that most of the feeble-minded would not be cured, before any attempt was made in Canada to make separate provision for the men- tally handicapped. In 1873 a separate wing was added to the London, h.56 Pressure from con- Ontario Asylum known as the London Idiot Branc cerned officials who stressed the successes of training schools in the United States and Europe then led in 1876 to the establishment of the Orillia Custodial Institution for Idiots, with over a hundred inmates. 56G. Thomas Hackett, "The History of Public Education For Mentally Retarded Children in Ontario 1867-1964" (Unpublished Ed.D. thesis, University of Toronto, 1969), p. 34. 26 Because of shortage of space, no attempt was made to establish a school at Orillia until 1888. After that year, the school grew and was evidently highly successful in its attempts to provide some form of training for all patients. Some of Seguin's methods were used but by this time no one expected cures. Unfortunately, a good beginning ended in 1902 when the problem of Space re-emerged, with beds being put into the classrooms. The school ended for a period of years. There is no clear explanation why the most developed part of Canada was so far behind parts of the United States in the provision of care and treatment of the mentally handicapped. It may be as Hackett states in his thesis,57 that Ontario was simply a developing region lacking "in all custodial services - jails, hospitals and asylums." In any case the rest of Canada was much further behind and no other separate institution for the mentally handicapped existed in Canada prior to 1900. The Social History and Prevailing Attitudes to the Mentally Handicapped from 1900 to 1940 E. R. Johnstone, President of the Association of Medical Officers of American Institutions for Idiotic and Feeble-minded Persons, stated in his president's address in 1904 that: Our great aim is to eliminate this class (the feeble-minded), and in order to do this we must of necessity consider the elimination of the neurotic, blind, deaf, and consumptives, tramps, paupers, petty criminals, prostitutes, etc., as well as the hereditary insane, epilep- tics and imbeciles. . . . Nature is kind to this class. They really survive conditions which we should expect to cause a quick wiping out of the stock, but many have physical powers out of all pr0portion to their mental conditions. The power and desire for procreation is strong . . . for families of this class are notoriously large. 57Ibid., p. 36. 27 Many plans for elimination have been proposed. About a year ago one of the large dailies of New York printed serious editorials and communications advocating a painless death. But who was to decide where to Stop? How was the plan to be reconciled to present day ideas of humanity and Christianity? The whole thing caused but a temporary flutter and died out. Unsexing has been suggested and many strong arguments brought in its favor, but as yet the public knows too little of the advantages of the operation and of the social dangers from this class, and so will not agree to the idea. There is, however, one method of elimination upon which we may all agree. It is easier for people to understand, - and - even only par- tially understanding it, - they will agree to it. It is permanent custodial care . . . . Every effort must be made to get these defectives out of society, where they are a constant burden; from the families they are constantly dragging down and whose stock they are weakening; from the almshouses from which most of which they go out when they please, Spreading the taint, and often bringing back newborn or soon-to-be-born babies worse than themselves . . . . Indeed, they must be removed from every place from which they might at any time return to society . . . . This is our problem - to be solved by persuasion if possible, by law, if necessary . . . . Therefore, for society as a whole, if they will but let us we Shall . . . rid them of this class. We shall lessen crime and the costs of courts and prisons - we Shall decrease pauperism . . . we shall diminish inebriety, too often the result of weakened will and judgement, as well as the cause of it. Our houses of refuge, hospitals for the insane, villages for the epileptics, and almshouses, will no longer be crowded because of the ignorance and inability of the incapables, and the stock of humanity shall grow stronger and healthier.58 President Johnstone's remarks sum up the prevailing attitude to the mentally retarded in the early twentieth century. Mental defectiveness was linked to a host of social problems and the way to rid the world of these problems was to stop mental defectives from reproducing., The eugenic alarm had been sounded by Sir Francis Galton as early as 1865. However it was not until Galton wrote an article entitled 58E. R. Johnstone, "President's Address," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. VIII, 1904, p. 65. 28 "Possible Improvement of the Human Breed" which appeared in Nature in 190159 that the majority began to listen to his theory of systematically attempting to improve the human breed by checking the birth rate of the unfit and furthering the productivity of the fit. Several studies were made of the family histories of supposedly defective stocks which were widely accepted as concrete evidence that mental deficiency is largely hereditary. Dugdale's study of "The Jukes" done in 1877 and largely ignored at the time was revived in the early 1900's to Show that five supposedly mentally deficient sisters had brought forth offSpring which were predominently social offenders and law-breakers. Dr. Henry Goddard, the internationally known director of the Vineland Training School, followed in 1911 with his history of "The Kallikak Family." This study showed how a revolutionary war figure had a family of good stock through his wife, and through a mentally defective, another family tree that was largely made up of prostitutes, alcoholics, epilep- tics, criminals and the like.60 The feeling that there was a strong link between feeble-mindedness and numerous social problems was best summed up by Helen MacMurchy, Inspec- tor of Feeble-Minded in Ontario, in an address to the American Association for the Study of the Feeble-Minded in 1916.61 9Francis Galton, "Possible Improvement of the Human Breed," Nature, 1901, as quoted in Stanley Powell Davies, Social Control of the Mentally Deficient (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1930), p. 59. 6OH. H. Goddard, The Kallikak Family as quoted in Stanley Powell Davies, Social Control of the Mentally Deficient (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1930), p. 65. 1 Helen MacMurchy, "The Relation of Feeble-Mindedness to Other Social Problems," Journal of PsychOwAsthenics, Vol. XXI, 1916, p. 60. 29 The address contained the following statements: Do you seek a focus of contagious disease? Are you wondering where the 'carriers' are? Have you a Register of the Feeble-minded of the city in the office of the Medical Officer of Health? You will seldom miss your mark if you begin there. And, Alcoholism, as is now well known, is another effect of feeble-mindedness. This temptation, too, the feeble-minded are un- able to resist. And, Have you ever, anywhere, and under any circumstances, in a house where normal people live, smelt anything to compare with the indescribable compressed, complex, horrible odor of the air in one of these abodes of the feeble-minded? They complicate the housing problem and they cannot help making slums. Further, as for the problems of public safety, in other words, crimes . . . . What is the relation of the feeble-minded to these problems? Cause and effect once more. Dr. Fernald says, and we all agree, that every feeble-minded person is a potential criminal. On the whole, at least from 10 percent to 20 percent of all inmates of penal institutions are feeble-minded. Finally, as for public morality . . . a large proportion of the victims of the White Slave Trade are mentally defective . . . . Mental defectives with little sense of decency, with no control of their passions, with no appreciation of the sacredness of the person and the higher references of life, become a centre of evil in the community, and inevitably lower the moral tone. A new system of measuring intelligence was established early in the twentieth century. Alfred Binet, as Minister of Public Instruction of Paris, was assigned in 1904 to transfer children suspected of retardation from regular to Special schools. In order to accomplish this task Binet along with Thomas Simon devised a test of intelligence to be given to all children. These revolutionary tests were first brought to the United States by Dr. Henry Goddard. Dr. Goddard tried the tests on the children at Vineland and found that they correSponded quite well to the sorting of children according to institutional experience which had been done in 62Ibid. 30 the past. Dr. Goddard and Dr. F. Kuhlmann of the Minnesota School for the Feebleminded then translated the Binet-Simon scale for American children. Soon after, Dr. L. Terman made a further revision, the Stanford scale, which was easily usable throughout the country. The first use of the intelligence tests by Dr. Goddard and Dr. Terman on public school children revealed that only about one or two 63 The refinements percent of the school children were mentally deficient. of the tests, however, eventually brought to light a very large group of persons of borderline intelligence and in a paper presented to the American Association for the Study of the Feebleminded, Dr. Goddard dis- covered the "moron" group: One of the most helpful things we can do would be to distinctly mark out the limits of this class (high grade feebleminded) and help the general public to understand that they are a special group and re- quire Special treatment, - in institutions where possible, in Special classes in public schools, when institutions are out of reach . . . . The . . . word proposed is a Greek word meaning foolish, 'moronia,‘ and these children might be called 'morons' fool or foolish in the English sense exactly describes the group of children."6 Although Goddard had extended the boundary of mental defectiveness upward with the clear delineation of morons, it was the use of intelli- gence tests in the First World War that was to raise fears as to the large number of mental defectives in the community at large. This fear led to a cry for a national registration of the feeble-minded65 and pressure for more areas to adopt sterilization laws. 6 3H. H. Goddard, School Training of Defective Children, as quoted in Stanley Powell Davies, Social Control of the Mentally Deficient (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1930), p. 54. 64 H. H. Goddard, "Four Hundred Feeble-Minded Children Classified By The Binet Method,” Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XV, 1910, p. 27. 65Please see George Hastings, ”Registration of the Feeble-Minded," in Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXII, 1917, p. 136. 31 The first series of articles advocating sterilization of the feeble-minded appeared in the Journal of ngcho-Asthenics in June 1905. The first state to pass legislation on the subject was Indiana in 1907,66 but others quickly followed and by 1925 twelve states had passed such legislation.67 By 1935 twenty-eight states and British Columbia 68 which resulted in the steriliza- and Alberta in Canada had passed laws tion of 23,000 persons by that year. While there was much disagreement over sterilization of the unfit, there was a general consensus on segregation and this was really the main approach taken to prevent defectives from reproducing. Every area pro- duced institutions for the feeble-minded rapidly in the early twentieth century and these were constantly being enlarged as the number of residents increased from 6,009 in 1893 to 39,655 in 1923.69 There was only a gradual realization in the 1920's and 1930's that the attitudes and policies towards the mentally deficient, that were so widely accepted in the first two decades of the twentieth century, were either incorrect or ineffective. Walter Fernald, the widely respected Superintendent of the Massa- chusetts School for the Feeble-Minded, revealed many of the hopeful changes in a remarkable presidential address to the American Association 66Paul Popenoe and Norman Fenton, "Sterilization As a Social Measure," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XLI, 1936, p. 60. 67Harry H. Laughlin, "The Eugenical Sterilization of the Feebleminded,” Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXXI, 1926, p. 214. 68Paul Popenoe and Norman Fenton, "Sterilization As a Social Measure," Journal of PsychOwAsthenics, Vol. XLI, 1936, p. 60. 69Walter E. Fernald, "Thirty Years Progress In The Care Of The Feeble- Minded," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXIX, 1924, p. 207. 32 for the study of the Feeble-Minded in May of 1924. Fernald had been president of the same organization thirty years earlier, so appropriately his address was entitled "Thirty Years Progress in the Care of the .70 Feeble-Minded.‘ Several quotations to indicate changes in approach follow: For nearly two decades all our knowledge of the feeble-minded indicated that the obvious and logical remedy was lifelong segrega- tion and this became the policy in nearly every state. The "legend of the feebleminded" was based on a study of the only known large group of defectives of that period and they were those who had got into trouble and were in institutions, who were largely of the hereditary class and had behaved badly and were shiftless and lazy. AS a group they were neglected and untrained and uncared for defectives. It was entirely logical to assume that all defectives had similar history and tendencies. The legend ignored the defectives from good homes with no troublesome traits of character and behaviour But much water has run over the dam since that period of pessimism of 1911 and 1912. Since that time many things have happened to make us believe that we have been far too sweeping in some of our generalizations and de- ductions concerning the feeble-minded . . . . No extensive studies have been made of the hereditary (sic) of un- selected defectives as they appear in school and out-patient mental clinics. Many of these children seem.to come from average American homes, from the homes of the poor and of the middle-class, and of the well-to-do, with industrious, well behaved parents. The clinical history of many of these pupils suggests that infective, inflammatory or other destructive brain disease in infancy was the cause of the mental defect . . . . Our newer knowledge on unselected defectives verifies our belief that there are good defectives and bad defectives but seems to Show that the good vastly outnumber the bad . . . . We are beginning to realize the vastness of the problem of the feeble-minded. We now know that all of the feebleminded cannot be permanently segregated in institutions. We believe that the vast majority will never need such supervision but will adjust themselves at home as they have always done in the past.71 7OIbid., p. 206. 711bid., p. 213. a 33 The view towards mental defectives was undoubtedly changing; but at this time, 1924, the members of the American Association for the Feeble-minded were divided. Several papers at the conference still ex- pressed the old fears of mental defectives72 73 whereas others, such as one presented by J. M. Murdoch, agreed with Fernald. Murdoch pointed out to the delegates that: The feeble-minded are just like other individuals, some are good and some are bad, largely dependent upon the environment. Virtue or vice d es not depend upon the degree of intelligence of the indivi- dual.72 In 1929 President Hoover called for a conference on the status of the health and well-being of children. A sub-committee on the handi- capped made several break—throughs, such as replacing the terms "feeble- mindedness” and "intellectual subnormality” with the term "mental deficiency," and calling for greater use of special education classes. The report, however, perpetuated many of the legends of the feeble-minded, as Fernald had called them, by a reaffirmation of the idea that the "mentally deficient are more like to be delinquent or criminal than are "75 and by a continuation of the emphasis on those of normal intelligence, the need to prevent reproduction through the traditional means of segrega- tion and sterilization. Nevertheless, the general tone of the report was 72Please see for example Mary M. Wolf, "The Relation of Feeble-Minded- ness to Education, Citizenship and Culture," Journal of Psycho- Asthenics, Vol. XXX, 1925, p. 124. 73J. M. Murdoch, "The Relation of Mental Deficiency to Morals, Reli- gion and Ethics," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXX, 1925, p. 149. 74Ibid. 75E. R. Johnstone, "Report of the Committee on Mental Deficiency of the White House Conference," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXXVI, 1931, p. 343. 34 less frenzied than language of earlier years and there was now a tendency to express doubts about parts of the legend that were previously accepted as fact. Intelligence tests had been used in North America since 1911 with supreme confidence in classifying and labelling the mentally retarded.76 At the beginning of the depression, however, some experts began raising serious questions about their efficiency. 2. Pauline Hoakley of the Wayne County Training School in Michigan showed in a carefully construc- ted Study77 that the IQ of individuals can vary markedly from test to test, particularly for children under 16. Another of the basic tenets from the early part of the century was beginning to waver. DeSpite con- tinued controversy over the years, however, the IQ test remains a widely used procedure even today. Sterilization of mental defectives still continues to be practised, but on this matter, too, the general attitude changed drastically in the 1930's. Dr. Edgar Doll in the President's Address to the American Asso- ciation on Mental Deficiency delivered in 1936 stated that: There was a time when much faith was placed in sterilization as a basic measure for control. . . . Whereas formerly the opposition came from.the poorly informed, while the advocates were among the well—informed, today the situation is reversed, with much of our best professional thought gravely opposed to this measure.78 In chapter Six of this dissertation the author will demonstrate that Manitoba reflected the new attitude by defeating in 1932 a proposed 76H. H. Goddard. ”Four Hundred Feeble-Minded Children Classified by The Binet Method," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XV, 1910, p. 17. 77 Z. Pauline Hoakley, "The Variability of Intelligency Quotients,” Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXXVII, 1932, p. 119. 78Edgar Doll, "Current Thoughts on Mental Deficiency," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XLI, 1936, p. 33. 35 law on sterilization of high grade mental defectives. North Dakota on the other hand continued on and in fact increased the rate of steriliza- tion of mental defectives in the 1930's. The period under study ended with leaders on mental deficiency ad- vocating more programs to help the handicapped in the community or through colonies79 outside the state institutions. Because of the depres- sion, however, little funds were available for such endeavors. The Dalton theory on eugenics and the Binet-Simon intelligence tests had combined in the early twentieth century to create a general concern about control of mental defectives through segregation and steri- lization. By 1940, however, many of the earlier theories had been chal- lenged, amended or discarded so that the period under study ended with a calm and systematic approach to the care and assistance of the mentally deficient. Education of the Mentally Handicapped in the School Systems of North America from 1900 to 1940 Public school classes for the mentally handicapped began in North America at about the turn of the century. Providence, Rhode Island, is generally given credit for establishing in 1896 the first class for the feebleminded,80 but in fact the first such class was in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1875.81 This first class had a tragic ending as the 14 children classified as imbeciles were sent back home and the teacher, who suffered 79F. Kuhlman, "One Hundred Years of Special Care and Training," American Journal of Mental Deficiency, Vol. XLV, 1940-41, p. 21. 80Rhoda A. Esten, "Backward Children in the Public Schools," Journal of PsychOwAsthenics, Vol. V, 1900, p. 10. 81Charlotte Steinbach, "Report of the Special Class Department, Cleveland, Ohio," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXIII, 1918, p. 104. 36 a mental collapse, went off to the State Hospital. But, a quarter of a century later the time seemed to be right and Springfield, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and Worcester all established classes by 1901,82 with most other big cities in the eastern United States follow- ing within the next decade or so. Many of the first special classes established were for children who were discipline problems. Classes for mental defectives were to develop first as a related and later as a separate entity. This was the case in Providence and in New York. For example, Miss E. Farrell, In- spector of Ungraded Classes in New York City Schools, wrote that their first class "was not the result of any theory. It grew out of conditions in a neighborhood which furnished many and serious problems in truancy and discipline.”83 One wonders what exactly were the forces that combined to produce so many special classes in such a short period of time. J. E. Wallace Wallin speculated84 in Problems of Subnormality, 1921, that the enactment of compulsory attendance laws at about the turn of the century forced feeble-minded off the streets and into schools where school officials soon found it necessary to organize Special classes for this group. A link between the introduction of compulsory attendance and the establish- ment of special classes in Winnipeg will be explored later in the disser- tation. 82Elizabeth Daniels Nash, ”Special Schools for Defective Children," Journal of PpychowAsthenics, Vol. VI, 1901, p. 42. 83E. E. Farrell, ”Special Classes in the New York City Schools," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XIII, 1908, p. 91. 84J. E. Wallace Wellin, Problems of Subnormality (New York: World Book, 1921), p. 46. 37 Classes for the feeble-minded seem also to be related to the eugenic scare linking mental defectiveness with social ills. Many educators at the turn of the century evidently believed that there were "dullards" or "borderline defectives" who might easily fall into the defective category if not provided with a prOper education. For example, E. R. Johnstone states of this group: The backward child in the public school, - the child who with indi— vidual training, sanitary surroundings and proper environment will advance to take his proper place among normal children, but who neg- lected subjected to disease and ignorance will fall an eagy prey to degenerative influences and become in fact feeble-minded. Finally, comparative education had a great deal to do with the influx of special classes for the feeble-minded. Many of the articles in the Journal of ngcho-Asthenics86 concerning plans for special classes in North America at the turn of the century reviewed developments in other countries, cited successes and advocated a similar approach. Special classes had been opened in several German cities in 1867 and by 1896, 27 cities had classes containing over 2000 pupils.87 In addition, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France and Switzerland had all made similar provisions.88 The single most important foreign impetus, however, was the 1898 report to the British parliament of the "Committee on Defective and Epileptic Children." This report extolled the benefits of the education of feeble— minded children in special classes or special schools and provided funds 85 E. R. Johnston, "President's Address," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. VIII, 1904, p. 65. 86See, for example, Samuel J. Fort, "Special School for Special Chil— dren," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. 5, 1900, p. 28, and Walter E. Fernald, "Mentally Defective Children in the Public Schools," Journal of Paypho-Asthenics, Vol. VIII, 1903, p. 25. 87Samuel J. Fort, "Special School for Special Children," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. V, 1900, p. 29. Walter E. Fernald, "Mentally Defective Children in the Public Schools," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. VIII, 1903, p. 25. 88 38 for the creation of such classes according to carefully established re- gulations. Walter Fernald of the Massachusetts School for the Feeble- minded visited these newly established schools in 1903 and reported very positively on his return to the United States.89 The selection of children for special classes seems to have been made primarily on the basis of observation and school performance until about 1912. After that time many schools used a combination of the Binet- Simon tests and studies of "retardation" as the basis for selection.90 School retardation studies were used extensively throughout North America, after 1910 to discover those children who were behind the grade level ap— propriate for their age but who were not necessarily feeble-minded. Once those who were school retarded were found they were subjected to the new IQ tests to determine those who were sub-normal and who should thus be assigned to Special classes. At the height of the eugenic scare special schools were usually favored over Special classes for mentally defective children. As Miss Erminie Loiselle of Oklahoma stated in 1921:91 Our pupils have been removed from regular classes because educators throughout our land have recognized the fact that the backbone of our country, the normal child, must no longer be burdened with the sub- normal child. Cordelia Creswell of Grand Rapids, Michigan, also made the case for Special schools before the American Association for the Study of the Feeble-Minded, 89Ibid. OGrace M. Boehne, "Regarding Special Classes for Sub-Normal Children," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XVII, 1912, p. 20 1Erminie Loiselle, ”The Special Class Child," Journal of Psycho- Asthenics, Vol. XXVII, 1921, p. 240. 39 The child is happier in a special school than he is in the ordi- nary special class because he is associated in the departmental or Special school only with his own kind, he is free from the contact, teasing and other annoyances which he receives from normal children whom he must meet more or less on the school grounds while in the special classes. It should be remembered, also, that his absence is much more beneficial than his presence to the normal child.92 In the 1920's there was the realization that although special classes had been created in most of the major cities in the eastern United States, too little concern was given to differentiating the types of children in these classes and to providing a meaningful curriculum. J. E. Wallace Wallin led the criticism on both issues. In his Problems of Subnormality published in 1924 he stated: As In some cities the special classes are made the dumping ground for all kinds of pedagogical misfits and social ne'er-do-wells; men- tally normal children who are pedagogically retarded, mentally or pedagogically backward pupils, morons, imbeciles, high-grade idiots, moral imbeciles, truant or unruly children, children of good mentality, but suffering from sensory deprivation (semi-blind, semi-deaf and word blind), crippled or paralytic or Speech-defective children who are not feeble-minded, foreign children of good mentality whose defect is primarily linguistic. a matter of curriculum, Wallin stated: The contribution of the modern testing movement has thus far been of much less significance so far as concerns the elaboration of edu- cational schemes, plans and devices, and the modification of curri- cula and of educative processes to meet more completely the indivi- dual requirement of the pupil material in the schools. 4 The change in curriculum for special education classes resulted in less emphasis on a watered-down version of the three R's and more emphasis on vocational and industrial training in line with individual 92Cordelia Creswell, "Special Schools Versus Special Classes," Jour- nal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XIX, 1914, p. 68. 93Wallin, Problems of Subnormality, p. 64. 94J. E. Wallace Wallin, ”Classification of Mentally Deficient and Retarded Children for Instruction," Journal of Psycho~Asthenics, Vol. XXIX, 1924, p. 167. 40 needs. In the very best of the programs there was also career counselling, some on-the-job training, and a follow-up for a year or two after the end of school to assist Students in finding employment. This change in emphasis in curriculum was in part due to the dimi- nishing fear of mental defectives and also because of the growth of pro— gressive education.95 Progressive education was not yet at its zenith but some of its features such as emphasizing the value of the individual, individual choices on curriculum matters, and practical and life training were gradually adopted in the approach to special education. The change- over was slow, however, for a survey in 1931 reported that only 27 of 631 Special classes in major U. S. cities had activity programs rather than programs resembling the regular course of Studies.96 DeSpite the general acceptance of the idea of special classes for subnormal and backward children, it is startling to realize how few such classes were indicated by national surveys. Surveys done by the U. S. Office of Education revealed the following: SPECIAL CLASSES FOR THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED IN THE UNITED STATES97 No. of No. of Pupils Year States Cities Enrolled 1922 23 133 23,252 1927 32 218 51,814 1932 39 483 75,099 1936 43 643 99,621 1940 42 565 98,416 95Florence N. Beaman, "Progressive Education for the Mentally Re- tarded Child," Journal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XLIII, 1938, p. 87. 96Ibid. 97Wallin, Problems of Subnormality, p. 20. 41 It is true that these surveys were conducted only in cities with a population of 2,500 or more and not all cities replied to every survey. One might think that restricting the survey to cities would pass over many Special education classes; probably, however, this is not so. Dr. Edgar Doll who was constantly proclaiming the necessity of more class- room facilities for the feeble-minded made the following points: Yet very few municipalities, and almost no rural communities, provide for as many as l ercent of the elementary school popula- tion in special classes.9g Further: The rather scattered character of the population, and the generally limited financial resources of the rural districts, make the problem of care for the rural feeble-minded eSpecially difficult. This study on the rural area of North Dakota and Manitoba supports the thesis that Special education classes were established almost entirely in cities. The table above does reveal that the number of pupils enrolled in special classes went up considerably during the depression, but it is not unreasonable to think that there would have been a further increase had more monies been available. Again, Specific evidence in North Dakota and Manitoba will reveal the truth of this latter statement. The approach to special education in Ontario was not very different from that in the United States, but most other parts of Canada were far behind the pattern established by the leaders in the major cities of the eastern United States. Helen MacMurchy, Inspector of the Feeble-minded in Ontario until 1920, and an internationally known expert in her field, provided the 98Edgar A. Doll, "Education and Training of the Feebleminded," Jour- nal of Psycho-Asthenics, Vol. XXXVII, 1932, p. 102. 99Ibid., p. 103. 42 leadership which led to the development of special education classes in Ontario. The first classes for the mentally defective were established in 1910, with two in Toronto and one in Hamilton. One year later Mrs. MacMurchy encouraged the government to pass an Act Respecting Special Classes for the Mentally Defective.100 Not many districts followed up on this lead and by 1920 only a handful of Special classes existed in Ontario, these being in Brantford, Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa. In the period from 1920 to 1928, however, there was a steady growth in “Auxi- liary Classes" as they were now called, although as Hackett states:101 Growth occurred exclusively in cities or in urban areas; Toronto, the largest city, led the rest of the province in the number of its classes. The rest of Canada had made little provision for auxiliary classes as a survey of Ministers of Education in 1924 revealed:102 SURVEY OF AUXILIARY CLASSES IN CANADA Province Number of Classes Nova Scotia New Brunswick "several" Quebec none Manitoba some in Winnipeg, number not known Saskatchewan 1 public school Alberta 4 British Columbia some in Vancouver Ontario 96 It shall be seen later in this dissertation that Winnipeg introduced a special education class in 1913 and followed with several others over 100 G. Thomas Hackett, "The History of Public Education for Mentally Retarded Children in Ontario 1867-1964," (Unpublished Ed.D. thesis, University of Toronto, 1969), p. 88. 101Ibid., p. 132. 102Ibid., p. 155. 43 the years but this was a local phenomenon unrelated to provincial leader- ship or to events in the rest of the province. In Ontario the growth of special classes subsided with the great depression and as Hackett states,103 "from 1933 to 1935 the growth of Auxiliary Classes was reduced almost to a standstill." Later in the dis- sertation, we will see that some special education classes begun in North Dakota and Manitoba in the late 1920's were eliminated during the depression years. All in all, it is clear that Ontario followed a pattern of develop- ment in special education classes similar to the leading States in the eastern United States but that developments in the rest of Canada were limited. It has been indicated that special education classes for the feeble- minded began in the cities of the eastern seaboard of the United States at about the turn of the century. The first classes were often in Special buildings, as it was thought wise to keep the defectives from having a harmful influence on normal children. With the end of the eugenic alarm in the 1920's there was more emphasis on providing education suited to the needs of these children, particularly manual and vocational training. The number of special classes rose steadily in North America through the 1920's and 1930's although expansion was limited somewhat during the de- pression of the 1930's, because of lack of funds. Special classes were, however, almost exclusively an urban phenomenon and most prominent in the large cities of the eastern United States and Ontario. 103 Ibid., p. 186. CHAPTER III EDUCATION OF MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MANITOBA FROM 1900 TO 1920 First Decade The developing school systems of North Dakota and Manitoba gave little special consideration to the education of mentally handicapped children prior to 1920. There was no effective compulsory attendance law in either North Dakota or Manitoba in the first decade of the twentieth century and edu- cation was a random process for many children. There were large numbers of children who did not attend school at all but even for those who did the school year was very short as the Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Dakota reported in 1906: The most lamentable thing in the statistics of the present school year is that of the 113,378 children who were enrolled in the public schools, only 80,395 attended sixty days or more.1 Manitoba faced similar problems. In most Inspectors' reportsihxm1the turn of the century on there was some comment on the difficulty of Opera- ing schools when attendance was so unreliable. 13.13.Best, Inspector for the North-Eastern Division, stated in his annual report in 1905 that: The problem of attendance shows little change from year to year and varies from two to fifty pupils under one teacher, the smaller and more irregular attendance often being found in those districts containing the greatest number of children. As far as I can learn considerable numbers