Feeble-Minded in Our Midst: Institutions for the Mentally Retarded in the South, 1900-1940 - Softcover

"Steven Noll has produced a work of historical and social significance that is impressive not only for its scope but also for the insight it provides into a seldom-seen area of public policy."--"North Carolina Historical Review" "Steven Noll's "Feeble-Minded in Our Midst" is an important contribution to the history of retardation and the South. It illuminates regional differences in social policy and demonstrates that the evolution of institutions for a variety of dependent persons is a far more complex phenomenon than is commonly assumed. All those concerned with social policy and dependency will find his book rewarding."--Gerald Grob, Rutgers University "Offers a starting point for understanding the development of twentieth-century social policy in the South."--"Journal of Southern History" "This is a subject that needs treatment, and Noll treats it well. He authoritatively analyzes the history of Southern institutions for the mentally retarded both from within the establishments themselves and from a broader social and political perspective."--Todd Savitt, East Carolina University "Exhaustively researched, clearly organized, and convincingly and felicitously written. "Feeble-Minded in Our Midst" is an important contribution to the literature of southern history and the history of medicine."--"Journal of the History of Medicine"

Noll creates a vivid portrait of life and work within institutions throughout the South and the impact of institutionalization on patients and their families. He also examines the composition of the population labeled feeble-minded and demonstrates a relationship between demographic variables and institutional placement, including their effect on the determination of a patient's degree of disability.