The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness

The book opens with a detailed account of a research laboratory established in 1906 at a training school for children deemed feeble‑minded in Vineland, New Jersey. Its director explains how a systematic effort was launched to trace mental deficiencies back through family histories, sending investigators into homes to collect careful interviews. The first case presented is the fictitious Kallikak family, whose reputation in the local community made the data unusually rich.

Listeners are guided through the painstaking process of fieldwork, the multiple visits required to build trust, and the careful classification of each relative as normal, feeble‑minded, or uncertain. The narrative blends scientific observation with personal anecdotes, revealing how early 20th‑century ideas about heredity shaped social policy. While the study reflects the biases of its time, it offers a window into the origins of modern genetics and the ethical debates that still echo today.