In the 1930s, America believed that some children were born too stupid to ever learn. If your IQ was low, the science of the day said it was hopeless—your blood was “bad.”

Thousands of orphans were locked away in institutions, labeled “feebleminded,” and forgotten. But two young researchers at an Iowa orphanage decided to test that idea… and what they discovered would tear down one of the darkest chapters in American science.

This is the true story of the Orphans of Davenport.

Sources:

Iowa Childrens Home: https://web.archive.org/web/20101230011824/http://www.qcmemory.org/Default.aspx?PageId=243&nt=207&nt2=239

Book: The Orphans of Davenport: Eugenics, the Great Depression, and the War over Children's Intelligence by Marilyn Brookwood- Buy Book: https://amzn.to/4oS9D2r

https://www.byuradio.org/won-2021-10-14-the-davenport-orphans

https://medium.com/leading-brains-review/two-hopeless-little-girls-abandoned-to-a-mental-institution-with-astounding-results-c9ac9a06ec28

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/the-iowa-orphans-who-helped-resolve-the-fight-over-childrens-intelligence/2021/08/11/51bde2d6-de75-11eb-b507-697762d090dd_story.html

Interview with Researchers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0bQFsodlf4

https://time.com/archive/6780590/education-nature-v-nurture/

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-11958-020

Papers written by the doctors: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Harold-M-Skeels-2047761714

1939: https://time.com/archive/6760602/medicine-feeble-minded-love/

https://origins.osu.edu/read/sterilization-carrie-buck

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eugenics-finding-carrie-buck/

https://libguides.davenportlibrary.com/c.php?g=757345&p=5430552

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In 1927 one woman’s fate decided the future of thousands. She was labeled “feeble-minded”locked away and put on trial for her future. But recent research reveals that almost everything said about Carrie Buck was a lie—carefully crafted to push a sinister agenda.”

0:00 - Intro

0:29 - Chatty Cathy

1:19 - Eugenics in the United States

3:01 - Carrie’s Early Life

7:26 - Forced Sterilization

10:07 - Harry Laughlin

11:34 - The Trial

15:39 - Sterilization & Life going forward

21:01 - Doris Buck

23:07 - Three Generations, No Imbeciles

24:11 - Lasting Effects

Sources:

1939: https://time.com/archive/6760602/medicine-feeble-minded-love/

https://origins.osu.edu/read/sterilization-carrie-buck

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eugenics-finding-carrie-buck/

https://kera.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/amex32ec-soc-buckvbell/buck-v-bell-and-eugenics-american-experience/

https://www.press.jhu.edu/newsroom/just-lucky?srsltid=AfmBOooFCdt5QfnmfixNPb1qfqHxInr7HV4kszJEf58cpC4ha6I98Usf

Book (I have not read, but looks intriguing!): https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12262/three-generations-no-imbeciles

https://www.translationalres.com/article/S0022-2143(01)24354-6/fulltext

https://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/eugenics/3-buckvbell/index.html

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In today's episode of History and Hearsay, we are discussing Annie Wittenmyer and all of the amazing work that she did! I hope you enjoy todays episode & maybe even learn something new!
~ Christina
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:32 - 3 Part Series & my cold =)
1:02 - Sarah Annie Turner
3:04 - Move to Iowa
6:23 - Annie’s life - The “Real” story
11:34 - Keokuk Ladies’ Soldiers’ Aid Society
17:02 - The Woman who fed an army
19:37 - Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home
22:04 - Orphan’s Home Evolves
28:41 - Temperance Movement
32:44 - Final Thoughts
►Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110525191459/http://www.qcmemory.org/Default.aspx?PageId=231&nt=207&nt2=229
Annie’s Book: https://librivox.org/under-the-guns-by-annie-wittenmyer/
https://uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/bdi/detailspage.aspx?id=415
Was she a Widow or not? https://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/sc/2022/10/13/the-truth-will-out-annie-wittenmyer/
Iowa Childrens Home: https://web.archive.org/web/20101230011824/http://www.qcmemory.org/Default.aspx?PageId=243&nt=207&nt2=239
https://web.archive.org/web/20101230011824/http://www.qcmemory.org/Default.aspx?PageId=243&nt=207&nt2=239
https://teachingiowahistory.org/virtual-exhibits/home-soldiers-orphans
https://libguides.davenportlibrary.com/c.php?g=757345&p=5430552
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-wittenmyer/
Hymns she wrote: https://hymnary.org/person/Wittenmeyer_Annie#google_vignette
https://history.iowa.gov/media/291/download?inline
Iowa Childrens Home: https://web.archive.org/web/20101230011824/http://www.qcmemory.org/Default.aspx?PageId=243&nt=207&nt2=239
Book: The Orphans of Davenport: Eugenics, the Great Depression, and the War over Children's Intelligence by Marilyn Brookwood- Buy Book: https://amzn.to/4oS9D2r

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Valentina Vassilyeva was born in Russia in 1707 in the city of Shula, which is northeast of Moscow. She was a peasant and is said that between the years of 1725 and 1765 Valentina & her husband Feodor Vassilyeva had 69 children! There were 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets. That means she had 27 pregnancies and deliveries.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:13 - Valentina & Feodor Vassilyeva
1:33 - The Guinness Book of World Records
1:54 - Was this really possible?
4:08 - How Long was she pregnant for? Multiples genetics
5:42 - What Records do we have?
7:00 - History or HEARSAY?!?

SOURCES:

https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/2023/07/01/64a02569ca4741a8518b459a.html

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151020-did-one-woman-really-give-birth-to-69-children

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodor_Vassilyev

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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:54 - Trick -Or-Treat
5:07 - The Investigation
13:45 - The Trial and Appeals
21:37 - Lasting Effects


Sources:
https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/Common/HistoricalDocument/pdf/COTM_Oct_2021.pdf
https://abc13.com/post/1974-candyman-turned-halloween-terrifying-pasadena-texas/375883/
https://www.fwweekly.com/2024/10/23/the-man-who-killed-halloween/
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/1979/59731-3.html
News clips from this case: https://texasarchive.org/2017_03761
https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/article/Candy-Man-s-legacy-still-haunting-today-9774087.php
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Man-Who-Killed-Halloween-still-haunts-holiday-1971811.php
https://www.vice.com/en/article/halloween-killer-ronald-clark-o-bryan-candy-man/

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:23 - Pirate Myths
3:28 - Pirates & Privateers
7:24 - Pirate Punishments
9:47 - Pirate Attack
14:57 - The Golden Age of Piracy
18:34 - Calico Jack - John Rackman
25:31 - Anne Bonny & Mary Reed
33:12 - Blackbeard - Savage or Soft?
45:02 - Black Bart - Bartholomew Roberts
51:15 - The Golden Age Comes to an End
53:12 - Piracy & Modern Times

►Sources:
https://www.worldhistory.org/Golden_Age_of_Piracy/
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1847/pirate-punishments-in-the-golden-age-of-piracy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Roger
https://www.worldhistory.org/Calico_Jack/
Scroll to References for 20 sources Calico Jack - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rackham
https://www.worldhistory.org/Anne_Bonny/
https://www.worldhistory.org/Mary_Read/
https://www.nps.gov/people/blackbeard.htm
Black Beard’s real identity? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/three-centuries-after-his-beheading-kinder-gentler-blackbeard-emerges-180970782/
BB’s Ship: https://ancientnc.web.unc.edu/exhibits/shipwrecks/queen-annes-revenge/#:~:text=While trying to enter the,portions of the shipwreck site.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/maritime-history/pirates-history-golden-age-piracy
https://benersonlittle.com/2021/06/18/the-fanciful-mythical-calico-jack-rackham-pirate-flag/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/three-centuries-after-his-beheading-kinder-gentler-blackbeard-emerges-180970782/
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/maritime-history/pirates-bartholomew-roberts-chaloner-ogle-cup
https://www.worldhistory.org/Bartholomew_Roberts/
https://www.beaches.com/blog/real-life-pirates-caribbean/
Modern day: https://desteia.com/blog/modern-pirates

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In today's episode of History and Hearsay, we are discussing the History of Circus Freak Shows!

►Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/art/circus-theatrical-entertainment/20th-century-developments
https://childrenstheatre.org/2024/01/17/the-early-history-of-traveling-entertainment-in-the-u-s/
https://www.aaastateofplay.com/circus-history/#:~:text=Many traveling circuses in the,and the downfall of sideshows
https://lynchburgmuseum.org/sideshows
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elephant-Man
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Stratton
Books about the McCoy Twins: Biography History and Medical Description of the Two-Headed Girl (1869) was sold during their public appearances. Millie-Christine: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (2000)
https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/discovery/history-stories/millie-and-christine-mccoy-1851-1912-african-american-conjoined-twin-performers/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/lobster-boy
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/11/millie-christine-mckoy-d-74
https://scalar.usc.edu/works/circus-route-books-project/annie-jones
https://www.britannica.com/art/freak-show
https://allthatsinteresting.com/annie-jones-bearded-lady
https://allthatsinteresting.com/joseph-merrick
https://www.k180.org/faith--film-blog/my-life-is-full-because-i-know-i-am-loved-the-elephant-man-1980
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/julia-pastrana-a-monster-to-the-whole-world/ Additional sources linked: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum's_American_Museum

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Sources:

Books: Belonging: A Memoir by Catherine Corless / My Name is Bridge by Anna Corrigan / The Adoption Machine: The Dark History of Ireland’s Mother & Baby Homes by Paul Jude Redmond How 100s of Irish babies came to be buried in a secret mass grave: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwqnwrkd1go https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/15/how-were-babies-mass-graves-discovered-in-church-run-home-in-ireland

"Magdalene Laundries”: https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/book-review-republic-of-shame-airing-irelands-dirty-linen-0bkpl23cj?region=global Timeline: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54693159 https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/the-truth-about-the-magdalene-laundries-was-hiding-in-plain-sight-1.3900697

Documentary maker interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7em6aB4aeI

Interview with PJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ioYc8g8YjY

July 2025: https://www.npr.org/2025/07/14/nx-s1-5440105/excavation-of-mass-grave-begins-at-a-notorious-home-for-unwed-mothers-in-ireland Call for release of records to victims: https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/roderic-o-gorman-call-for-transparency-for-mother-and-baby-home-records-652g287wg Documentary about Ireland’s Catholic mother homes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5WOymf8u-s

Ireland confronts it’s past with unwed mothers homes: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28298236

Man who found his mother: https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/tuam-mother-and-baby-home-survivors-welcome-nui-galway-oral-history-project-7k7pdk5qf Contact to send DNA, if you think you are related to a victim: https://www.live5news.com/2025/07/14/recovery-efforts-begin-recover-nearly-800-babies-believed-be-buried-septic-tank/

Survivors stories told: https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/tuam-survivors-want-to-tell-stories-for-posterity-nvgk59cx0

How bad it was to be u-wed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7em6aB4aeI Additional sources linked here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Secours_Mother_and_Baby_Home#:~:text=In 1975, two boys, Franny,was assumed to be small.

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