Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center
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Walter E. Fernald State School
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| Location | 200 Trapelo Rd., Waltham, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°23′28″N 71°12′38″W / 42.39111°N 71.21056°WCoordinates: 42°23′28″N 71°12′38″W / 42.39111°N 71.21056°W |
| Built | 1888 |
| Architect | William G. Preston; Clarence P. Hoyt |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
| MPS | Massachusetts State Hospitals And State Schools MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 93001487 |
| Added to NRHP | January 21, 1994 |
The Walter E. Fernald State School, later the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center (aka Fernald Developmental Center or simply Fernald), was the Western hemisphere's oldest publicly funded institution serving people with developmental disabilities. Originally a Victorian sanatorium, it became a "poster child" for the American eugenics movement during the 1920s. It later was the scene of medical experiments in the 20th century. Investigations into this research led to new regulations regarding human research in children.
The school occupies a 186 acres (75 ha) property off Trapelo Road in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The Fernald Center, originally called the Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children, was founded by reformer Samuel Gridley Howe in 1848 with a $2,500 appropriation from the Massachusetts State Legislature. The school eventually comprised 72 buildings total, located on 196 acres (0.79 km2). At its peak, some 2,500 people were confined there, most of them "feeble-minded" boys.
Under its third superintendent, Walter E. Fernald (1859–1924), an advocate of eugenics, the school was viewed as a model educational facility in the field of mental retardation. It was renamed in his honor in 1925, following his death the previous year. The institution was involved in several different procedures that used the residents as test subjects some of which include sterilization and radiation experimentation.
The institution did serve a large population of mentally retarded children, but The Boston Globe estimates that upwards of half of the inmates tested with IQs in the normal range. In the 20th century, living conditions were spartan or worse; approximately 36 children slept in each dormitory room. There were also reports of physical and sexual abuse.
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