Announcing My New Book: "A Perfect Turmoil: Walter E. Fernald and the Struggle to Care for America's Disabled"
Ten years in the making, an untold story of disability in America, and how it shapes our world today.
I am thrilled to announce that my book, A Perfect Turmoil: Walter E. Fernald and the Struggle to Care for America’s Disabled will be published on April 1. It’s a landmark book that reveals the untold story of the origins of the IQ test, special education, forced sterilization, eugenics, and disability in the early 20th century, all through the lens of the overlooked and monumental figure at the heart of it all. It took me ten years to get here, and I hope you’ll take a moment to read on, to share, and to pre-order the book.
Where to buy it: It’s available today for pre-order from any local independent bookstore here, as well as B&N / Amazon. If you’re in the area, join me on April 1 at Porter Square Books at 7 PM for the book launch. You can pre-order signed copies from Porter Square Books here.
The importance of readers like you: As a former bookseller, I know that we don’t have books without writers and readers alike. Passionate readers like you can help make sure this book makes its way in the world by telling others you know, sharing on social media, and posting reviews. I hope that I can ask for your support and am grateful for any you can offer.
Most importantly, more about A Perfect Turmoil
Watch the book trailer here:
A Perfect Turmoil is a riveting examination of not just the life of Fernald, but the rapidly changing political and social attitudes of his time. With a historian’s eye for detail and a novelist’s skill for storytelling, Green never loses sight of the mercy and humanity of his controversial subject, as he explores a lost chapter in American history that continues to shape our lives today.
— Ann Leary, author of The Good House and The Foundling
From publisher Bellevue Literary Press
“The Walter E. Fernald State School, America’s first public institution for intellectually and developmentally disabled children, gained international infamy for its shocking radiation experiments in the 1950s. But until now, the remarkable story of the man who the institution was named for remained untold. In this landmark new biography, A Perfect Turmoil: Walter E. Fernald and the Struggle to Care for America’s Disabled, Alex Green reveals the astonishing story of Walter Fernald (1859-1924) for the very first time, uncovering the previously unknown origins of special education, the first successful opposition to eugenic sterilization in the United States, the earliest battles over the IQ test, the first calls for de-institutionalization in American history, and the disabled doctor behind it all.
“From the moment he became superintendent of the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded in 1887 until his death in 1924, Dr. Walter E. Fernald led a wholesale transformation of our understanding of disabilities in ways that continue to influence our views today. How did the man who shaped the laws of entire nations and developed innovative medical treatments for the disabled slip from idealism into the throes of eugenics before emerging as an opponent of mass institutionalization? Based on a decade of research, A Perfect Turmoil is the story of a doctor, educator, and policymaker who was unafraid to reverse course when convinced by the evidence, even if it meant going up against some of the most powerful forces of his time.”
Praise for the Book
“America has a tragic history of mistreating the intellectually and developmentally disabled, full of Dickensian institutions, barbaric procedures, and malevolent eugenic programs. Much of it remains untold. Alex Green has made an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of this history by tirelessly digging through the archives and eloquently telling the story of Walter E. Fernald.”
— Adam Cohen, author of Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck
“Growing up in Waltham, Massachusetts, we kids were all afraid of the Fernald School. By shedding brilliant new light on the institution’s history and its namesake, by bearing witness to the horror, Green shows us a tortured past so that we can ensure that it never, ever repeats.”
— Caroline Leavitt, author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder
“Rescuing Fernald’s story from obscurity, Green gives us insights into education, medicine, American eugenics, and disability over more than a century of transformation. From its beginning through to its blazing conclusion, A Perfect Turmoil is an impeccably researched and humane book that tells us so much about our eugenic, ableist, but still changeable present.”
— Adam Rosenblatt, author of Cemetery Citizens: Reclaiming the Past and Working for Justice in American Burial Grounds
“Until recent years, disability rights were considered a secondary concern, even in the human rights community. The serious attention they deserve will be amplified by this superb book. Drawing skillfully on newly available material and highlighting the stories of persons who lived with disabilities, Green illuminates a history never told before. It is a gift to us all.”
— William F. Schulz, former executive director of Amnesty International USA and author of Reversing the Rivers: A Memoir of History, Hope, and Human Rights