It was called the Science Club. The Fernald State School in Waltham, Massachusetts, an institution that was part of the American eugenics movement, invited students to join a special club for nutrition research, where they were incentivized with gifts, Red Sox game tickets, outings to the shore, and extra helpings of oatmeal. These children, who had been disregarded in society, were labelled as “morons” and “feebleminded”. However, some victims of the experiment, like Fred Boyce, reported abuse and psychological harm due to his time spent at Fernald, and many children, like Boyce, had no mental variance and were there based on economic and social conditions. From what they were told, the club seemed like a harmless opportunity. 

In 1993, Scott Allen, a journalist for the Boston Globe discovered documents that revealed radioactive experimentation on children with developmental disabilities from the late 1940s through the early 1950s. These experiments were conducted on young boys who went to the Fernald State School, formally known as The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded. The experimentation was conducted by researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, particularly led by Robert S. Harris. In the experiments, the boys were given Quakers cereal that was laced with radioactive iron and calcium. The radioactive tracers in the cereal were used to track the absorption of calcium and iron in the boys’ serum, urine and feces. These experiments were done to understand how the human body metabolizes calcium and iron, and the radioactive tracers allowed researchers to easily make this distinction.

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Before the calcium experiments began, researchers sought three different types of consent. The first type of consent that was sought was through letters sent to the parents of the children. In 1949, a letter was sent out by the superintendent of Fernald, which painted the experiments as nutritional studies, stating the calcium intake of children after being fed various cereals. They also notified parents that blood samples were to be taken. In this letter, there was not a single mention of radiation present. In another letter, it was informed that “if you have not expressed any objections, we will assume that your son may participate.” Parents were also led to believe that the studies would benefit the children, as the children would receive improved nutrition because of the experiments. 

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The second form of consent that was sought was through the superintendent himself, who had guardianship over some children, who were wards of the state. This is clearly a conflict of interest, as the superintendent allowed the experiments to take place at Fernald in the first place. The last form of consent was “voluntary” participation from the children themselves. However, due to brutal living conditions and the promise that the children could join the before mentioned science club. This consent was anything but voluntary and was a way for the children to actively improve their lives despite the harsh conditions they endured.

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References:

Boissoneault, L. (2017, March 8). A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Radioactive Oatmeal Go Down. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spoonful-sugar-helps-radioactive-oatmeal-go-down-180962424/ 

Leung, R. (2004, April 29). America’s Deep, Dark Secret. Cbsnews.com. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-deep-dark-secret/

Loviglio, J. (2013, July 7). New Book Documents Cold War Experiments on Kids. NBC10 Philadelphia; NBC 10 Philadelphia. https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/new-book-documents-cold-war-experiments-on-kids/2108691/

West,M.S.,M. Div., D. (1998). Radiation experiments on children at the Fernald and Wrentham schools: Lessons for protocols in human subject research. Accountability in Research, 6(1-2), 103–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989629808573922