Dallas Urban Bird's reviews

Orphanage populations grew during the Depression as desperate parents could not feed their children and made the harrowing decision to give them up. Faced with many children with carious family lives, researchers at orphanages in Iowa performed several studies to determine the role of environment on the intelligence of children. Their findings were overwhelmingly clear. A loving and supportive environment gave a big boost to intelligence. Children considered seriously impaired improved greatly when their environment changed for the better. However, the prevailing view was that IQ was set at birth and would never change, leading many scientists to support eugenics. These Iowa researchers were mocked and ridiculed. It was not until the old stalwarts of this theory died in the 50's and 60's and more studies were done, that these researchers were finally believed. Old ideas die hard, but some need to die, especially in light of new evidence.

The subtitle of this book is Democracy's forgotten crisis. During the Great War, the government passed the Sedition Act, the Espionage Act, tortured conscientious objectors and harassed and arrested pacifists. Something to think about: Could this happen again?

The author worked in the oil sands in western Canada from 2005-2008. Environmental concerns were not prevalent at that time, but just beginning. So, this is not so much a book about the environment and the petroleum industry as it is about what it is like to be a woman working in an almost all-male environment. She survived, but it was not easy. Well written and illustrated.

Kerri Greenidge tells the story of the two Grimke sisters (famous abolitionists) and their black family members, their cruel slave holding brother's children born to his slave, Nancy Weston. This book does not describe the abolitionists in general as saints. Some were gradualists and some were colonizationists. She also honestly describes the colorism of the wealthy and middle class free blacks in New England. Like a good historian, she tells the whole truth.

This is an antiwar novel. It was originally published in 1939 but grew again in popularity during the Vietnam War among peace activists. It's the story of Joe Bonham, an ordinary young man, who goes to war in World War I. In battle, he is horrendously disfigured. His question was why? For what reason did this happen to me?