“Normal Enough”: Paula Patton, Intellectually Disabled Immigrant Children, and the 1924 Immigration Act

Abstract

Abstract Focusing on immigration in the 1920s, we trace the history of efforts made on behalf of intellectually disabled children who entered the United States on bond during World War I and were subsequently given orders of deportation. Thanks to the activism of community members and ethnic organizations who brought federal lawsuits on their behalf and reached out to Congress and to Presidents Harding and Coolidge, the Immigration Act of 1924 permitted the secretary of labor to allow these young people to remain in the United States. We suggest the need to reconsider the chronology of activism on behalf of the disabled and argue that community skepticism about deportation deserves greater exploration. Finally, we note the challenges to medical authority posed by supporters of the intellectually disabled. Our analysis focuses on the example of Paula Patton, an intellectually disabled girl, and on Clara Kinley, the community activist who supported Paula’s effort to avoid deportation.