ABSTRACT
Henry Herbert Goddard was born into a revivalist Quaker family. He was the fifth child of Sarah Winslow Goddard and Henry Clay Goddard. Henry’s childhood, however, was impoverished and isolated. During the 1850s, Henry Clay was a prosperous New England farmer, but after being gored by one of his bulls, he became disabled. When Henry died in 1875, Sarah found a new passion, she was awoken by the revivalist movement and soon became a lay preacher. Henry’s education started locally with country teachers. Henry’s career in psychology commenced when in 1899 he was appointed Professor of Psychology and Pedagogy at the State Normal School, West Cheshire, Pennsylvania. By the time Henry joined State Normal the membership of societies dedicated to the study of the child had reached 500. Scientifically, Goddard added very little to the nature versus nurture debate, and much of his data could have been explained equally well by both genetic and environmental influences.
