When Mayo's mother, Darthula, was pregnant with him she saw a blind entertainer ("Blind Boone") who "rolled his eyes" into his head while he played the piano. When Mayo was very young he apparently rolled his eyes a bit oddly too. He was not inclined to fight back when attacked, and had a love of music (he could sing on key before he could talk). The local Lenox, IA doctor concurred with Darthula that "something was wrong with him" and she took him to the Institute for Feeble Minded Children in Glenwood, Mills County, Iowa, where he was incarcerated his entire life. All and solely because of her discomfort over his mannerisms (no mention is made of Mayo's father in any of the reports of the day. One can only assume he was complacent if not a major factor in all the decisions regarding his son's disposition).In the 1950s when a new director joined the institution in Glenwood,Iowa Mayo Buckner was tested and found to have an I.Q. of 120. By that time he had learned to play eight musical instruments, and had, through the course of time, even given music lessons to staff members. He remained a prisoner of a very foul system in need of repair. In fact, Mayo became the poster boy for reform of the "mentally retarded" and in about 1957 newspaper and magazine articles brought his plight to the attention of the entire American public. At that point he was so "untrained" in the real world life outside the institution he decided to remain there until his death from a stroke in 1965 at age 75.
When Mayo's mother, Darthula, was pregnant with him she saw a blind entertainer ("Blind Boone") who "rolled his eyes" into his head while he played the piano. When Mayo was very young he apparently rolled his eyes a bit oddly too. He was not inclined to fight back when attacked, and had a love of music (he could sing on key before he could talk). The local Lenox, IA doctor concurred with Darthula that "something was wrong with him" and she took him to the Institute for Feeble Minded Children in Glenwood, Mills County, Iowa, where he was incarcerated his entire life. All and solely because of her discomfort over his mannerisms (no mention is made of Mayo's father in any of the reports of the day. One can only assume he was complacent if not a major factor in all the decisions regarding his son's disposition).In the 1950s when a new director joined the institution in Glenwood,Iowa Mayo Buckner was tested and found to have an I.Q. of 120. By that time he had learned to play eight musical instruments, and had, through the course of time, even given music lessons to staff members. He remained a prisoner of a very foul system in need of repair. In fact, Mayo became the poster boy for reform of the "mentally retarded" and in about 1957 newspaper and magazine articles brought his plight to the attention of the entire American public. At that point he was so "untrained" in the real world life outside the institution he decided to remain there until his death from a stroke in 1965 at age 75.
