The idea seemed innocent enough.

The Abilene State School in Texas struck a deal in 1966 to send six developmentally disabled men to a turkey-and-sheep ranch in central Texas, where they could live and learn basic agricultural skills.

Touted as “the magic of simplicity,” the program aimed to deinstitutionalize people with physical and mental disabilities by giving them a job and integrating them into society. The ranch got a deal on cheap labor and the state saved money by privatizing their care.

Over the years, more than 1,000 young men apprenticed in the magic of simplicity, including several dozen who were sent to Atalissa, Iowa, in 1974 by Henry’s Turkey Service through an out-of-state contract labor agreement.

Their day-to-day routine, however, was hardly magical.

Hunkered down in a century-old two-story schoolhouse – a “bunkhouse” – on the outskirts of town, they were roused at 3 a.m. every weekday, fed breakfast and taken to a nearby processing plant where they caught, killed and gutted turkeys – usually 20,000 a day.

The men received food and lodging, and a pittance of a wage – the plant was paying Henry’s directly for the labor, and the men were receiving as little as 41 cents an hour. (Henry’s was capitalizing on the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that let certified employers pay subminimum wages to workers with a disability.) Henry’s told the men they would enjoy financial investments and a place to live in Texas when they retired.

In Atalissa, they enjoyed social outings, and the townsfolk even adopted them as their “boys.” But the men had no say about their living conditions or work routines, and most of them had little or no contact with their families.

A social services worker discovered the men’s circumstances later that year and filed a report describing the situation as a “slave-labor camp” and “human-rights horror.” The Iowa Department of Social Services dismissed the report.

When reporters from The Des Moines Register wrote about the men in 1979, people were outraged. Investigations were launched, and it seemed like somebody would do something to help them.

But nobody did. And nobody would for the next 30 years.

As the decades passed, the “R-word” took a spot next to the “N-word” in society’s lexicon. The rights of people with developmental disabilities advanced, and a spirit of inclusion emerged.

But society didn’t spend time with the men in Atalissa. They were still hidden away in a bunkhouse, receiving as little as $65 a month in wages. Meanwhile, the turkey plant paid Henry’s more than $500,000 for services rendered in 2007 alone.