Eugenics Archive

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Today, I see a reemergence of the same political, social and large economic

interests that influenced the political movements that emerged in Germany and

some in the USA, in the 1930's and 1940's..Today it wrapped up in a smoother

more glib manner and has it's thrust as economic domination rather than

militaristic (at least up to this point).F.

 

http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/

 

The philosopher George Santayana said, " Those who cannot remember the past are

condemned to repeat it. " This adage is appropriate to our current rush into the

" gene age, " which has striking parallels to the eugenics movement of the early

decades of the 20th century. Eugenics was, quite literally, an effort to breed

better human beings – by encouraging the reproduction of people with " good "

genes and discouraging those with " bad " genes. Eugenicists effectively lobbied

for social legislation to keep racial and ethnic groups separate, to restrict

immigration from southern and eastern Europe, and to sterilize people considered

" genetically unfit. " Elements of the American eugenics movement were models for

the Nazis, whose radical adaptation of eugenics culminated in the Holocaust.

We now invite you to experience the unfiltered story of American eugenics –

primarily through materials from the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring

Harbor, which was the center of American eugenics research from 1910-1940. In

the Archive you will see numerous reports, articles, charts, and pedigrees that

were considered scientific " facts " in their day. It is important to remind

yourself that the vast majority of eugenics work has been completely

discredited. In the final analysis, the eugenic description of human life

reflected political and social prejudices, rather than scientific facts.

 

You may find some of the language and images in this Archive offensive. Even

supposedly " scientific " terms used by eugenicists were often pervaded with

prejudice against racial, ethnic, and disabled groups. Some terms have no

scientific meaning today. For example, " feeblemindedness " was used as a

catch-all for a number of real and supposed mental disabilities, and was a

common " diagnosis " used to make members of ethnic and racial minority groups

appear inferior. However, we have made no attempt to censor this documentary

record – to do so would distort the past and diminish the significance of the

lessons to be learned from this material.

 

 

 

 

 

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