Exploring the History of Eugenics

May 19, 2025

Class Lecture Notes: Eugenics and its Impacts

Housekeeping and Class Administration

  • This is the second meeting of the fall semester.
  • Progress on campus user interface: aiming to make navigation more user-friendly.
  • Navigation changes in progress: plans to add buttons for easy access to class recordings, announcements, and modules.
  • Current method to access class recordings:
    • Go to modules.
    • Access passcode needed for recordings.
  • Resources updates:
    • Dr. Leslie Antoinette’s PowerPoint is available on Canvas.

Introduction to Eugenics

  • Speaker: Dr. Leslie Antoinette
  • Topic: History and impact of eugenics, described as a pseudoscience.
  • Key Concept: Quotation marks around "science" indicate a non-traditional or false usage.

Definition and Origin of Eugenics

  • Developed by Sir Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin.
  • Coined the term "eugenics" meaning "well-born."
  • Purpose: Identify those "fit" for reproduction and exclude others.
  • Misuse of science to justify exclusion from citizenship and humanity.

Spread and Influence

  • Eugenics became popular in American culture from British origins.
  • Utilized to reinforce social hierarchies and exclusion of certain groups.

Eugenics in Practice

Characteristics of Fitness and Unfitness

  • Fitness includes psychological, emotional, and financial health.
  • Unfitness criteria:
    • Mental health disorders, substance abuse, illegitimacy, non-white racial characteristics, financial instability, criminal behavior, genetic disorders.
  • Class exercise to identify who among the students would be considered unfit by these criteria.

Positive and Negative Eugenics

  • Positive eugenics: Encouragement of reproduction among the "fit."
  • Negative eugenics: Discouragement of reproduction among the "unfit."

American Eugenics Practices

  • Positive eugenics: Support for fit families.
  • Negative eugenics: Institutionalization and sterilization of the unfit, miscegenation laws, immigration restrictions.

Historical and Cultural Implications

Eugenics and Race

  • Concept of race used to justify slavery and segregation.
  • Pseudoscientific racial classifications by Johann Blumenbach.
  • Influence on American laws and social norms.

Key Figures and Institutions

  • Charles Davenport’s influence and the Eugenics Records Office.
  • Support from influential Americans like Alexander Graham Bell, Woodrow Wilson, and Margaret Sanger.
  • Organizations promoting eugenics: American Breeders Association, American Genetic Association, etc.

Eugenics in Legal and Social Structures

  • Miscegenation laws to prevent interracial marriages.
  • Immigration laws influenced by eugenic principles.
  • Sterilization laws and institutional practices.
  • Influence on Nazi Germany’s policies.

Modern Reflections and Ongoing Issues

Contemporary Eugenics Practices

  • Continued practices under different names and through modern techniques like CRISPR.
  • Ethical concerns around genetic testing and manipulations.

Questions and Closing Remarks

  • Open Q&A session with Dr. Antoinette.
  • Plans to share the updated PowerPoint presentation.

This comprehensive examination of eugenics reveals how pseudoscientific ideas have historically influenced major societal and legal systems in both the UK and the US, and how these legacies continue to shape modern discourse and technology in genetics.

Full transcript