Eugenics: The Well-Born Science · Episode 2 of 9 · 43 min
How Eugenics Was Born: Galton, Darwin & the Dream of Breeding Better Humans
Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's cousin, coined the word eugenics in 1883 and persuaded educated opinion that controlled breeding could improve humanity. The episode shows that in America the movement was led not by fringe figures but by university presidents, scientists and wealthy patrons, who gave it the authority of respectable science.
Who's who
- Francis GaltonDarwin's cousin who coined 'eugenics' and pioneered statistics
- Charles Darwin+2 more episodesNatural selection theorist whose prestige Galton borrowed
- Karl PearsonGalton's protégé who built a hereditarian statistical school
- David Starr Jordan+1 more episodeStanford's founding president and early eugenics committee chair
- Charles W. Eliot+2 more episodesHarvard president who backed sterilization
- Woodrow Wilson+9 more episodesAs New Jersey governor signed a compulsory sterilization law in 1911
- Henry Fairfield Osborn+1 more episodeAmerican Museum of Natural History president and eugenics society co-founder
- Madison Grant+3 more episodesAuthor of The Passing of the Great Race
Where it happens
- London, England+7 more episodesSite of the 1912 First International Eugenics Congress
- Cold Spring Harbor, New York+1 more episodeDavenport's research station and later eugenics office
- New York City+13 more episodesHosted the 1921 Second International Eugenics Congress
Timeline
- 1869Galton publishes Hereditary Genius
- 1883Galton coins 'eugenics'
- 1900Rediscovery of Mendel's laws gives eugenics an apparent mechanism
- 1912First International Eugenics Congress meets in London
- 1916Madison Grant publishes The Passing of the Great Race
- 1926American Eugenics Society founded
Still debated
Historians differ on whether figures like Jordan, Eliot or Wilson were well-meaning reformers misled by bad science or racists using science as cover. The link between eugenics and Progressive-era reform is also debated, as is how to honor Galton's statistical legacy.
← PreviousThe Smithsonian Kept a Child's Brain for 79 YearsNext →How Elite Money Built American Eugenics: The Eugenics Record Office
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