Eugenics is false science. It is about the selective prevention or encouragement of births for social, racial, or political ends. When promoting anti-natalist measures, such measures are often hidden beneath rhetoric about freedom of choice or reproductive health. When eugenic goals demand increased fertility, those goals may be advanced in the name of national power, race survival, or even family support programs (including maternity leave, day care, child care allowances, etc. as in much of Europe today) which would be considered progressive if not for the intent behind them.
            Eugenics is not about reproductive freedom. It is, in fact, the antithesis of reproductive freedom because it is essentially concerned with competitive fertility. As such, it is similar to -- but not identical to -- population control. The distinction here is that eugenics supplies a biological or genetic interpretation to its means and aims. If it is a particular race that is to targeted, for instance, the eugenicist will first offer a "scientific" basis for such a plan -- usually consisting of statistical "evidence" that the disfavoured group is less capable of achievement, more prone to anti-social behaviour, or otherwise disproportionately responsible for a prevalent social problem. Most importantly, the eugenicist will insist that this "inferiority" is hereditary -- that "excessively" high birthrates among these people will lead to a general decline in the quality of the society as a whole.
            Thus the eugenicist will argue the legitimacy of a public policy that minimises procreation among certain groups, while often simultaneously promoting greater fertility among other segments of the population.
            It should be added that an activity designed to influence levels of fertility is not the only tactic available for use under a eugenic programme. High rates of incarceration (especially where a large number of young adults are concerned) may be tolerated precisely because imprisonment results in a loss of reproductive opportunity. Eugenic goals also extend to immigration when an exclusion policy selects by ethnicity or class. As was made abundantly clear under the nazi programme of mass genocide, a well-functioning eugenics operation is never satisfied for long with modest results. It is almost inevitable that whenever such policies are found "useful," increased activity of the same sort will be seen as "more useful."
            The word eugenics comes from the Greek for "good genes." Therefore, any policy that is thought by advocates to stimulate the prevalence of "good genes" is considered eugenic in its effect. Another term -- dysgenic -- is applied to a situation in which the undesirable elements grow at a greater rate than the rest.
            Finally, it should be pointed out that eugenics can be broken down into several distinct philosophies. Social Darwinism is a term commonly applied to class-based eugenics. The operative theory here is that wealth is spontaneously distributed throughout the society according to the merits of the individuals within the society. In other words, the Social Darwinist believes the wealthy are rich because of inherent traits that make them successful. The poor, on the other hand, are said to be destined to want precisely because they are of "inferior stock." Thus, in the mind of the eugenicist, any effort to promote economic justice has a dysgenic effect because it only encourages breeding among inferior types.
            This kind of thinking can be found in advocacy of such contemporary proposals as the "family cap" for welfare parents, certain efforts to halt teen pregnancy, and the flap about and "illegitimacy."
            Likewise, racial eugenics defines people from different regions of the world as having unique "evolutionary characteristics" which make one group more suited to certain pursuits than another. This is the ideology behind The Bell Curve and similar publications that have aroused controversy in the past few years.
            Some proponents of eugenics cite physical or mental disabilities as cause for limits to reproduction. In terms of policy, they are more interested in stigmatizing the alcoholic, the drug abuser, or the mental patient than in seeking authentic forms of treatment and measures that would influence the economic or social environment in which such problems flourish. This form of eugenics has made inroads into many of the more legitimate sciences such as human genetics and bio-ethics. Indeed, eugenics is especially dangerous in this area because of the opportunity to apply obvious truths -- the fact that children inherit physical features from their parents, to name one -- to political issues, such as "criminal tendencies" or an "underclass" culture, in a way that results in discriminatory policies.
            The following eugenics databases are a compilation of the names of influential persons who have belonged to eugenics associations (the British eugenics society and its American counterpart), their affiliation with other organizations, their interests and fields of study, and their contribution to literature. It is meant not only to show the prevalence of this kind of these ideologies thinking and their application to supposedly unrelated fields of study, but also to illustrate how little the fundamental philosophy has changed over the years. It is also hoped that access to this information will encourage others to study the field of eugenics and to recognize it for what it is.

• The American Eugenics Society 1922 to 1994
• The British Eugenics Society 1907 to 1994

      This web site documents the means by which eugenic goals have been introduced into the mainstream of American intellectual and political life, and the extent to which it has happened.
      Eugenics is a concept familiar to Americans in the context of Nazi Germany. "Eugenics" involves notions of racial purity, racial superiority, and the heritability of intelligence, virtue, or vice. Although Hitler is its most notorious proponent, eugenic thinking has held a prominent place in Western intellectual history since the 1860's, when Darwin's disciple, Francis Galton, began to put about the idea that the governing classes of England should consciously guide the development of the human genetic heritage.
      A comprehensive history of early eugenic thinking can be found in The Legacy of Malthus by Allen Chase. And additional background of a historical sort can be found in Aristotle to Zoos by Peter Medawar, himself a member of the English Eugenics Society. Medawar quotes Galton, as follows:

"I do not see why any insolence of caste should prevent the gifted class, when they had the power, from treating their compatriots with all kindness, so long as they maintained celibacy. But if these continued to procreate children inferior in moral, intellectual and physical qualities, it is easy to believe the time may come when such persons would be considered as enemies to the State, and to have forfeited all claims to kindness." (Fraser's Magazine 7 [1873] quoted in Aristotle to Zoos, Peter and Jean Medawar, 1983 p. 87)

 

"Those least fit to carry on the race are increasing most rapidly ... Funds that should be used to raise the standard of our civilization are diverted to maintenance of those who should never have been born." (from The Pivot of Civilization quoted in Margaret Sanger. by Elsah Droghin.)

 

"We, too, recognize the problem of race building, but our concern is with the quality of our people, not with their quantity alone ...
      "It is entirely fitting that 'Race Building in a Democracy' should have been chosen as the theme of the annual meeting of the Birth Control Federation of America ..." (Birth Control Review, vol. XXIV, January 1940. See also the entry in this book under Henry P. Fairchild)

      The conclusions drawn by the author from the data she has gathered are as follows:

1. Eugenical currents in England, America, and Germany were more similar than different in the period 1922-1939. Supporters in all three countries were allied by friendship, by organizational ties, and by mutual reference to each other's works.

    

2. The American Eugenics Society database is a useful roster of U.S. eugenicists with ties the English Eugenics Society (Galton Institute), the vast English/Commonwealth/ European eugenic network. The Society survives and flourishes to the present day, although, since a name change in 1973, it has been known as the Society for the Study of Social Biology. The "modern" name does not reflect an alteration in the goals of the Society.

    

3. Eugenical thinkers in democracies use different, more subtle tactics for the implementation of eugenic goals than did Hitler. However, democracy is, for eugenicists, little more than a political obstacle course. Eugenicists do not subscribe to the political culture of mutual respect which is assumed to be present in a democracy.

    

4. Eugenicists were embarrassed by Hitler. After the war, they instituted various strategies to cover up the collaboration that had existed between German, American, and English eugenicists. For example, they adopted a policy of "crypto-eugenics" (or secret eugenics) and founded cover organizations like the Population Council and the International Planned Parenthood Federation to carry out their aims. There is little evidence, however, that American and English eugenicists learned any lesson from the German debacle -- except where public relations was at stake.

    

5. The International Planned Parenthood Federation is one of several still-existant organizations which (a) were wholly sympathetic with eugenic goals at the time of their founding; (b) have carried out effective eugenic programs since their founding; (c) present to the world a nominal purpose which does not openly appear eugenic in nature.

    

6. The eugenic agenda, in any form, is inherently dangerous. Relying on the illusion that they can (and should) control human destiny by shaping the human gene pool, they breed discrimination, trample on civil liberties, and undermine collective responsibility.

    

7. Eugenic leaders need a certain amount of secrecy when it comes to their real agenda and goals, and this itself is an acknowledge of that fact that they are at odds with the "ordinary" people. This is a vulnerability that can hopefully be exploited by Eugenics Watch. Nearly everyone recoils from eugenic ideas once the ideas are clearly and accurately explained.

    

[Note: The links in the following paragraph lead to archived web pages that contain text in white font on white background.  To make the text in those pages visible, use your browser options Edit + Select All when you reach those archived pages. —WHS]

A brief overview of the official Goals of the American Eugenics Society is presented here. Also available is historical Background Information on the society. A Key to abbrevisations identifies sources of information in the collection and a Guide contains notes about the sources of membership lists and correspondence. There is also a Subject Index to the work of the society, and, finally, the main section of the American Eugenics Society database.

[EUGENICS IN BRITAIN

Archived text accessible here]

[Note: The links in the following lead to archived web pages that contain text in white font on white background.  To make the text in those pages visible, use your browser options Edit + Select All when you reach those archived pages. —WHS]

This is the record of the members and activities of one of the most influential of the eugenics societies, the Eugenics Society (England), now known as the Galton Institute. When the British Empire fell, this secret army fought on in a hundred disguises for white supremacy.

EUGENIC SOCIETY MEMBERS BY SURNAME

Key

• Members: Last Name Beginning A
• Members: Last Name Beginning Ba-Bh
• Members: Last Name Beginning Bi-Bo
• Members: Last Name Beginning Br-Bz
• Members: Last Name Beginning Ca-Cl
• Members: Last Name Beginning Co-Cz
• Members: Last Name Beginning D
• Members: Last Name Beginning E
• Members: Last Name Beginning F
• Members: Last Name Beginning G
• Members: Last Name Beginning Ha-Hi
• Members: Last Name Beginning Ho-Hz
• Members: Last Name Beginning I-J
• Members: Last Name Beginning K
• Members: Last Name Beginning L
• Members: Last Name Beginning Ma-Mc
• Members: Last Name Beginning Me-Mz
• Members: Last Name Beginning N
• Members: Last Name Beginning O
• Members: Last Name Beginning P-Q
• Members: Last Name Beginning R
• Members: Last Name Beginning Sa-Sl
• Members: Last Name Beginning Sm-Sz
• Members: Last Name Beginning T
• Members: Last Name Beginning U-Z

KEY to Sources

You need this to identify sources in the above lists.

B & S= Biology and Society
CH= Companies House
ER= Eugenics Review
ERA 1938= Eugenics Research Association 1938 list
ESAR 1937= Eugenics Society Annual Report 1937
JBS= Journal of Biosocial Science
WSW 1990= Who's Who 1990
WWW= Who Was Who