Arthur Howard Estabrook (May 9, 1885-December 6, 1973) was an American researcher and

eugenist Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

Early life and education

Arthur Estabrook was born on May 9, 1885 in

Leicester, Massachusetts Leicester ( ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The population was 11,087 at the 2020 United States Census. History What is now Leicester was originally settled by the Nipmuc people and was known by them as ''Towtaid''. On January 27 ...

. His parents were Susan Rebecca (Beck) and Arthur Francis Estabrook. Estabrook his bachelor's and master's degrees at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

, the latter in 1906. He remained at Clark after graduating, serving as a fellow and assistant in the

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

department until 1907. In 1910, he completed his doctorate from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. He married Jessie McCubbin on October 25, 1911. He also studied at the School of Philanthropy at Columbia University in 1914.

Career

After completing his doctorate in 1910, Estabrook joined the

Carnegie Institution The Carnegie Institution of Washington (the organization's legal name), known also for public purposes as the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), is an organization in the United States established to fund and perform scientific research. Th ...

, working in the Eugenics Record Office. During his work at Carnegie, he was a special investigator for the Indiana State Commission on Mental Defectives for two years, from 1916 until 1918. That year, he served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a Captain in the Sanitary Corps. His service ended in 1920. In 1924, Estabrook traveled to

Amherst County, Virginia Amherst County is a county, located in the Piedmont region and near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its county seat is also named Amherst ...

, where he served as an expert witness during the first trial regarding the forced sterilization of Carrie E. Buck. He spoke in favor of the sterilization. Estabrook served as president of the Eugenics Research Association from 1925 until 1926. Estabrook returned to Virginia to represent the Eugenics Record Office during ''

Buck v. Bell ''Buck v. Bell'', 274 U.S. 200 (1927), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in which the Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including th ...

'' in 1927. He did research around the court case in Virginia, researching sterilization and its use in Virginia. Estabrook worked at Carnegie in the Eugenics Record Office until 1929, when he joined the

American Society for the Control of Cancer The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

. By 1931, his wife, Jessie McCubbin, had died. He married his second wife, Anne Ruth Medcalf, on July 8, 1931.

Research

Estabrook was a

and studied

dysgenics Dysgenics (also known as cacogenics) is the decrease in prevalence of traits deemed to be either socially desirable or well adapted to their environment due to selective pressure disfavoring the reproduction of those traits. The adjective "dysgeni ...

. In 1912, he and Charles Davenport studied the Nam family. The Nam family, the name which is a pseudonym, for a New York "degenerate family" with high rates of crime, disease and poverty in the family. He published a work about the family with Davenport, advocating eugenics. In 1915, Estabrook published a re-analysis of

Richard Louis Dugdale Richard Louis Dugdale (1841 – 23 July 1883) was an American merchant and sociologist, best known for his 1877 family study, '' The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity''. Early life Dugdale was born in Paris to English paren ...

's work about the

Jukes family The Jukes family was a New York "hill family" studied in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The studies are part of a series of other family studies, including the Kallikaks, the Zeros and the Nams, that were often quoted as arguments in s ...

. While Dugdale's work supported improving the environment which led to the Jukes family having high rates of crime among family members, Estabrook took Dugdale's research and created a proposal for

forced sterilization Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, is a government-mandated program to Involuntary treatment, involuntarily Sterilization (medicine), sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's ca ...

to be used to prevent Jukes family members from reproducing. Estabrook's researched interracial relationships which included mixed race people, Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans in North Carolina. He also studied the proposed connections between

race and intelligence Discussions of race and intelligence – specifically, claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines – have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of Race (human categorization), race was fi ...

. Estabrook studied the

Lumbee The Lumbee are a Native American people primarily centered in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties in North Carolina. They also live in surrounding states and Baltimore, Maryland. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is a state-recog ...

Pembroke, North Carolina Pembroke is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. It is about 90 miles inland and northwest from the Atlantic Coast. The population was 2,973, at the 2010 census. The town is the seat of the state-recognized Lumbee tribe of Nor ...

. His researched resulted in the work ''Mongrel Virginians: The Win Tribe'', published in 1926 and co-authored with Ivan E. McDougle. Estabrook also researched eugenics and sterilization of children with disabilities in Erie County and Buffalo in New York. He also studied housing in Buffalo.

Later life and death

Estabrook died in Chatham Center, New York on December 6, 1973. He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

Legacy

The papers of Estabrook are held in the collections of the

Indiana State Library The Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau is a public library building, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the largest public library in the state of Indiana, housing over 60,000 manuscripts. Established in 1934, the library has gather ...

, the Carnegie Institution, the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, and the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

Works by Arthur Estabrook

*(1910). ''Effect of chemicals on growth in paramecium.'' Baltimore. *with Davenport, C. Benedict. (1912). ''The Nam family: a study in cacogenics.'' Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y: The New Era Printing Company]. *(1916). ''The Jukes in 1915.'' Washington: The Carnegie Institution of Washington. *with McDougle, I. E. (Ivan Eugene)., Carnegie Institution of Washington. Dept. of Genetics. (1926). ''Mongrel Virginians: the Win tribe.'' Baltimore: The Williams & Wilkins Company.

References

External links

"Controlling Heredity: The American Eugenics Crusade: 1870-1940"
from the University of Missouri {{DEFAULTSORT:Estabrook, Arthur 1885 births 1973 deaths People from Leicester, Massachusetts Clark University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni People from Chatham, New York American eugenicists United States Army personnel of World War I American Cancer Society people