Malcolm Donald (1877–1949) was an American
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
,
eugenicist
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 ...
,
white nationalist
White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...
, and a founder of the
Pioneer Fund
Pioneer Fund is an American non-profit foundation established in 1937 "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences". The organization has been described as racist and white supremacist in nature. One of its first projects w ...
.
He graduated
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
(where he played
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
[Staff report (October 8, 1899). ATHLETICS AT HARVARD.; Malcolm Donald Says He Will Play Football This Year. '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'') and
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
. He was an editor of ''
Harvard Law Review
The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...
''. He worked at Boston law firms Gaston Snow and Herrick, Smith, & Donald. He served in the War Department during
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 ...
. Following the war, Donald was named Vice President of the Harvard alumni club.
[Staff report (October 23, 1925). T.W. LAMONT HEADS HARVARD'S ALUMNI; Banker Succeeds Prof. Grandgent -- C.S. Pierce and Malcolm Donald Chosen Vice Presidents. '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' He later became a trustee of the
Roxbury Latin School
The Roxbury Latin School is a private boys' day school that was founded in 1645 in the town of Roxbury (now a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts) by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. It bills ...
.
Historian
William H. Tucker William Tucker may refer to:
* William Tooker or Tucker (1557/58–1621), English churchman
* William Tucker (musician) (1961–1999), guitar player
* William Tucker (politician) (1843–1919), member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
* Will ...
has documented Donald's involvement in the Pioneer Fund.
[Tucker WH (2002)]
Somebody Whose Views He Could Not Approve: The Formation and Re-formation of the Pioneer Fund.
in ''The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund.''
Pioneer Fund principal benefactor
Wickliffe Draper
Wickliffe Preston Draper (August 9, 1891 – 1972) was an American political activist. He was an ardent eugenicist and lifelong advocate of strict racial segregation. In 1937, he founded the Pioneer Fund for eugenics and heredity research; he l ...
chose Donald as treasurer in 1937. Donald was one of Boston's leading attorneys and a long-time trusted friend of the family. The two men had been named as executors of
George Draper's will. Donald was trustee of the Draper family fortune, should neither Draper nor his sister outlive their father. Even before the fund's creation, Donald had managed Draper's finances.
[George A. Draper's will is available as part of the file containing Wickliffe Draper's will in Surrogate's Office, New York City; among other duties Donald made out the checks for Draper's contributions to the Eugenics Research Association; see Donald to Davenport, August 24, 1929, enclosing one of Draper's contributions; Davenport papers.] Donald got a ruling from the federal Treasury Department that the Pioneer Fund was tax-deductible, so Draper's contributions to the fund would be deductible from his own income tax.
[Donald to Collector of Internal Revenue, February 15, 1938; Osborn to Collector of Internal Revenue, February 18, 1938; J. R. Kirk (deputy commissioner, Treasury Department) to Pioneer Fund, c/o Frederick Osborn, March 8, 1938; D. S. Bliss (deputy commissioner, Treasury Department) to Pioneer Fund, c/o Frederick Osborn, April 1, 1938; Osborn papers. Osborn's letter enclosed the request from Malcolm Donald as the responsible financial officer, noting that he was acting as Pioneer's correspondent only because his office was more conveniently located should a personal meeting be necessary.]
Donald did not play a substantive role in the policies or practices of the Pioneer Fund.
["The Pioneer Foundation," n.d., Donald to ]Harry Laughlin
Harry Hamilton Laughlin (March 11, 1880 – January 26, 1943) was an American educator and eugenicist. He served as the superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office from its inception in 1910 to its closure in 1939, and was among the most a ...
, February 19, 1937, Laughlin papers. Donald explained in a letter to
Frederick Osborn
Major General Frederick Henry Osborn CBE (21 March 1889 – 5 January 1981) was an American philanthropist, military leader, and eugenicist. He was a founder of several organizations and played a central part in reorienting eugenics in the y ...
that Draper was interested not in science but in policy; he wanted "to do something practical," such as "moving the colored race to
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
" or "strengthening State laws to prevent the unfit from producing children." He was "not ... concerned with research in human genetics since he felt that enough was known on the subject and that the important thing was to have something done." And in personal discussion with Osborn, Draper's list of priorities included not only "colonization of the colored minorities" but also the "reconstruction of American political parties."
[Donald to Osborn, July 11, 1947, July 22, 1947, October 21, 1947; Osborn to Donald, October 20, 1947; Osborn papers.]
References
External links
Pioneer Fund Founders and Former Directors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, Malcolm
1877 births
1949 deaths
Harvard Crimson football players
Harvard Law School alumni
Harvard College alumni