Samuel J. Holmes

Samuel Jackson Holmes (March 7, 1868 – March 5, 1964California Death Records. – California Department of Health Services Office of Health Information and Research.) was an American zoologist and eugenicist. He was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley (UC-Berkeley) for 27 years. He was a genetics pioneer and studied animal behavior, heredity, and evolution. Over the course of his career he migrated from studying animals to humans, taking the behaviors and traits learned in the former and looking for them in the later.

Career

After attending Chaffey College in Ontario, California, he obtained his Bachelor of Science (1893) and Master of Science (1895) from the UC-Berkeley. His biological research at Berkeley earned him a fellowship to the University of Chicago in 1895, where he received his Ph.D in 1897.

After teaching at San Diego High School for the academic year 1897–1898, between 1898 and 1906 he was an instructor of zoology at the University of Michigan. From there he moved to the Stevens Point Normal School (University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point), 1906 to 1912. In 1912 he returned to UC-Berkeley as an associate professor, and then in 1916 was promoted to full professor. He was named faculty research lecturer in 1929. He retired in 1939 but continued on as professor emeritus until his death in 1964.

Holmes was a vocal proponent of eugenics, particularly in reference to immigration to the United States from Mexico and parts of Asia. In 1925, at a major conference on race relations along the Pacific Coast at Stanford University, Holmes told an audience of social scientists and public officials that, "the Mexican problem is by far the greatest race problem which confronts the people of California at the present time. .. We are in a considerable amount of trouble before we see the amicable adjustment of the whole Mexican situation. The Mexican problem urgently needs to be studied very thoroughly." His later work advocated for the sterilization of citizens and immigrants who might diminish the genetic quality of America. He was one of the original incorporators of the Human Betterment Foundation.

In his book ''Life and Morals'', Holmes claimed that morals had a natural origin but, Darwinian evolution "does not ''logically'' compel me to adopt any one standard of conduct rather than another."

Family

He was born in Henry, Illinois to Avis Folger (''née'' Taber) and Joseph Holmes. He moved to California with his family at the age of 15.

Holmes married Celia Warfield Skinner (November 14, 1882 – March 12, 1958), daughter of Minerva Celia (''née'' Shreve) and Henry E. Skinner, on September 21, 1909, in Berkeley. She was a student at UC-Berkeley and graduated with the class of 1905.

They had five children:
* Samuel Jackson Holmes, Jr. — (February 23, 1912 – November 27, 1973)
* Marion Virginia Holmes — (later Wagner; August 7, 1913 – April 27, 2000Social Security Death Index. – United States Social Security Administration.)
* Avis Celia Holmes — (later Olsen; September 20, 1914 – September 20, 1999)
* John Warfield Holmes — (March 19, 1920 – November 23, 1996)
* Joseph Edward Holmes — (June 25, 1926 – July 28, 1995)

Samuel Holmes died at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland at the age of 95.

Their oldest daughter, Dr. Marion Holmes Wagner, became an obstetrician and gynecologist and delivered over 10,000 babies in the San Jose-South Bay area.

Their grandson, Joseph Edward Holmes, Jr., is a landscape photographer in Kensington, California.Joseph Holmes Natural Light Photography – Biography
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Bibliography

Holmes contributed numerous articles to scientific periodicals and journals, and was the author of several books that included:WorldCat

*1900: ''Synopsis of California Stalk-Eyed Crustacea''. — (California Academy of Sciences).
*1906: ''Biology of the Frog''. — (MacMillan).
*1911
''Evolution of Animal Intelligence''
— (H. Holt and Company).
*1916
''Studies in Animal Behavior''
— (R.G. Badger).
*1919
''Elements of Animal Biology''
— (P. Blakiston's Son & Co.).
*1921
''The Trend of the Race''
— (Harcourt, Brace).
*1921
''Louis Pasteur''
— (Harcourt, Brace and company).
*1923: ''Studies in Evolution and Eugenics''. — (Harcourt, Brace and Co.).
*1924: ''A Bibliography of Eugenics''. — (University Of California Press).
*1924: ''Louis Pasteur''. — (Harcourt, Brace).
*1926: ''Life and Evolution: An Introduction to General Biology''. — (Harcourt, Brace and Company).
*1933: ''The Eugenic Predicament''. — (Harcourt, Brace).
*1936: ''Human Genetics and Its Social Import''. — (McGraw-Hill).
*1937: ''The Negros' Struggle For Survival''. — (University Of California Press).
*1948: ''Life and Morals''. — (Macmillan).

See also

* Eugenics in the United States

References

Research resources

Guide to the Samuel J. Holmes Papers
at The Bancroft Library.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Samuel Jackson
1868 births
1964 deaths
Chaffey College alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of Chicago alumni
University of Michigan faculty
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point faculty
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
American eugenicists
American zoologists
People from Henry, Illinois
San Diego High School alumni