The Society for Biodemography and Social Biology, formerly known as the Society for the Study of Social Biology and before then as the American Eugenics Society,
[Eugenics, Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, (2014, pp 619-626) ] is dedicated to "furthering the discussion, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge about biological and sociocultural forces which affect the structure and composition of human populations."
History
Initially known as the American Eugenics Society, or AES, the Society formed after the success of the
Second International Congress on Eugenics (
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, 1921). AES founders included
Madison Grant,
Harry H. Laughlin,
Irving Fisher,
Henry Fairfield Osborn
Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. (August 8, 1857 – November 6, 1935) was an American paleontologist, geologist and eugenics advocate. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural History for 25 years and a cofounder of the American E ...
,
Charles Davenport
Charles Benedict Davenport (June 1, 1866 – February 18, 1944) was a biologist and eugenicist influential in the American eugenics movement.
Early life and education
Davenport was born in Stamford, Connecticut, to Amzi Benedict Davenport, a ...
and
Henry Crampton. The organization started by promoting racial betterment, eugenic health, and genetic education through public lectures, exhibits at county fairs, etc.
The AES primarily used fitter family contests to help promote its mission. These fitter family contests took place in public festivals or fairs. Physical appearance, behavior, intelligence, and health were just a few of the qualities that the AES looks at while determining the fittest family. The AES would give out prizes, trophies, and medals to the winning families. Additionally, the AES would sponsor displays and exhibits that featured statistics on the births of "undesirable" or "desirable" children at the fairs and festivals. An example of such a display from the 1920s and 1930s statistics claimed as follows: Every sixteen seconds a child is born in the United States. Out of those children a capable, desirable child is born every seven and a half minutes, whereas a undesirable, feebleminded child is born every forty-eight seconds, and a future criminal is born every fifty seconds.
To conclude, the display would argue that every fifteen seconds, a hundred dollars of taxpayers' money went towards supporting the mentally ill and undesirable.
The AES also sought to promote eugenic policies at the US state and federal level.
Harry H. Laughlin promoted eugenic sterilization in the early twentieth century. By the late 1920s eugenic sterilization laws were being enforced by more than two dozen US states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (
Sterilization law in the United States
Sterilization may refer to:
* Sterilization (microbiology), killing or inactivation of micro-organisms
* Soil steam sterilization, a farming technique that sterilizes soil with steam in open fields or greenhouses
* Sterilization (medicine) rende ...
). By 1933, California had enforced eugenically sterilization laws on more people than any of the other US states combined. These people mainly included people of color and foreign immigrants. These laws led to court cases and lawsuits, such as,
Buck v. Bell,1927, and
Skinner v. Oklahoma,1942.
In 1926, the society published a ''Eugenics Catechism'', arguing that eugenics was supported by the Bible, and therefore ought to be promoted by Christians.
During the presidency of
Henry Farnham Perkins from 1931 to 1933, the AES worked with the
American Birth Control League
The American Birth Control League (ABCL) was founded by Margaret Sanger in 1921 at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. The organization promoted the founding of birth control clinics and encouraged women to control their ...
.
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth contr ...
, a birth control activist, "was a member of the of the AES in 1956 and established the Birth Control League in 1921".
Under the direction of
Frederick Osborn the Society started to place greater focus on issues of population control, genetics, and, later, medical genetics. In 1930, the Society included mostly prominent and wealthy individuals, and membership included many non-scientists. The demographics of the Society gradually changed, and by 1960, members of the Society were almost exclusively scientists and medical professionals. Consequentially, the Society focused more on genetics and less on
class-based
eugenics
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 ...
.
After the
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and ...
decision was released in 1973, the Society was reorganized and renamed The Society for the Study of Social Biology.
[American Eugenics Society]
Controlling Heredity
Osborn said, "
e name was changed because it became evident that changes of a eugenic nature would be made for reasons other than eugenics, and that tying a eugenic label on them would more often hinder than help,"
The name was most recently changed to Society for Biodemography and Social Biology.
Journal
The Society's official journal is ''
Biodemography and Social Biology'', which was originally established in 1954 as ''Eugenics Quarterly''. It was renamed to ''Social Biology'' in 1969 and to its current title in 2008.
List of presidents
*
Irving Fisher 1922–1926 (Political Economy, Yale University)
*
Roswell H. Johnson 1926–1927 (Cold Spring Harbor, Univ. of Pittsburgh)
*
Harry H. Laughlin 1927–1929 (Eugenics Record Office)
*
Clarence C. Little
Clarence Cook Little (October 6, 1888 – December 22, 1971) was an American genetics, cancer, and tobacco researcher and academic administrator, as well as a eugenicist.
Early life
C. C. Little was born in Brookline, Massachusetts and attend ...
1929 (Pres., University of Michigan)
*
Henry Pratt Fairchild 1929–1931 (Sociology, New York University)
*
Henry Farnham Perkins 1931–1934 (Zoology, University of Vermont)
*
Ellsworth Huntington
__NOTOC__
Ellsworth Huntington (September 16, 1876 – October 17, 1947) was a professor of geography at Yale University during the early 20th century, known for his studies on environmental determinism/climatic determinism, economic growth, e ...
1934–1938 (Geography, Yale University)
*
Samuel Jackson Holmes 1938–1940 (Zoology, University of California)
*
Maurice Bigelow 1940–1945 (Columbia University)
*
Frederick Osborn 1946–1952 (Osborn-Dodge-Harriman RR connection)
*
Harry L. Shapiro 1956–1963 (American Museum of Natural History)
*
Clyde V. Kiser 1964–1968 (differential fertility, Milbank Memorial Fund)
*
Dudley Kirk 1969–1972 (Demographer, Stanford University)
*
Bruce K. Eckland 1972–1975 (Sociology, University of North Carolina)
*
L. Erlenmeyer-Kimling 1976–1978 (Genetic Psychiatry)
*
Gardner Lindzey 1979–1981 (Center for Advanced Study, Behavioral Sciences)
*
John L. Fuller 1982–1983 (Behavioral genetics)
*
Michael Teitelbaum 1985–1990 (US Congress staff; US population policy)
*
Robert Retherford 1991–1994 (East-West Institute, Hawaii; funded by AID)
*
Joseph Lee Rodgers 1994, 1995 (family influences)
*
Hans-Peter Kohler, 2007–2012 (University of Pennsylvania)
[https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~hpkohler/hpkohler-cv-web.pdf ]
* Board: Jason Boardman, Timothy Gage, Ulrich Mueller, Christine Himes
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
(Status in 2012).
See also
*
American Society of Human Genetics
The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), founded in 1948, is a professional membership organization for specialists in human genetics. As of 2009, the organization had approximately 8,000 members. The Society's members include researchers, ...
*
British Eugenics Society
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
*
Eugenics in the United States
Eugenics, the set of beliefs and practices which aims at improving the genetic quality of the human population, played a significant role in the history and culture of the United States from the late 19th century into the mid-20th century. T ...
*
Human Betterment Foundation
The Human Betterment Foundation (HBF) was an American eugenics organization established in Pasadena, California in 1928 by E.S. Gosney and Rufus B. von KleinSmid with the aim "to foster and aid constructive and educational forces for the protect ...
References
External links
The Society for Biodemography and Social Biology''Biodemography and Social Biology''
The academic journal.
{{Authority control
Biology organizations
Eugenics in the United States