MY NAME IS JEFF REZNICK
I'M CHIEF OF THE HISTORY
MEDICINE DIVISION OF THE
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY
AS WE CONTINUE OUR 2022 SERIES
OF ALL VIRTUAL NLM HISTORY TALKS
FOR THOSE OF YOU ON TWITTER,
THANK YOUS VERY MUCH FOR
FOLLOWING ALONG, USING THE
HASHTAG.
NLM HISTORY TALK PROMOTE
AWARENESS AND USE OF NLM AND
RELATED HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
FOR RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND
PUBLIC SERVICE IN THE FIELDS OF
BIOMEDICINE, THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
AND THE HUMANITIES.
THE SERIES ALSO SUPPORTS THE
COMMITMENT OF THE NLM TO
RECOGNIZE THE DIVERSITY OF ITS
COLLECTIONS WHICH SPAN 10
CENTURIES, ENCOMPASS A RANGE OF
DIGITAL FORMATS AND ORIGINATE
FROM NEARLY EVERY PART OF THE
GLOBE.
OUR SERIES IS ALSO INTENDED TO
FOREGROUND THE VOICES OF PEOPLE
OF COLOR, WOMEN, AND INDIVIDUALS
OF A VERY OF CULTURAL AND
DISCIPLINARY BACKGROUNDS WHO
VALUE THESE COLLECTIONS AND USE
THEM TO ADVANCE THEIR RESEARCH,
THEIR TEACHING AND THEIR
LEARNING.
WE SUPPLEMENT HISTORY TALK WITH
SPEAKER INTERVIEWS ON OWN BLOG
CALLED CIRCULATING NOW.
WHICH IS LOCATED AT CIRCULATING
NOW.
I'LL ADD THAT NLM HISTORY TALK
ARE MADE POSSIBLE BUYOUT
STANDING TEAM HERE AT THE
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE
HUMANITIES AS PART OF THE
NLM/NEH PARTNERSHIP TO
COLLABORATE ON RESEARCH,
EDUCATION, AND CAREER
INITIATIVES.
I WANT TO THANK EACH OF EVERY
ONE OF THEIR TIME AND TALENT TO
BRING THIS APPROPRIATE TO YOU,
THE PUBLIC.
BEFORE I INTRODUCE TODAY'S SPEAK
A FEW NOTES.
OUR NEXT NLM HISTORY TALK.
THE SIXING ANNUAL LECTURE IN THE
HISTORY OF MEDICINE.
AND OFFICED BY DR. MATTHEW, THE
PROFESSOR OF MODERN EUROPEAN
HISTORY.
THIS WILL BE HELD NEXT THURSDAY,
MAY 5th AT 2:00 EASTERN TIME.
HE WILL BE SPEAKING ABOUT THE
FIRST WORLD WAR.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO CALL YOUR
ATTENTION TO THE LIVE FEEDBACK
BUTTON UNDER THE VIDEO STREAM
THAT YOU'RE WATCHING.
USE THIS FEATURE TO SEND
QUESTIONS TO ME, I WILL SHARE
WITH OUR SPEAKER DURING OUR Q &
A FOLLOWING TODAY'S TALK.
AND MOST NOTABLY, TODAY'S TALK
IS NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE
HUMANITIES AS PART OF THE
NLM/NEH PARTNERSHIP TO
COLLABORATE ON RESEARCH,
EDUCATION, AND CAREER
INITIATIVES.
THANKS INDEED TO THE NEH AND OUR
COLLEAGUES THERE ARE OUR
COSPONSORTIUM AND OUR GREAT
PARTNERSHIP OVER THE YEARS.
WITH ALL OF THIS, I HAVE THE
PLEASURE AND PRIVILEGE OF
INTRODUCED DR. RANA HOGARTH.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY
AT UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN.
DR. RANA HOGARTH HOLDS HER
DOCTORATE FROM YALE UNIVERSITY,
AND HER MASTER'S JOHNS HOPKINS
BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC
HEALTH.
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, SHE TEACHES
COURSES ON RACE AND REVOLUTIONS,
SLAVERY AND SOCIETY, AND RACE,
SCIENCE, AND MEDICINE AMONG
OTHER RELATED OBJECTS.
DR. RANA HOGARTH'S RESEARCH
FOCUSES ON THE MEDICAL AND
SCIENTIFIC CONSTRUCTS OF RACE
DURING THE ERA OF SLAVERY AND
BEYOND.
DR. RANA HOGARTH WAS RECENTLY
RECOGNIZED BY HER INSTITUTION AS
A SCHOLAR FOR OUTSTANDING
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CONVEYED
THROUGH OUR ENERGY, HER
CREATIVITY, AND POTENTIAL IN
TEACHING AND ADVANCING RESEARCH
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN COLLEGE OF
LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES.
DR. RANA HOGARTH'S FIRST BOOK,
MEDICALIZING BLACKNESS, 1780 TO
1840 WAS PUBLISHED BY THE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
PRESS IN 2017.
IN IT, SHE EXAMINES HOW WHITE
PHYSICIANS MEDICALIZED
BLACKNESS, A TERM SHE USES TO
DESCRIBE THE PROCESS BY WHITE
PHYSICIANS DESCRIBE BLACKNESS AS
A MARKER OF DIFFERENCE IN SLAVE
SOCIETIES OF THE AMERICAN
ATLANTIC.
IN ADDITION TO HER BOOK, DR.
RANA HOGARTH AUTHORED NUMEROUS
ARTICLES AND JOURNALS INCLUDING
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC
HEALTH, HISTORY COMPASS, AND
AFRICAN AND BLACK DIASPORA.
OUR NEXT PROJECT SHE WILL BE
SPEAKING TODAY, EXAMPS THE
GENEALOGY AND DEPLOYMENT OF THE
TERMS FOR MIXED RACE OFFSPRING
OF BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE IN
AMERICAN MEDICAL AND LAY
DISCOURSE.
DR. RANA HOGARTH'S WORK TRACES
HOW THESE TERMS WERE USED IN
COLONIAL, CARIBBEAN CONTEXT AND
IN MAINLAND NORTH AMERICAN
DURING THE ERA OF SLAVERY.
AND AMERICAN EUGENIC ADOPTED THE
TERMS TO CORRELATE MENTAL AND
PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES OF MIXED
RACE PEOPLE TO THEIR RACIAL
ANCESTRAL MAKEUP.
I'M HONORED TODAY TO WELCOME DR.
RANA HOGARTH TO THE NATIONAL
LIBRARY OF MEDICINE TO SPEAK ON
"THE MEASURE OF BLACK
(UN)FITNESS: LEGACIES OF SLAVERY
IN THE EARLY EUGENICS MOVEMENT."
DR. RANA HOGARTH, WELCOME.
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR
TIME TODAY.
WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR
TALK.
>> DR. HOGARTH: THANK YOU.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
IT'S REALLY MY PLEASURE TO BE
HERE AND I'M THRILLED TO BE
SHARE SOMETHING OF MY WORK WITH
YOU TODAY.
I'M VERY MUCH ALSO LOOKING
FORWARD TO THE Q & A.
SO I AM GOING TO BE SHARING WITH
YOU KIND OF NEW WORK.
SOME PRELIMINARY FINDINGS IF YOU
WILL.
SO PART OF MY TALK TODAY IS
COMING FROM MY SECOND BOOK
PROJECT WHICH IS TENTATIVELY
TITLED, MEASURING
MUSEDGEINATION, RACE CROSSING
STUDIES AND THE LEGACY OF
SLAVERY.
I DO WANT TO OFFER A QUICK
CONTENT WARNING FOR THE
AUDIENCE.
I WILL BE USING TERMS SUCH AS
NEGRI, RACIAL HYBRID, MULATTO
AND ADRENOISM AND I USE IT, MY
USE OF THE TERMS IS IN MY WAYANY
ENDORSEMENT.
SO WITH THIS NEW PROJECT THAT
I'M GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU
FOOD, I SET OUT TO ANSWER
SEVERAL HISTORICAL QUESTIONS
THAT WERE RELATED TO THE
CONSTRUCTION OF RACE AND
RATIONAL DIFFERENCE IN THE
AFTERMATH OF SLAVERY AND MANY OF
THESE QUESTIONS DID IN FACT
EMERGE WHEN I WAS COMPLETING THE
FIRST BOOK.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, I NOTICED THAT
IN SOME OF THE PRIMARY SOURCES,
THE MEDICAL TEXTS THAT I WOULD
READ I WOULD SEE THERE ARE
REFERENCED TO MIXED RACE PEOPLE
HAVE DIFFERENT SUSCEPTIBILITIES
THAN BLACK PEOPLE FOR CERTAIN
KINDS OF FEVERS AND DISEASES.
IT GOT ME THINKING ABOUT HOW
EACH RACIAL COMPONENTS OF A
MIXED RACE PERSON, THIS IS
SPECIFICALLY PEOPLE WITH BLACK
AND WHITE ANCESTRY, HOW THAT WAS
ACTUALLY BEING VIEWED BY
PHYSICIANS AND VIEWED IN MEDICAL
AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE.
SO I STARTED TO CONSIDER HOW THE
RACIAL MAKEUP OF A MIXED RACE
PERSON WAS MEASURED AND WONDERED
WHEN THAT KIND OF PROCESS BEGAN
IN EARNEST.
I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE
SCIENTIFIC LOGIC BEHIND IT.
I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT SLAVERY
HAD TO DO WITH IT, AND ANYTHING
AT ALL, THIS ACTUALLY LED ME
DOWN THE PATH OF PURSUING
QUESTIONS ABOUT DECISION METHODS
TO QUANTIFY BLACKNESS THAT WERE
ESPECIALLY EMPLOYED BY
EUGENICISTS, PARTICULARLY
CHARLES B DAVENPORT, ONE OF
AMERICAN'S LEADING EUGENICISTS
IN THE 20th CENTURY.
SO I STARTED THIS PROJECT SAYING
I'M JUST GOING TO LOOK AT A
COUPLE OF DAVENPORTS OF RACE
CROSS STUDY AND WHAT IDENTITIES
OF RACE GUIDED HIS RESEARCH
TRAJECTORY.
SO I GUESS YOU COULD SAY, THIS
CURRENT PROJECT EXAMINES THE
PROCESS THROUGH WHICH
EUGENICISTS CAME TO MEASURE
MIXED RACE PEOPLE, THOSE OF BLAG
AND WHITE AN ESRY, AND CLASS
THEM AS PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY,
AND SOCIALLY UNFIT.
AND MY FIRST BOOK, THE RACE IN
THE UNITED STATES AND THE
CARIBBEAN I ALSO USED THE SAME
REGIONS IN THIS CURRENT PROJECT.
IN FACT I FIND THAT IN DOING
THIS STUDY IN STARTING THIS
PROJECT, SLAVERY ERA IDEAS FROM
THESE REGIONS AS THEY RELATED TO
RACIAL FITNESS, ENDURANCE,
INTELLIGENCE, AND INABILITY,
ACTUALLY LAID THE IDEE LOGIC
GROUND WORD FOR THE RACE
CROSSING STUDIES.
SO ESSENTIALLY, THESE FORMER
SLAVERY SOCIETIES IN THE
AMERICAS EMERGE AS CRITICAL
STAGING GROUNDS FOR EUGENICISTS,
SOCIAL SCIENCES, AN RUPOLISHES
AND OTHERS IN ALLIED PROFESSIONS
TO EXTRACT DATA FROM THESE
SO-CALLED BLACK AND WHITE RACIAL
HYBRIDS FOR THE PURPOSES OF
ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE
SCIENCE OF HEREDITY AND RACIAL
FITNESS MORE BROADLY.
ESSENTIALLY THAT THE SCIENCE
THAT THE RESEARCH SUPPORTED
VALIDATED THE KIND OF BELIEFS
THAT RACE WAS AN ASPECT OF ONE'
BIOLOGY, AND BLACK PEOPLE'S
STATUS WAS BY LOGICALLY
DETERMINED IN A FUNCTION OF
THEIR RACE.
ONE THING THAT I FOUND LOOKING
AT THIS REGION IS THAT KANSAS
THE MEASURE OF MISCEGENATION AND
RACIAL FITNESS WAS A
TRANSNATIONAL ENTERPRISE.
SO, CHARLES DAVENPORT, I WILL
SAY A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT IN A
MOMENT, ACTUALLY CONDUCTED TWO
OF HIS MAJOR RACE CROSSING
STUDIES IN 1913.
AND RACE CROSSING IN JAMAICA IN
1929 IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES.
THERE WERE HIGH RATES OF
ILLEGITOMY, THAT FELL IN LINE
WITH ERRONEOUS IDEAS ABOUT BLACK
SEXUALITY, DAVENPORT CLAIMS HE
WAS ABLE TO GET THE DATA HE
NEEDED.
THERE WAS NO LANGUAGE BARRIER
FOR HIS RESEARCH ASSISTANTS AND
NO CONCERNS ABOUT OUTING FAMILY
SECRETS AND SORT THAT COULD LEAD
TO SEVERE HARM FOR THE RESEARCH
SUBJECTS.
IF WE THINK ABOUT WHAT IS GOING
ON IN THE REDEEMED SOUTH OF THE
UNITED STATES, AND THE RACE
RELATIONS, PEOPLE WOULD HAVE
BEEN VERY REDESCEND TO SPEAK
ABOUT CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THEIR
FAMILY, THEIR ANCESTRY.
HE FOUND HE COULD GET AROUND
THAT IN THE CARIBBEAN AND
SOMETHING THAT IS QUITE CRITICAL
THINKING ABOUT WHERE HE
CONDUCTED HIS STUDIES.
DABBEN PORT WAS ABLE TO
CONSTRUCT PARTS OF THE CARIBBEAN
AS SORT OF THESE BACKWARDS
PLACES WHERE RACIAL MIXTURE WAS
ALLOWED TO TAKE PLACE AND OTHER
AND PATHOLOGIST THAT GEOGRAPHY
IN A WAY THAT WOULD NOT OFFEND
HIS AMERICAN AUDIENCES,
CONSIDERING THE TYPE OF PROJECTS
HE WAS INVOLVING IS INTERRACIAL
SEX, IN MANY CASES, THIS WOULD
HAVE INVOLVED WHITE MEN AND
ENSLAVED BLACK WOMEN.
THIS IS NOT A TOPIC HE WOULD
ADDRESS OPENLY THE WAY HE WANTED
TO IN THE UNITED STATES.
SO ESSENTIALLY TO DEAL WITH THIS
INTERRACIAL SEX AND MIXING,
DAVENPORT WOULD FOCUS ON THE
CARIBBEAN, AND OPENLY TALK ABOUT
IT THERE AND CAST THAT PLACE AS
IMMORAL AND SORT OF A SIGN OF A
LESSER CIVILIZED PART OF THE
WORLD.
A LOT OF THIS OF COURSE KIND OF
POINTS TO SLAVERY.
THE ROLE OF SLAVERY IN CREATING
THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT AIDED
RACIAL MIXING.
AND I THINK IT IS SORT OF
ESSENTIAL TO THINKING ABOUT THE
CREATION OR THE CONDUCTING OF
THESE MIXED, THESE STUDIES OF
MIXED RACE PEOPLE.
SO ONE THING TO THINK ABOUT
AGAIN, LIKE MIXING A PARALLEL
BETWEEN SLAVERY AND EUGENICS,
THIS ABILITY TO COMPARE THE
BODIES OF BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE
IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH VERY MUCH
TOOK PLACE DURING THE ERA OF
SLAVERY.
AND A LOT OF THE DATA THAT WAS
COLLECTED SORT OF RESURFACES, IT
DOESN'T JUST SORT OF DISSIPATE.
SO WHAT I WANTED TO DO WITH THIS
PROJECT WAS TO THINK ABOUT AND
CENTER SLAVERY IN THIS RESPECT
AND KIND OF SHOW HOW EUGENIC
EFFORTS AT QUANTIFYING RACIAL
MIXTURE AND FIDNESS REPRESENTED
A MARRIAGE OF NEW IDEAS, IN
TERMS OF GENETICS AND SORT OF
OLD IDEAS, HOLD OVER FROM
SLAVERY.
SO, A MARRIAGE OF THE TWO
APPROACHES.
I ALSO WANTED TO JUST SAY LANE
ABOUT WHAT I HOPE TO DO WITH THE
SECOND PROJECT.
SO ONE, I REALLY WANT TO REFRAME
EUGENICS AND THE TARGETS OF THE
EUGENIC PHASE.
SO THERE ARE A LOT OF STUDIES ON
EUGENIC THAT WILL TELL US ABOUT
SORT OF IT'S CLEARLY
ANTISEMITIC, AUTOMOBILALIST,
XENOPHOBIC AND ANTIIMMIGRANTS.
BUT I ALSO THOUGHT WE COULD ALSO
CONSIDER THE ROLES OF PEOPLE OF
AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE AMERICAS
AND WHAT THEIR EXPERIENCES WERE
LIKE WITH EUGENICS.
I ALSO WANTED TO MOVE A LITTLE
BIT AWAY FROM THE APPROACH OF
THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE
INAPPROPRIATE APPLICATION OF
MENDELIAN GENETICS TO PEOPLE,
AND FOCUS MORE ON MEASUREMENT,
ANTHROPOLOGY, AND OTHER
DISCIPLINES THAT WERE NOT AS
SORT OF NEW AND NOW, AS ONE
MIGHT SAY IN THAT TIME PERIOD,
BUT ACTUALLY HAD ROOTS IN
SLAVERY IN THE CIVIL WAR ERA, I
WILL SAY A LITTLE MORE ABOUT
THAT IN A MOMENT.
I WILL SAY WITH THIS PROJECT I
WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT THE
BLENDING OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND
THE LOGIC OF RACIAL
CATEGORIZATION ROOTED IN
SLAVERY.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, DAVIN PORT
MIGHT TAKE PICTURES OF PEOPLE
AND SAY THIS IS -- AND SOMEHOW,
THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT
HE IS TALKING ABOUT.
BUT SHE ACCESSING AND USE A KIND
OF RACIAL CATEGORIZATION THAT WE
FIND DURING THE ERA OF SLAVERY.
AND SO HE IS SORTING TELLING US
THESE ARE THE FEATURES TO LOOK
FOR AS IF TO SORT OF FURTHER
CATEGORIZE AND ISOLATE THESE
INDIVIDUALS.
AND, OF COURSE, I MENTIONED
BEFORE WITH THIS PROJECT I
REALLY WANT US TO THINK ABOUT
THE ROLE OF FORMER SLAVERY
SOCIETIES IN THE AMERICAS AS THE
CRITICAL SITES FOR EUGENICISTS
TO MEASURE RACIAL FITNESS AND
SORT OF AGAIN TO EXTRACT DATA
FROM THESE MIXED RACE PEOPLE.
NOW, I DO WANT TO FOCUS TODAY
AND WHAT I WILL MOSTLY FOCUS ON
TODAY IS POINT ONE, REFRAMING
EUGENICS AND THE TARGETS OF THE
EUGENIC SPACE.
SO ESSENTIALLY, AS I SAID
BEFORE, THERE'S THIS USE OF
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY,
ANTHROPOLOGY, ALONG WITH
MENDELIAN GENETICS AND
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS THAT
CREATES I WOULD ARGUE IS A
FACADE OF DATA COLLECTION ON
MIXED RACE PEOPLE.
AND WE CAN THINK ABOUT, FOR
EXAMPLE, .2 WHEN I MENTION
ANTHROPOLOGIST AND THE CIVIL
WAR.
WE CAN THINK ABOUT DATA
COLLECTED BY THE U.S. SANITARY
COMMISSION DURING THE CIVIL WAR
PARTICULARLY DATA ON VITALITY
AND LUNG CAPACITY OF BLACK,
WHITE, AND MIXED RACE TROOPS.
THAT DATA ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW,
SUGGESTED THAT BLACK PEOPLE AND
MULATTOS WERE LESS FIT THAN
WHITE.
THIS IS THE KIND OF DATA MEN
LIKE DAVENPORT WILL REFER TO.
WE CAN THINK ABOUT REALLY
EXCELLENT SCHOLARSHIP BY BRAUN,
FOR EXAMPLE, DISCUSSED THIS
BAROMETER, THAT IS USED IN THE
SANITARY COMMISSION STUDY THAT
BASICALLY OFFERS US PROOF HOW
THIS APPROACH TO PRECISION
MEASUREMENT OF VUTHEYTY AMONG
DIFFERENT RACES ESSENTIALLY
CONTRIBUTED AND HELPED CREATE
THIS FICTION.
SO IN A SENSE I REALLY WANT TO
CONSIDER THE LONG SHADOW SLAVERY
CAST OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF
EUGENICIST AND HOW IT HAS SORT
OF MAJOR REPERCUSSIONS FOR THE
WAYS THAT WE THINK ABOUT HOW
BLACK PEOPLE EXPERIENCE EUGENICS
AS OBJECTS OF INTEREST BEFORE
THEY BECAME TARGETS OF LATER 20th
CENTURY EUGENIC PRACTICES, SUCH
AS IF VOLUNTARY STERILIZATION.
I WANT TO MAKE A VERY SPECIFIC
CLAIM HERE, I'M FOCUSING ON THE
EARLY DECADES OF THE 20th
CENTURY.
NOT SO MUCH GOING INTO MID
CENTURY AND THE '70s, WE HAVE
CASES OF INVOLUNTARY
STERILIZATION OF BLACK AND BROWN
WOMEN.
I'M FOCUSING ON THE EARLY
PERIOD.
BUT I DO WANT TO SAY THAT WHEN
WE THINK ABOUT EUGENICS IN THIS
EARLY PERIOD, IT IS SELDOM
VIEWED THROUGH THE LENS OF THE
ANTIBLOCK RACISM THAT CONTINUED
TO FESTER AND GROW AFTER THE
CIVIL WAR.
AND I WANT US TO SORT OF THINK
ABOUT THIS, IN THIS WAY IT CAN
BE TRANSFORMATIVE HOW WE THINK
ABOUT HISTORIES OF SLAVERY AND
SCIENCE.
I WANT TO PUSHBACK AGAINST THE
IDEA THAT EUGENIC IS
REACTIONARY.
SO CHANGES IN THE DEMOGRAPHIC
LANDSCAPE AND IMMIGRATION, THESE
ARE THINGS THAT CAUSE EUGENICS
TO SORT OF EMERGE.
I ACTUALLY WANT TO THINK ABOUT
THIS MORE AS PART OF AN ONGOING
PRACTICE OF RACE MAKING.
AN ON GOURDE PRACTICE OF
PATHOLOGIZING CERTAIN BODIES
THAT WAS ALREADY GOING ON.
I WANT TO BE CLEAR THAT NEW
ADVANCES IN GENETICS, OF COURSE,
INFLUENCED MEN LIKE DAVENPORT,
OF COURSE, INCLUDED THE QUEST TO
MEASURE AND PREDICT CERTAIN
HUMAN TRAITS.
BUT I THINK THAT THIS IS ONE
PART OF THE STORY.
I THINK WE DO NEED TO KIND OF
LOOK BACK TO THE ERA OF SLAVERY.
I WOULD SAY THAT WE CANNOT
DISAGGREGATE THE NATURE OF
EUGENICS STUDIES OF MULATTOS
THAT AIDED IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF THAT VERY GROUP OF PEOPLE.
SO I THINK ABOUT THIS IN THE
SENSE OF, JUST GOING TO SAY
RATHER EXPLICITLY, I WANT TO
NAME EUGENICS AS A SCIENTIFIC
DISCIPLINE THAT WAS A DIRECT
BENEFICIARY OF SLAVERY ERROR
IDEOLOGIES ABOUT RACE AND
FITNESS.
AND I DO THINK THAT, AGAIN, IN
TERMS OF WHERE THIS FITS WITH
OTHER STUDIES THAT ARE OUT
THERE, I OFTEN FIND THAT WHEN
PEOPLE TALK ABOUT EUGENICS, AS I
SAID BEFORE, IT IS OFTEN VIEWED
AS THIS MOVEMENT THAT TARGETED,
I'M QUOTING HERE, QUOTE NOT
RACIAL OUTSIDERS, BUT
MARGINALIZED INSIDER WHOSE
THREATENED NATIONAL AND CLASS
IDEALS, END QUOTE.
NOW, THIS IS CERTAINLY TRUE.
AGAIN, I'M SURE MANY OF THE
AUDIENCE FAMILIAR WITH EUGENICS
MIGHT THINK OF INDIANA AND THE
FIRST INVOLUNTARY STERILIZATION
LAWS AND THE THINK ABOUT THE
FACT THIS IS TARGETING WHITE
INMATES AND PRISONERS, POOR
WHITE PEOPLE, ALL OF THIS IS OF
COURSE VERY TRUE.
BUT I WANT TO KIND OF EXPAND
THIS IDEA AND MODIFY IT AGAIN,
THAT RECOGNIZING MIXED RACE
PEOPLE WITH BLACK ANCESTRY WERE
RACIAL OUTSIDERS AND
MARGINALIZED INSIDERS.
PRESENT IN THE AMERICAS PART OF
NATION AND EMPIRE BUILDING, BUT
THEY WERE ALWAYS MARGINALIZED
AND EXCLUDED.
IF WE TAKE THIS VERY EXPENSIVE
VIEW WE CAN ALSO CONSIDER THE
EXPERIENCES OF OR NONWHITE
PEOPLE BORN IN THE UNITED STATES
FOR GENERATIONS WHO WERE
MARGINALIZED INSIDERS AND RACIAL
OUTSIDERS, SUCH AS JAPANESE
AMERICANS, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO WE MIGHT CONSIDER ALSO IN
TERMS OF BEING VERY ELASTIC HERE
WITH THE IDEA OF REFRAMING
EUGENICS, AND ANXIETY ABOUT
RACIAL PURITY AND FITNESS AS
THEY RELATED TO NONWHITE PEOPLE
HAD A VERY STORIED HISTORY
BEFORE THE 20th CENTURY.
EVEN BEFORE THE TERM OF EUGENICS
IN 1883.
SO OF COURSE, I'M THINKING ABOUT
EUGENICS, YOU'RE THINK ABOUT A
LOT OF THE GREAT SECONDARY
LITERATURE OUT THERE.
OF COURSE, I PICKED UP DANIEL'S
WORK WHO IS ONE OF THE LEADING
AUTHORITIES ON EUGENICS, AND HE
POINTS OUT THAT ROUGH LE20 YEARS
BEFORE EVEN COINING THE TERM
EUGENIC, THERE WERE WAYS TO
IMPROVE HUMAN STOCK.
HE DID NEWS HESITATE, FOR
EXAMPLE, TO PRONOUNCE BLACK
PEOPLE AS MENTALLY INEPT.
THESE THOUGHTS APPEAR IN HIS
1869 HEREDITARY GENIUS.
AND HE NOTES THAT HE WANTED TO
INVESTIGATION THE QUOTE THE
ORIGINS OF NATURAL ABOUT END
QUOTE.
IF WE DIG DEEPER INTO HEREDITARY
GENUS.
NEGRO INTELLIGENCE WAS TWO
GRADES BELOW OF THE ENGLISH AND
NOT A SIGN OF QUOTE GOOD STOCK.
THIS ASSESSMENT IS ALSO
REVEALING.
HE TELLS US WHERE HE IS GETTING
SOME OF THIS DATA.
HE SAYS QUOTE THE NUMBER AMONG
THE NEGROES OF THESE WHO SHOULD
CALL 1/2 WHITTED MEN IS VERY
LARGE.
EVERY GROUP ALLUDED TO SERVICES,
AND AMERICA IS FULL OF
INSTANCES.
END QUOTE.
HE IS CLEARLY ACCESSING A SPACE
OF RACIAL GIARAPHY.
LOOKING AT THE AMERICAS IN 1869.
AND NEGRO SERVANTS.
IN MANY WAYS THIS GIVES US AN
EXAMPLE OF WHERE HE IS THINKING
AND THINKING ABOUT RACIALIZED
LINES.
SHE GETTING HIS IDEA FROM THE
AMERICANS, FROM A PLACE THAT IS
CHANGED FROM TO SLAVERY SYSTEM
AND SHAPED THE LANDSCAPE.
THINKING ABOUT THIS, PUSHING
BACK, NOT STARTING WITH 1883,
THE COINING OF THE TERM, BUT
THINKING ABOUT EARLY IDEAS OF
GOOD AFTERNOON, STOCK AND SORT
OF MENTAL ABILITIES AND WHICH
RACIAL GROUPS WERE IN AND OUT OF
THAT CATEGORIZATION.
THE OTHER THING I DO, I'M
REFRAMING EUGENICS AND THE
TARGETS OF THE EUGENICIST CASE.
IT AGAIN GOES BACK TO
ANTHROPOLOGY.
YOU WILL SEE HERE, I JUST
UNDERLINED.
THIS IS 1869.
SO GOING BACK A BUILT EARLIER,
AND THINKING ABOUT ANTHROPOLOGY,
WHICH IS SORT OF THE SCIENCE
THAT DEFINES PHYSICAL MEASURES
OF A PERSON'S SIZE, FORM, AND
FUNCTIONAL CAPACITIES.
PHYSICIANS AND SCIENTISTS
WORKING FOR THE U.S. COMMISSION
STUDY, BLACK, WHITE, MULATTO
SOLDIERS.
HERE IS INVESTIGATES OF THE
MILITARY AND STATISTICS OF
AMERICAN SOLDIERS, PUBLISHED IN
1869.
AND PICTURED RIGHT HERE.
HERE, OF COURSE, THIS IS AN
EFFORT THAT IS LED BY BENJAMIN,
HE IS AN ASTRONOMER.
THIS IS A UNION EFFORT, THESE
ARE THE FOLKS FIGHTING AGAINST
SLAVERY.
BUT STILL VERY MUCH WEDDED TO
THE IDEA THAT THERE ARE INNATE
BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE.
THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE INFERIOR
IN SOME WAY TO WHITES.
WHAT HE DOES IS BASICALLY
ADVOCATE FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF
MEN TO CREATE AND COLLECT DATA
SORT OF HARD FACTS, IF YOU WILL.
OF COURSE, NOT RECOGNIZING THAT
FOR MANY OF THE BLACK AND MIXED
RACE TROOPS THAT WOULD HAVE
JOIND PROBABLY HAVE SUFFERED
FROM EXPOSURE, POOR NUTRITION
FOR A LARGE PORTION OF THEIR
LIFE, THEY WERE FLEEING FROM
SLAVERY, AND SUBJECT TO POOR
LIVING CONDITIONS.
AT ANY RATE, WE HAVE THIS
SO-CALLED COLLECTION OF HARD
DATA.
WHAT IS INTERESTING TO FIND THAT
AMERICAN EUGENICISTS LIKE
CHARLES DAVENPORT ACTUALLY CITES
THE STUDY IN THIS MILITARY
STUDY, ARMY ANTHROPOLOGY, THAT
HE COMISSIONS IN 1919.
SO DAVIN PORT IS LOOKING FOR THE
AVERAGE WAITS OF MULATTOS, HE
CITES HIM LOOKING AT THE
PARTICULAR STUDY.
AND WE KNOW THAT GERMAN
STATISTICIAN, HOFFMANN, WHO
OFFERED RACE, TRADES AND
TENDENCY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO
IN 1896.
HOFFMAN WRITES THE MIXED RACE IS
THEREFORE SUFFICIENTLY PROVEN BY
BOTH METHODS.
HERE IS THE DATA ON THEIR
VITAMTY, IT IS PROVEN AND A AN
EFFECT.
I WANT TO BRING THIS UP TO GIVE
YOU A SENSE OF ONE, THIS EARLY
IDEA OF FITNESS AND RACIAL
FITNESS IN THE 1860s.
THINKING ABOUT HOW IT IS BEING
USED AND CREATING THIS PAPER
TRAIL FOR YOU.
I DO WANT TO SAY A NUMBER OF
OTHER FANTASTIC SCHOLARS HAVE
ALSO LOOKED AT THIS SANITARY
COMMISSION REPORT, THEY HAVE ALL
KIND OF SAID, OKAY, THIS STUDY
ACTUALLY IS SORT OF LIKE THIS
CLEARINGHOUSE OF DATA ABOUT
INNATE RACIAL DIFFERENCES AND
MEASUREMENT.
AND WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE MORE OF
THIS IF WE LOOK INTO DAVIN
PORT'S PAPER.
SO THIS IS WHEN THE AMERICAN
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, I WENT TO
COLLECT PRIMARY SOURCE DATA.
YOU WILL SEE THE REFERENCES.
THIS IS A PROPOSAL FOR NEGRO
STUDY IN 1927.
THE QUESTION IS HOW DO WE DO
THIS?
HOW DO WE CREATE AND START
PLANNING THIS GREAT STUDY WE
WANT TO ENACT?
YOU WILL SEE HERE, THEY ARE
TALKING ABOUT THE RESONATE OF
PREVIOUS WORK, THERE'S A
REFERENCE DURING THE CIVIL WAR
OBSERVATIONS ON ALL OF THE RACES
REPRESENTED IN THE NORTHERN ARMY
WERE MADE AFTERWARDS REPORTED
ON.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE IS
SORT OF, I'M FOLLOWING THIS KIND
OF PAPER TRAIL, AND WHO IS
CITING WHO, WHERE IS THIS PAPER
TRAIL COME FROM . THIS IS CITING
THE WORK OF CHARLES DENVER PORT.
SO THE AIM OF THIS PAPER IS TO
THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN FILL GAPS
IN OUR COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE
ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE AND EUGENIC
IN THE 19th CENTURY.
AND THE ASSUMPTIONS, ALL OF THE
THINGS THAT IS NOT TRUE ABOUT
MIXED RACE BODIES, THAT WERE
PICKED UP BY EUGENICISTS AND
STUDIED.
THEY LOOKED INTO THIS TO SEE IT
IS DEBUNK MYTH OR MODIFY THINGS.
THERE IS SHOW SHORTAGE OF WHITE
COMMON FELTERS WHO WERE
INTERESTED IN KIND OF PICKING UP
THE THREADS OF INFORMATION AND
RUNNING WITH THEM.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, I'M GOING TO
FOCUS QUITE A BIT ON CHARLES
DAVENPORT.
BUT I WANT TO BE REALLY CLEAR, I
STARTED THE PROJECT, I'M GOING
TO WORK WITH DAVENPORT'S PAPERS.
BUT HE JOINED A PRETTY CROWDED
FIELD OF SCIENTISTS INTERESTED
IN THIS TOPIC.
WE CAN THINK OF WHITE AND BLACK
SCIENTISTS STUDYING PEOPLE OF
AFRICAN DESCENT.
SO I SHOULD SAY, AND I'LL SAY A
LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT CAROLYN,
SHE ACTUALLY WAS A MIXED RACE
WOMAN HERSELF.
EARNED A MASTER'S IN
ANTHROPOLOGIST IN HARVARD AND
HAD VERY DIFFERENT CONCLUSIONS
FROM CHARLES DAVENPORT.
SO I DO FOCUS ON DAVENPORT QUITE
A BIT, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, HE,
HIS RESEARCH METHODS WERE
CRITIQUED BY HIS PEERS, THEY
DIDN'T CARE FOR HIS SCIENTIFIC
METHODOLOGIES.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, I, YOU KNOW, I
JUST COULD NOT RESIST, BUT
PEARSON, WHO WAS AT ONE POINT
AND TIME A FRIEND OF DAVENPORT,
WROTE A SCATHING REVIEW OF RACE
CROSSING IN JAMAICA.
IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH
DAVENPORT AND OPPOSING RACIST
VIEWS, BUT ABOUT HIS SCIENCE.
AND PEARSON SAYS OF DAVENPORT.
THE ONLY THING THAT IS APPARENT,
THIS IS RACE CROSSING IN
JAMAICA, THE SAMPLES ARE TOO
SMALL AND DRAWN FROM TOO
HETEROGENEOUS POPULATION TO
PROVIDE TRUSTWORTHY CONCLUSIONS
AT ALL.
END QUOTE.
HIS PEERS ARE THINKING.
CAROLYN IS TRAINED USING SORT OF
SIMILAR METHODS OF MEASUREMENT
AND WRITES HER MASTER'S THESIS
IN 1932, A STUDY OF NEGRO WHITE
FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES.
AGAIN, SHE DOES THIS UNDER
INIGIOUS OF SHOWING THE GREAT
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MIXED RACE
PEOPLE.
OPPOSITE OF WHAT DAVENPORT HAS
TO SAY.
I WILL SAY THAT HER WORK HAS NOT
BEEN AS THOROUGHLY STUDIED AS
DAVENPORT'S.
BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF
SCHOLARS LOOKING AT HOW BLACK
PEOPLE RESPONDED TO AND IN SOME
WAY PARTICIPATED IN EUGENIC.
THEY INCLUDE A FEW, BUT THERE IS
CLEARLY A SCHOLARSHIP, A BODY OF
SCHOLARSHIP OUT THERE THAT
SUGGESTS THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE
NOT CAPTIVE.
THEY ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN
RACIAL, INTERESTED IN IDEAS OF
EUGENICS.
SO REALLY WHAT I WANT TO DO,
FIND MYSELF DOING WITH THIS NOW
IS KIND OF USING DAVENPORT AT
THIS POINT OF ENTRY AND SORT OF
THINKING ABOUT WHO ELSE IS
TACKLING THESE QUESTIONS.
HOW SLAVERY IS INFORMING THAT.
NOW I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU A
LITTLE BIT OF THE MYTH MAKING
AND IDEAS ABOUT BLACK
(UN)FITNESS AND MIXED RACE
(UN)FITNESS THAT DAVENPORT
TACKLES AND OTHER SORT OF
SCIENTISTS AT THIS TIME ARE
THINKING ABOUT WHEN THEY ARE
LOOKING AT MIXED RACE PEOPLE AND
CONDUCTING THESE STUDIES.
SO SOME OF THE CLAIMS ABOUT
MIXED RACE PEOPLE THAT DAVENPORT
ADDRESSES IN HIS WORK INCLUDE
CLAIMS THAT MIXED RACE PEOPLE
WERE INHERENTLY SICKLY AND THAT
THEY WERE UNABLE TO REPRODUCE.
SO WE CAN THINK ABOUT HOW THESE
MYTHS CIRCULATED.
THEY CIRCULATED WIDELY IN THE
AMERICAS, WELL BEFORE THE ADVENT
OF EUGENICS.
THEY WERE NOT ALWAYS CONSISTENT.
WE CAN THINK ABOUT THE WAYS IN
WHICH PHYSICIANS WOULD SORT OF
MAKE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE
INABILITY OF MIXED RACE PEOPLE
TO DO ONE THING, AND CLAIM THEY
WERE SUPERIOR AT DOING OTHER
THINGS.
AND THIS IS CLAIMING THAT
MULATTOS ARE WEAK.
SO THE EDITOR OF THE MEMPHIS
MEDICAL REPORTER IN 1855
COMPLAINED THAT THE MULATTO WAS
QUOTE LESS CURABLE THAN WHITE
PERSONS ON A COUNT OF HIS
GREATER FEEBLENESS OF
CONSTITUTION, END QUOTE.
AND OTHER VIEWS AROUND THIS TIME
PEOPLE WERE SIMILAR, THE SLAVE
OWNERS IN THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN,
IN 1834, MULATTOS WERE WEAK AND
AFEMININE PERSONS.
AND AS I MENTIONED BEFORE,
BENJAMIN, OF THE U.S. SANITARY
COMMISSIONS REPORT SAID IT WAS A
WELL-KNOWN PHENOMENA THAT MIXED
RACE MEN HAD INTERIOR VITALITY.
SO HERE ARE THE IDEAS THAT MIXED
RACE PEOPLE ARE INNATELY WEAK.
NOW, DAVENPORT, OF COURSE, IS
AWARE OF THIS.
SO THINKING ABOUT, FLASHING
FORWARD TO THE 20th CENTURY,
DAVENPORT IS AWARE OF THIS.
AND HE ACTUALLY EARNESTLY
ADDRESSED THE HARDINESS, THE
ROBUSTNESS OF MIXED RACE PEOPLE
INCIDENTAL ASIDES IN HIS STUDY.
HE MADE REFERENCE TO IT.
BUT MENTIONING THIS PROJECT IS A
LONG OF ASSESSING, AND
CRITIQUING AND COMMENTS ON
AFRICAN DESCENT BODIES,
SOMETHING THAT WAS FROM SLAVERY.
RIGHT?
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, DAVENPORT WHEN
HE TALKS ABOUT THE ROBUSTNESS OF
MIXED RACE PEOPLE, HE WILL
REFERENCE SLAVERY ERA
COMMENTERS.
I WANT TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF
THIS.
TWO VERY WELL-KNOWN SLAVERY ERA
SHELTERS ARE KNOWN FOR
PROPAGATING THIS IDEA THAT MIXED
RACE PEOPLE CANNOT REPRODUCE.
THE FIRST IS EDWARD, IT WAS
EXTRAORDINARY THAT TWO MULATTOS
SHOULD BE UNABLE TO CONTINUE
THEIR SPECIES.
THE WOMEN BARON OR OFFSPRING NOT
GAINING MATURITY.
THAT IS 1774.
THAT IS EDWARD WHO IS
PROPAGATING THIS CLAIM THAT
MIXED RACE PEOPLE CANNOT
REPRODUCE.
AND FURTHER INQUIRY.
IN 1943, A PHYSICIAN FROM THE
UNITED STATES, ABSOLUTELY
DECIDED TO DEVOTE TIME TO THIS
TOPIC.
SO IN HIS 1843 ARTICLE, THE
MULATTO, A HYBRID, POSSIBLE
EXTERMINATION OF THE TWO RACES
AND MAKES REFERENCE TO THE THE
ABILITY TO REPRODUCE.
NOT NAMES EDWARD LOG-IN HIS
DISCUSSION.
THEY ARE HIGH AUTHORITIES IN
THEIR HISTORY OF JAMAICA AND THE
MALE AND FEMALE MULATTO DO NOT
PRODUCE SO MANY CHILDREN
TOGETHER.
AND THEY HAVE SHORTER LIFESPANS
AND THE WOMEN ARE PLAGUED BY
DELICACY AND THE INABILITY TO
CONCEIVE CHILDREN END QUOTE.
SO THIS IS -- NOT AND LONG
DURING THE ERA OF SLAVERY MAKING
THESE OBVIOUSLY FALSE CLAIMS
ABOUT THE ABILITIES OF MIXED
RACE PEOPLE TO REPRODUCE.
WHAT IS INTERESTING IS THAT
DAVENPORT HANDLES THIS.
HE TOTALLY BRINGS IT UP.
AND WHAT HE DOES IN HIS STUDY,
HEREDITY OF SKIN COLOR AND NEGRO
WHITE CROSSES IN 1913, HE SAID
THERE IS AN ANCIENT TRADITION,
AND HE IS QUITE LITERALLY BY
NAME POINTING OUT THE FIGURES
WHO CLAIM THAT, THAT MIXED RACE
PEOPLE CANNOT REPRODUCE.
DAVENPORT CONCLUDES QUOTE,
THERE'S NO SUPPORT IN OUR DATA
FOR THE NOTION OF THE LACK OF
NEGRO WHITE CROSS OR THEIR
VIABILITY.
HE IS SAYING THIS IS NOT TRUE.
THIS IS A MYTH THAT NEEDS TO BE
DEBUNKED.
BUT I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR
HERE.
DAVENPORT IS NOT PROGRESSIVE.
HE WANTS TO SAY THAT SCIENCE
PROVES, SCIENCE IS WHAT WE
SHOULD RELY ON WHEN WE MAKE ANY
KIND OF STATEMENT.
HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN THIS IDEA
OF AN INABILITY TO REPRODUCE AND
HE IS LESS WILLING TO SAY THAT
MIXED RACE PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY
WEAK, HE DOES KIND OF MAKE
CLAIMS ABOUT THE WEAKNESS OF THE
CONSTITUTION IN A VERY INDIRECT
WAY.
SO FOR EXAMPLE HE WILL SAY THAT,
YOU KNOW, MIXED RACE PEOPLE
INHERENT SOME PHYSICAL
ROBUSTNESS FROM BLACK PEOPLE.
HE SAID THE NEGRO HAS MANY
INDIVIDUALENS AND PHYSICAL
QUALITY OVER THE RIGHT.
HE IS LESS APT TO SUFFER FROM
DEFECTS OF THE SIGN, GOITER,
OBESITY, DEAF-MUTENESS.
BEFORE WE SAY DAVENPORT SEEMS
REASONABLE.
HE IS NOT.
HAY SHOW HIGH RATES OF
TUBERCULOSIS, AND VENEREAL
DISEASE RATES THAT ARE SEVERAL
TIMES HIGHER THAN THE WHITES.
THIS IS AN OLD IDEA,
PARTICULARLY WITH VENEREAL
DISEASES.
SO RATHER THAN SAYING OKAY, THEY
ARE WEAK, I THINK HE IS ACTUALLY
PAINING THEM AS VECTORS, THEY
ARE A PUBLIC HEALTH MENACE.
WE CAN SAY BY THE 20th CENTURY
WITH GERM THEORY, THAT
TUBERCULOSIS IS AN INDEXES AND
CONTAGIOUS.
THERE IS A CLEAR KIND OF
ASSUMPTION THAT ARE CERTAIN
RACES MORE PRONE TO
TUBERCULOSIS.
WE CAN THINK SPECIFICALLY THE
WAYS MEXICANS WERE TREATED IN
THE SOUTHWEST BEING A RACE THAT
WAS PARTICULARLY PRONE TO
TUBERCULOSIS, THE REASON FOR
THAT, THEY HAD TOO MUCH
INDIGENOUS BLOOD AND TOO FAR
REMOVED FROM CIVILIZATION, THAT
MADE THEM SUSCEPTIBLE FOR
TUBERCULOSIS.
SO DAVENPORT IS DOING SOMETHING
SIMILAR COLLAPSING A SUSCEPTIBLE
TO AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE PART OF
A RACIAL DEFICIENCY.
SO THIS IS THE SORT OF
SCRUTINIZING OF THE MYTHOLOGIES,
I SAID DAVENPORT WILL DEBUNK
SOME OF THESE MIGS, BUT HE KIND
OF REPLACES THEM, I THINK, ARE
WITH VERY MUCH IDEAS ABOUT MIXED
RACE PEOPLE OF BEING POTENTIAL
BURDENS IN MEDICINE.
SO THERE IS ALSO ATTENTION TO
MIXED RACE PEOPLE'S FEATURES
WHICH AGAIN WE LOOK TO THE 18th
CENTURY AND FIND THIS OBSESSION
WITH FEATURES OF MIXED RACE
PEOPLE.
AGAIN, WE CAN THINK ABOUT EDWARD
LONG WHO AT THE 18th CENTURY
PLANTER AND PROVIDED THIS VERY
DETAIL VIEW OF MULATTO FEATURES.
THEY ARE THE WHITE THAN THE
BLACK.
THE HAIR HAD A NATURAL CURL, IT
RESEMBLES THE NEGRO FLEECE.
BUT IT IS A TOLERABLE LENGTH.
YOU MIGHT THINK THAT IS TRIVIAL,
AND LONG BEING STRANGE AND
OBSESSIVE.
BUT DAVENPORT DILIGENTLY STUDIED
MIXED RACE PEOPLE HAIR.
AT THE APS, I HAVE BEEN LOOKING
THROUGH THE EUGENIC OFFICE
PAPERS HOUSED THERE, THE EUGENIC
RECORDS OFFICE WAS STARTED BY
DAVENPORT IN 1910.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE, THERE ARE
FAMILY PEDIGREES.
AND PEOPLE BRINGING IN SPECIMENS
AND SHARING INFORMATION OF THEIR
FAMILY WITH THAT OFFICE.
I LOCATED HEAR SAMPLES.
THESE ARE SO-CALLED MULATTO HAIR
SAMPS. HAIR SAMPLES.
THIS IS FROM A FAMILY THAT
RESIDED IN JAMAICA IN THE PARISH
OF ST. AN, I'M TRYING TO
UNDERSTAND IF THEY VOLUNTEERED
TO SEND IT TO THE OFFICE, THIS
IS IN NEW YORK.
SO, I'M WONDERING ABOUT SORT OF
THE STORY, HOW THESE SAMPLES GOT
INTO THE ERO.
GOT INTO DAVENPORT'S HANDS.
BUT I SHOULD SAY THAT IN THE
HEREDITY OF SKIN COLOR THERE IS
A WHOLE SECTION DEDICATED TO
MULATTO HAIR.
SO DAVENPORT REALLY DRAWS
ATTENTION TO WHAT HE SEES SORT
OF TIM. TYPICAL FEATURES.
SO, HE WANTED TO KNOW HOW FAR IS
THE NEGRO SKIN PIGMENT WITH THE
ABSENCE OF OTHER NEGRO
CHARACTERISTICS.
AND THERE ARE TWO ITEMS WITH
DARK PIGMENTATION OF THE
OFFSPRING OF THE NEGRO.
COLOR OF THE HAIR AND FORM OF
THE HAIR OR DEGREE OF CURVING.
SO HE SAYS THAT THE ASSOCIATION
IS ACCIDENT . HE'LL DOES KEEP
REFERRING TO KINKY OR WOOLLY
HAIRLINE AS A TYPICAL NEGRO
TRAIT AND APPLIES THAT TERM
THROUGHOUT HIS RESEARCH.
SO YOU CAN SEE HERE, FOR
EXAMPLE, HE LISTS A DAUGHTER WHO
HAS CURLY, BUT NOT AT ALL KINKY
HAIR, IF A WHITE MAN HAD A SON.
SHE ACCESSING AND USING THE
TERMINOLOGIES TO DESCRIBE THE
DIFFERENT KIND OF POPULATIONS,
THESE DIFFERENT KIND OF RACIAL
CROSSES.
AT THE BOTTOM, A SON WITH A
COMPLETION, AND A DEEPLY TANNED
SKIN, AND BLACK HAIR WHICH WAS A
TRACE OF A TENDENCY TO CURL.
IT IS ALMOST AS IF IT IS, THESE
ARE THE TRAITS THAT COULD GIVE
AWAY AFRICAN DESCENT WHO MAY NOT
APPEAR TO BE, WHO MIGHT BE VERY
LIGHT SKINNED AND TRY TO PASS,
FOR EXAMPLE.
SO HE'S LOOKING AT FEATURES.
BUT HE IS ALSO LOOKING AT
INTELLIGENCE.
SO I SHOULD SAY MULATTO, THAT
THERE WAS DURING THE ERA OF
SLAVERY A VIEW THAT MIXED RACE
PEOPLE WERE OF INTERMEDIATE
INTELLIGENCE.
SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT A RACIAL
HIERARCHY HAVING WHITES AT THE
TOP, MIXED RACE PEOPLE IN THE
MIDDLE, AND THEN BLACK PEOPLE AT
THE BOTTOM.
THIS IS A VERY SORT OF COMMON
BELIEF IN SLAVERY SOCIETIES.
WHAT DAVENPORT WANTS TO DO IS
REALLY INTERROGATE THIS IDEA,
ARE MIXED RACE PEOPLE MORE
INTELLIGENT?
ARE THEY REALLY SORT OF THE
MIDDLE?
AND WHAT HE DOES IS HE ACTUALLY
DISAGREES WITH THIS.
THIS IDEA.
BUT, ACTUALLY KIND OF
INTERESTING HOW HE DOES SO.
SO FIRST LET ME JUST GIVE YOU AN
EXAMPLE.
IF WE LOOK AT AN 1852
PUBLICATION ON AGRICULTURAL AND
INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH.
WE FIND THE WRITERS IF APPEARS
THAT THE MIXED RACE EXHIBITS
POWERS MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO
CULTIVATION THAN THE PURE
AFRICAN.
NOW, I SHOULD SAY THAT IS IN THE
SOUTHERN UNITED STATES.
WE ALSO HAVE A DATA FROM THE
CARIBBEAN.
SO IF WE THINK THE WAYS PLANTERS
AND ESTATE MANAGERS WOULD
UNTRUST ENCLAVED MULATTOS FOR
SKIN AND INTELLIGENCE.
SO THERE IS AN IDEA THAT MIXED
RACE PEOPLE ARE MORE INTELLIGENT
AND CAN DO SKILLED AND INTENSE
WORK.
DAVENPORT IS NOT HAVING ANY OF
THIS.
SO IF WE LOOK AT RACE CROSSING
IN JAMAICA, HE DOES CONCEDE THAT
MIXED RACE PEOPLE SEEM TO SCORE
A LITTLE BIT HIGHER ON THEIR
INTELLIGENCE TEST THAN BLACK
PEOPLE.
BUT THEY HAD TOO MUCH VARIATION.
WHAT HE SAYS, AND HERE I JUST
WANT TO GIVE YOU A SENSE, WHEN
SHE DOING HIS NOTES, FROM THE
APS, THE NOTES ON RACE CROSSING
IN JAMAICA.
NASAL BREATH, THE COLOR OF THE
PERSON, THE HAIR FORM, HE SAYS
THIS PERSON FULL BLACK, WHAT ARE
THE NOSE, EYES, LIP SHAPE, AND
THEN AT THE BOTTOM WHERE THAT
BOX IS, KNOCK MORON TEST SUMMARY
IN AIRMAIL ALPHA TEST.
THOSE ARE THE INTELLIGENCE TEST
HE USED IN RACE CROSSING IN
JAMAICA TO ASSESS THE
INTELLIGENCE OF MIXED RACE
PEOPLE.
THESE ARE THE NOTES AND THEN
HAVE THE DIFFERENT FIGURED IN
THE PUBLISHED STUDY.
SO AS HE SORT OF TRYING TO TAKE
AIM AT THIS IDEA OF INNATE, AND
INTERMEDIATE INTELLIGENCE, HE
BASICALLY CLAIMS THIS WILD
VARIATION IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE
OF RACE CROSSING.
HE WRITES, QUOTE, WHITES SCORE
HIGHER THAN THE BLACKS AND THE
BROWNS SCORED AN INTERMEDIATE
SCORE.
BUT A STUDY OF THE DISTRIBUTION
SHOW THAT MANY CASES, 5% OF THE
BROWNS RECEIVED LOWER SCORES
THAN THE BLACKS OR WHITES.
AND IT IS NOT WITH THE CHANCE
INCLUSION OF THE BROWNS WITH
SOME INDIVIDUALS OF UNUSUALLY
LOW INTELLIGENCE, RATHER AMONG
THE VARIOUS BROWN ARE SOME
INDIVIDUALS WHO FIND THEMSELVES
QUITE ABOUT AIL TO MAKE A START
ON CERTAIN MENTAL TESTS.
THERE ARE FEWER FULL BLOODED
BLACKS THAT SHOW COMPLETE
CAPACITY.
AND THE BROWNS TO THE HYBRID
NATURE END QUOTE.
SO HE IS LITERALLY SAYING IT IS
BECAUSE OF MIXED RACE, THERE IS
HARMONY IN THE CROSS.
IN FACT, HE BASICALLY GOES ON TO
SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, IS THERE, HE
ASKS THE QUESTION, AND HE
ANSWERS THIS QUITE CLEARLY.
HE SAYS IS THERE ANY GROUND FOR
THE ALLEGED INFERIORITY TO
BROWNS TO BLACKS.
HYBRIDS ARE THE FEAR YEAR EITHER
PARENTAL STALK.
THE BROWN IS CONTRASTED WITH THE
BLACK AND HE MAY BE STUPID AND
LAZY, BUT CAN BE DEPENDED UPON
TO ACT IN HIS OWN WAY.
SO, THIS GROUP, WE ALREADY HAD
VERY LOW EXPECTATIONS OF THEM,
BUT THE BROWNS ARE ALL OVER THE
VASE.
THIS IS A SIGN OF WHY THIS
HYBRID GROUP IS A PROBLEM.
SO AGAIN, THIS IS ALL, MUCH OF
THIS IS IN RACE CROSSING IN
JAMAICA, THIS IS THE PUBLISHED
STUDY.
WHAT WE SEE HERE, HE IS VERY
MUCH, AS I SAID, SKEPTICAL OF
THIS IDEA OF MULATTO
INTELLIGENCE.
I WILL SAY THAT OTHER AMERICAN
SCIENTISTS, SOCIOLOGISTS,
ACTUALLY BELIEVED IN THE IDEA OF
MUA LOTO INTELLIGENCE.
SO DAVENPORT IS AGAIN KIND OF
STANDING ALONE HERE.
SO WE CAN THINK ABOUT, FOR
EXAMPLE, THE AMERICAN
AGRICULTURALIST AND STRONG
ADVOCATE OF COMPULSORY
STERILIZATION, PAUL, WHO IN HIS
1918 EUGENICS TEXTS BASICALLY
SAID THAT THE HIGH SCHOLARLY
ATTAINMENT OF MULATTO CHILDREN
COMPARISON TO THEIR BLACK
COUNTERPARTS, CONFIRMS THAT THE
ABILITY OF A COLORED MAN IS THE
PROMOTION TO THE AMOUNT OF WHITE
BLOOD THEY HAVE.
END QUOTE.
SO YOU HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF
THIS.
ALL OF THESE ARE DECIDEDLY
ANTIBLACK AND THEY ARE STEAMED
IN RACISM.
BUT DAVENPORT IS SAYING THEY ARE
NOT MORE INTELLIGENCE, AND
ANOTHER COMMENTER SAYING THEY
ARE MORE INTELLIGENT, BECAUSE
THEY ARE WHITE BLOOD IN THEM.
I WANT TO MOVE AHEAD THERE.
IS SO MUCH TO TELL YOU, I WANT
TO KIND OF CONCLUDE HERE.
BECAUSE WHAT I'M TRYING TO SHOW
YOU AND PAINT A PICTURE HERE FOR
YOU OF THE WAYS IN WHICH IDEAS
THAT WERE LINGERING IN SLAVERY
KIND OF SHOW UP AND INFORM THE
MIXED RACE PEOPLE'S BODIES.
WHETHER IT IS THEIR FEATURES,
THEIR VITALITY, AND THEN THEIR
INTELLIGENCE.
SO TO CONCLUDE MANY OF THE
CONSTELLATIONS OF WHAT INCLUDED
BLACKNESS OF ONE'S BIOLOGIST WAS
BASICALLY DEVELOPED DURING THE
ERA OF SLAVERY.
THEY CONTINUED TO FLOURISH AFTER
THE INSTITUTIONS DEMISE.
AND THESE IDEAS SHOWED
REMARKABLY INSURANCE.
BUT ENEAGER CASE, THEY WERE THE
SCAVALLED FOR BUILDING EUGENIC
LOGIC ABOUT RACIAL PURITY AND
FITNESS.
THESE IDEAS ENDURED BUT THEY
ALSO REPRESENTED PART OF THE
ETHOS REPRESENTING SPECIFIC
CHARACTERISTICS AND GROUP OF
PEOPLE AND COMPARING THEM FOR OR
GROUPS WITH UNDERSTANDING
WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
THIS I WOULD ARGUE IS A SHARED
FEATURE OF EUGENIC AND SLAVERY.
AND SLAVERY OF SOUNDNESS AND
FITNESS OF BLACK PEOPLE'S BODY
TO RAABE.
THOSE ASSUMPTIONS CHANGED WHEN
SLAVERY ENDED.
AND THE REALITY OF RACIAL
MIXTURE CAME OUT AS A AN OPEN
SECRET IT WAS DEEMED A PUBLIC
HEALTH PROBLEM.
SO EUGENICS WAS INVESTED IN
MAKING LEGIBLE THE STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES OF DIFFERENT KIND OF
BODIES OF THEIR INHERITED TRAITS
AND ONE OF THE LASTING
CONSEQUENCES OF SLAVERY IS
BLACKNESS AT A PHENOTYPIC TRAIT.
AND DAVENPORT AND OTHERS SEIZED
UPON THIS LOGIC.
AND RACE CROSSING STUDY SHARED A
PATHOLOGIZE BLACK PEOPLE'S BODY.
AND WE CAN THING OF THE MULATTO
BODY AS A VERY PREDICTABLE
COROLLARY.
SO I WANTED TO JUST SAY THAT
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHAT COMES
OUT OF RACE CROSSING IN JAMAICA,
HE NOTES THE FEAR OF THE PASS
FOR WHITES.
THESE ARE PEOPLE THAT COULD
WEAVE THROUGH, MOVE THROUGH THE
COLOR LINE AND POSSIBLY TAINT
THE WHITE RACE.
SO DAVENPORT REFINED AND
REPACKAGED WHITE SUPREMACIST
IDEAS BY THE DISAMONIOUS
RESULTS.
HE MAY HAVE CORRECTED THE
PERCEPTIONS ABOUT MIXED RACE
PEOPLE, THAT WAS NOT OUT OF A
DESIRE TO RIGHT PASTS WRONGS.
DAVENPORT HAD THE IMAGE OF THE
MULATTO TOKING A DANGEROUS,
MENTALLY INFERIOR HYBRID AT THE
DAWN OF THE 20th CENTURY.
HE RENDERED THEM A CLASS OF
PEOPLE THAT COULD CUROPOUS WHITE
RACIAL 40TY AND DRAG DOWN THE
WHITE RACE.
THANK YOU.
>> JEFFERY: DR. RANA HOGARTH,
THANK YOU, FANTASTIC TALK.
WE HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS
THAT HAVE COME IN.
AND THE FIRST ONE IS CAN YOU
CHARACTERIZE THE TRANSMISSION OF
ENDURING OUR CHANGING IDEAS OF
EUGENICS IN THE PROFESSIONAL
LITERATURE.
AND HOW ACCESSIBLE HAVE YOU
FOUND THAT HISTORICAL
PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE TO BE?
>> DR. HOGARTH: SO, SORRY, CAN
YOU JUST REPEAT THAT.
I WANT TO TRY TO WRITE DOWN THE
QUESTION.
>> JEFFERY: SURE, CAN YOU
CHARACTERIZE THE TRANSITION OF
ENDURING OR CHANGING IDEAS OF
EUGENICS IN PROFESSIONAL
LITERATURE IN THE PROFESSIONAL
LITERATURE AND HOW ACCESSIBLE
THAT HISTORICAL PROFESSIONAL
LITERATURE BEEN TO YOU?
>> DR. HOGARTH: OKAY.
SO, YEAH, CERTAINLY.
YOU CAN FIND THIS, THESE
TRANSMISSIONS IN SORT OF THE
LITERATURE.
SO WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING.
I SHOULD KIND OF LAY THIS OUT.
I HAVE BEEN LOOKING THROUGH
PUBLICATIONS ABOUT RACE AND
ABOUT FITNESS, SPECIFICALLY
LOOKING AT THIS PERIOD FROM
1900, TO 1910s, WHAT I HAVE
BEEN FINDING, I WILL FIND A
REFERENCE, RIGHT?
FOR EXAMPLE, I WILL SEE LIKE
GOULD OR BACTER.
WHAT IS THIS, I WRITE IT DOWN,
THESE ARE THE ARMY
ANTHROPOLOGIST STUDIES, RIGHT?
AND SO I'M LIKE, OKAY, WHAT ARE
THEY STUDYING?
THEY ARE MAKING REFERENCES TO
INNATE RACIAL DIFFERENCES.
SO I THINK TO THINK ABOUT, OKAY,
THIS IS ESTABLISH IN 1915 CITING
THIS 1869 STUDY.
SO I'M ACTUALLY TRYING TO
COMPILE AND AMASS A PAPER TRIAL
AND CONNECT THE DOTS BACKWARDS.
SO I STARTED JUST AS FIRST
READING THE EUGENIC -- YOU READ
PAUL, YOU READ DAVENPORT, YOU
MAY READ -- ALL OF THESE KINDS
OF CLAIMS ABOUT INNATE
DIFFERENCES AND SO-CALLED
INFERIOR RACES.
I JUST REALLY WANTED TO
UNDERSTAND, OKAY, WHAT MADE THEM
INFERIOR?
WHO INSPIRED THIS?
IT DIDN'T JUST FALL OUT OF THE
SKY.
YES, I UNDERSTAND THAT
IMMIGRATION IS SOMETHING THAT IS
DRIVING THIS, BUT WHAT I DID
EVEN WITH THE FIRST BOOK WAS TO
KIND OF REALLY UNDERSTAND THE
PAPER TRAIL AND THE CULTURE OF
CITATION AND THE IDEA OF RELYING
ON THE SENSE OF THIS IS
OBJECTIVE.
I'M FOLLOWING IN THE FOOT STEPS
OF OTHER ELITE TRAINED MEN, THEY
ARE MOSTLY MEN, COMING UP WITH
THIS DATA.
SO IT IS VERY EASY FOR ME,
ACTUALLY, TO START WITH SOME OF
THESE PUBLISHED TREATISES AND --
ARTICLES, SEE WHAT THEY
FOOTNOTES ARE.
GO BACK AND SAY, OKAY, THESE ARE
SOME OF THE PUBLISHED DOCUMENTS
FROM EARLIER.
BUT WHAT IS REALLY BEEN
FASCINATING IS TO GO INTO THE
ARCHIVE AND LOOK AT THE
MANUSCRIPTS YOU CAN REALLY SEE
THE MESSINESS HOW THEY GOT TO
THAT PUBLISHED THING.
SO, RACE CROSSING IN JAMAICA,
ONE CAN ACCESS THIS.
THE MILITARY STUDIES, ONE CAN
ACCESS THIS DIGITALLY AND READ
THEM.
BUT IT IS INTERESTING, YOU CAN
LOOK AT A QUESTIONNAIRE THAT WAS
OFFERED TO MILITARY PHYSICIANS
DURING CIVIL WAR WHERE THEY
WOULD HAVE SOMETHING CALLED A
NEGRO QUESTIONNAIRE.
THAT IS A MANUSCRIPT SOURCE THAT
IS HELD ELSEWHERE.
I'M FOLLOWING UP ON.
YOU CAN SEE THE TRANSITION OF
THE KNOWLEDGE.
IT IS VERY MUCH THERE IN THE
PUBLICATION.
I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE
MESSINESS AND PROCESS BEHIND
THIS IN THE ANTHROPOLOGY WORK.
THANK YOU.
>> JEFFERY: THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
SOMEONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN IN, NOT
A QUESTION, BUT AN OBSERVATION
AND THANKS.
I WAS TAUGHT IN THE 8th GRADE
IN THE 1980s, THIS PERSON
SPECIFIES THAT'S BIRACIAL PEOPLE
COULD NOT REPRODUCE, EXCLAMATION
POINT.
I INFORMED THE TEACHER THAT MY
GRANDMOTHER WAS BIRACIAL AND
CLEARLY HAD MY MOTHER.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK, I
APPRECIATE YOU.
>> DR. HOGARTH: THANK YOU FOR
THAT COMMENT.
I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENT,
TOO.
YOU WOULD THINK THAT THIS IDEA
WOULD BE NONSENSE, IT OBVIOUSLY
DOESN'T MAKE SENSE CONSIDERING
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY
OF THE AMERICAS.
BUT THE FACT THAT EUGENICISTS
SAID WE SHOULD LOOK INTO AND ARE
REALLY USING, WHAT COULD
POSSIBLY BE WRONG WITH THEM IS
SOMETHING I COULD NOT JUST
IGNORE, WHEN I STARTED THIS
RESEARCH.
>> JEFFERY: UNDERSTOOD.
THANK YOU.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN
QUESTIONS COME IN VERY QUICKLY.
PARDON ME.
THANK YOU FOR THIS ENLIGHTENING
TALK.
THIS PERSON WRITES IN.
DAVENPORT DIED IN 1944.
JUST AS INSTITUTIONS LIKE THE
ARMY WERE ON THE CUSP OF
DESEGREGATING AND THE CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT WAS GETTING
STARTED.
THE QUESTION IS, DID DAVENPORT
COMMENT ON THESE TRENDS TOWARD
THE END OF HIS LIFE AND TRY TO
INFLUENCE POLICY OR POLITICS?
>> DR. HOGARTH: OH, THAT'S A
REALLY GREAT QUESTION.
ACTUALLY, I CONFESS I DON'T KNOW
WHAT HE REALLY SPENT HIS LATER
PART OF HIS LIFE IN TERMS OF
HIS POLICY AGENDA.
I DO KNOW THAT HE ACTUALLY
MEASURED BLACK SOLDIERS IN
MUCOOKIE IN THE NOTs AND
40s.
I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR,
DAVENPORT DID NOT SEE HIM LIKE A
MADISON GRANT FIGURE.
LIKE HE DID NOT SEE HIMSELF LIKE
THIS FIRE BRAND, I'M JUST GOING
TO SPEW THIS KIND OF VERY
CLEARLY RACIST NONSENSE.
DAVENPORT TRULY SAW HIMSELF AS A
SCIENTIST SAYING OKAY, THESE
PEOPLE HAVE SOME POSITIVE
ATTRIBUTES TO THEM AND THEY CAN
THRIVE IN THESE KINDS OF
CIRCUMSTANCES.
BUT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO EVER
ACHIEVE MORE THAN THAT.
SO HE A VERY SPECIFIC KIND OF
RACIST APPROACH THAT HE WAS
USING THAT WAS UNDER GURRING HIS
SCIENCE.
SO I DON'T KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, IF
HE WOULD HAVE BEEN, HE WAS
CERTAINLY OPPOSED TO RACIAL
MIXING AND INTER MARRIAGE, BUT
I'M NOT SURE HOW HE WOULD COME
DOWN ON THE IDEA OF
DESEGREGATION.
BUT THAT IS A REALLY GREAT
QUESTION.
SOMETHING I WILL THINK OF.
>> JEFFERY: THANK YOU.
ANOTHER QUESTION, HAVE YOU
COMPARED THESE EUGENIC IDEAS ON
WHITE AFRICAN AMERICAN RACE
MIXING TO ANTHROPOLOGICAL IDEAS
ON WHITE NATIVE AMERICAN
MISCEGENATION?
ARE THERE SIMPLY TAIZ
ARE THERE SIM -- SIMILARITIES OR
DIFFERENCES?
HOW DO THESE IDEAS CHANGE OVER
TIME.
>> DR. HOGARTH: THANK YOU FOR
THE QUESTION.
ONE, I JUST STARTED TO DIG MY
TOES INTO UNDERSTANDING THE
VARIOUS WAYS THAT THESE KIND OF
SCIENTISTS APPROACHED RACE
MIXING.
THEY DID NOT HAVE A UNIFORM
VIEW.
SO I SHOULD SAY THAT LESLIE DID
WORK, NATIVE HAWAI'IANS AND
MIXING WITH PEOPLE OF ASIAN
DESCENT AND DIDN'T COME TO THE
CONCLUSION THAT DAVENPORT SAID.
I WILL SAY WHAT DAVENPORT DID
DO, I HAVE THIS STACK OF PAPERS
FROM THE APS.
HE QUERIED OTHER SCIENTISTS FROM
AROUND THE WORLD, TELL ME ABOUT
YOUR RACIALLY MIXED PEOPLE, YOUR
HYBRIDS, WHAT ARE THEY LIKE?
SO, HE HAS DATA FROM SO CALL
CROSSES OF DUTCH AND JAPANESE
PEOPLE.
AND INTERESTING IDEAS.
HE HAS COLLECTED HIS DATA.
SO I SENSE THAT HE IS INTERESTED
IN THIS AS A GLOBAL PHENOMENA,
WITH RESPECT TO THE UNITED
STATES AND/OR INDIGENOUS GROUPS,
THERE IS CERTAINLY THIS IDEA
THAT CERTAIN INDIGENOUS GROUPS
ARE SORT OF VIEWED AS BEING
PRIMITIVE AND COULD POSSIBLY BE
UPLIFTED IN SOME WAY, THERE ARE
ALSO EVENTS THEY WILL BE
EXTINCT, SO COMPETING NARRATIVES
ABOUT INDIGENOUS BODIES.
SOMETHING THAT I FIND QUITE
FASCINATING.
I LOOK, THIS IS WORK OF
ANDERSON, HE LOOKS AT MIXING OF
ABORIGINALS IN AUSTRALIA WITH
WHITE PEOPLE.
YOU COULD BREED THE ABORIGINAL.
SO THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN IN THE
UNITED STATES, I KNOW THERE IS A
TENSION ABOUT HOW CERTAIN
INDIGENOUS GROUP BODIES AND
MIXTURES WITH WHITE ARE BEING
VIEWED AND TALKED ABOUT.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I'M
HOPING TO ATTEND MORE TO.
BUT I JUST TO JUST BE VERY
CLEAR, IT IS NOT A UNIFORM
APPROACH.
IN TERMS OF WHICH RACE.
GROUPS ARE CONSIDERED DEFICIENT
AND WHICH ONE FOR IS POTENTIAL
FOR AND WHICH ONE IS HOPELESS.
BUT THANKS FOR THIS QUESTION.
IT IS AN EXCELLENT ONE.
>> JEFFERY: THANK YOU.
ANOTHER PERSON HAS WRITTEN IN.
GREAT PRESENTATION.
I-- THE EUGENICS RECORDS OFFICE
AS I UNDERSTAND IT, RELIED
HEAVILY ON NEED VOLUNTEERS.
HAVE YOU NOTICED, YET, ANY
INCONSISTENCIES IN THEIR SOCIETY
IN QUOTES OF GATHERING DATA.
I'M ESPECIALLY CURIOUS HOW THIS
WOULD APPLY TO BLACK AMERICANS
AND SO-CALLED MULATTOS?
END QUOTES.
>> DR. HOGARTH: RIGHT.
THIS IS REALLY GREAT.
SO WHAT I HAVE ARE THE NOTES
WHICH I HAVE TO KIND OF GO
THROUGH THESE.
THE HAHN WRITTEN NOTES FROM THE
FIELD WORKERS.
BUT I HAVE TO GO THROUGH AND
COMPARE AND IF THEY ARE USING
UNIFORM NOTETAKING.
BECAUSE I DO KNOW THAT WHEN WE
LOOK AT RACE CROSSING IN JAMAICA
AND THE HEREDITY OF SKIN COLOR,
THERE ARE MOMENTS WHERE
DAVENPORT WILL SAY, OH, THIS IS
AN INCONSISTENT READING, THAT IS
DUE TO ERRORS OF FIELDWORK.
THAT IS DUE TO THE
SUBJECTIVITIES THAT HAPPEN.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, THIS IS SUCH AN
EXCELLENT QUESTION, NOT ONLY
WILL THERE BE DIFFERENCES HOW
THE RESEARCHERS ARE GOING TO
RECORDING THINGS AND BEING
UNIFORMED ON WHAT THEY'RE
SEEING, BUT SOME OF THE TOOLS
THEY USE, THE COLOR TOP, THAT
WAS INITIALLY MARKED BY MILTON
BRADLEY, BUT REPURPOSED FOR SKIN
COLOR, YOU PUT THE DISKS OF
COLOR AND SPIN TOWARDS THE
PERSON'S ARM.
AND THE RESEARCHER EYEBALLS IT.
SO THERE IS SO MUCH OBJECTIVITY.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS I'M HOPI TO
DO WHEN I GO BACK TO THE APS IS
LOOK AT THE ERO NOTES ON THE
DESCRIPTIONS, THE SHORTHAND, AND
THE NOTATIONS AND SEE IF THERE
WAS YOU NORMITY ACROSS ALL OF
THIS RAW DATA COLLECTION AND SO
HOW THAT'S THEN GOT TRANSLATED
INTO THE BODY OF WORK.
THAT IS AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
THANK YOU.
>> JEFFERY: THANK YOU.
SOMEONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN IN WITH
THIS QUESTION.
COULD YOU SAY MORE ABOUT THE
INVOLVEMENT OF THE MILITARY IN
SUPPORTING EUGENICS RESEARCH?
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
MILITARY INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, AND
DEFENSE THAT WOULD PROMPT THE
SEEMINGLY STRANGE COMBINATION OF
ARMY ANTHROPOLOGISTS?
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR
PRESENTATION.
>> DR. HOGARTH: THAT IS A GREAT
QUESTION.
AND SO I THINK HAPPILY, SOMEBODY
HAS SORT OF DONE, I THINK, A
LITTLE OF THIS WORK.
SO PAUL HAS LOOKED AT
MEASUREMENTS PARTICULARLY
FOCUSING ON THE MILITARY
MEASUREMENT AND SORT OF
PROGRESSIVE ERA FEARS ABOUT
LABOR.
AND WHICH BODIES CAN WORK AND
WHICH BODIES ARE DEFISHIN' AT
WORK.
AND SO WHAT YOU FIND IS I SEE
THIS KIND OF A BIT
OPPORTUNISTIC.
RIGHT?
IF YOU HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO
SAY WE HAVE THIS THIS MEN.
AND COLLECT THE DATA ON THEM,
AND GENERALIZE AND MAKE BROAD
SYSTEMS ABOUT WHAT KIND OF WORK
THEY ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO.
HOW ARE THEY GOING TO CONTRIBUTE
TO SOCIETY, IT KIND OF DOES MAKE
SENSE.
SO, PAUL ACTUALLY LOOKS AT A LOT
OF ARMY DATA ON BLACK MEN AND
MIXED RACE MEN, TO SHOW THERE IS
AN VERY, OKAY, ARE THEY GOING TO
WORK?
AND WHAT KIND OF WORK.
ARE THEY FIT AND CONTRIBUTE TO
SOCIETY.
SO, THERE IS AN INDUSTRIAL
PROGRESSIVE CONCERN ABOUT HAVING
PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS AND
PARTICULARLY THINKING ABOUT HOW
ARE THESE PEOPLE OF THIS RACE,
RIGHT?
THIS SO-CALLED INFERIOR RACE,
HOW ARE THEY GOING TO CONTRIBUTE
TO SOCIETY.
AND AM MILITARY STUDIES MAKE
PERFECT SENSE.
AND FOR GOULD, IF YOU LOOK AT
THE SANITARY COMMISSION AND THE
ABOUT PUBLISHED DATA.
MEDICAL OFFICERS WERE SPYING ON
THE MEN AS THEY WERE BATHING
NAKED TO GET AS MUCH
INFORMATION, BECAUSE SOME OF THE
MEN SAID NO, I DO NOT WANT TO BE
MEASURED IN THIS WAY.
SO THEY WERE REALLY TRYING TO
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS
OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A LARGE N,
RIGHT OF THESE DIFFERENT KINDS
OF MEN.
THEY COULD START TO SORT OF
AVERAGE AND TAB A LOT FOR FUTURE
USE.
AND THERE IS A CERTAIN ABOUT
DEFECT.
SO WHAT DAVENPORT DID, WITH
WORLD WAR I, WHAT ARE THE
PHYSICAL DEFECTS, THE PROBLEMS
THAT'S WE'RE NOTICING IN SOME OF
THE RECRUITS, IS ONE RACIAL
GROUP HAVING MORE OF THE
PROBLEMS.
YEAH, THIS SERVED A WHOLE
VARIETY OF PURPOSES.
BUT YEAH, THAT IS A REALLY GREAT
QUESTION.
AND PAUL'S WORK, IS QUITE GOOD.
THAT MIGHT OFFER MORE IN-DEPTH
INFORMATION.
>> JEFFERY: THANK YOU.
ONE FINAL QUESTION BEFORE WE
CONCLUDE THIS AFTERNOON.
WITH RESPECT OF YOUR TIME.
THANK YOU FOR THIS VERY
INTERESTING DISCUSSION.
I HAVE LEARNED A LOT MORE ABOUT
EUGENICS.
DO YOU THINK EUGENICS INFLUENCED
HOW BLACK PEOPLE VIEWED EACH
OTHER DURING SLAVERY?
HOUSE SLAVE VERSUS FIELD SLAVE
AND COLORISM THAT CONTINUES TO
PERSIST IN BLACK POPULATIONS
TODAY?
>> DR. HOGARTH: GREAT
QUESTIONS.
I CAN SPEAK MORE ABOUT COLOR.
ALL.
SO I DON'T KNOW, SO A LOT OF THE
DATA WE HAVE ON FIELD AND HOUSE
SLAVES ARE OFTEN GIVEN THROUGH
WHITE -- PEOPLE, SO YOU VUTO
KIND OF READ THROUGH THAT AND
SEE HOW MUCH THAT IS TRUE AND
HOW MUCH IS BEING PROJECTED.
BUT COLORISM, YES, IT IS REAL.
SO COLORISM CONTINUES TO BE A
PROBLEM.
IT IS A PROBLEM THEN AND NOW.
I DID NOT MENTION THIS IN THE
TALK, THERE IS THIS IDEA OF WHAT
FEATURES ARE CONSIDERED TO BE
POSITIVE FEATURES OR WHICH
PEOPLE ARE MEANT TO BE THE ONES
WHO WILL UPLIFT THE RACE.
IN AND MANY CASES, THIS DOES
HAPPEN TO BE LIGHTER-SKINNED OR
MIXED RACE PEOPLE, IN TERMS OF
HAVING THE OPPORTUNITIES OR
BEING SELF UFPOINTED RACE MEN,
AND RACE WOMEN LEADERS.
RIGHT?
SO, MUCH OF WHAT I DO DOES TAP
INTO THIS.
SO SPECIFICALLY, MICHELLE
MITCHELL'S WORK, A RIGHTEOUS
PROPAGATION TALKS ABOUT THE
ASPIRATIONS AND CONCERNS WITHIN
AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHO ARE GOING
TO BE THE LEADERS OF THE RACE?
WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE FIT
WHO CAN SORT OF UP LIFT
EVERYONE?
AND IT IS VERY MUCH FALLS ALONG
THIS KIND OF COLORREST LINE.
THERE ARE WAYS IN WHICH -- YOU
KNOW, IN LOOKING AT ITERATIONS
OF LAKE WHO CAN PASS OR WHAT
FEATURES ARE CONSIDERED TO BE
FAVORITE, THERE IS A LINE FROM
CAROLYN'S RESEARCH AND SHE
NOTES, YOU KNOW, THE YOUNG
GIRL'S HAIR IS FRIZZY, IT IS
ALMOST KINKY, AND SHE'S VERY
SENSITIVE ABOUT IT.
AND THIS IS HER INTERVIEWING, SO
CAROLYN, BEING A MIXED RACE
WOMAN, SHE IS TAPPING INTO THE
FACT WITHIN THE FAMILIES SHE IS
INTERVIEWING AND TAKING TO, WHO
ASK FOR UNANIMITY, MY HAIR IS
NOT STRAIGHT OR KINGIER OR
CURLIER THAN OR MEMBERS OF MAY
FAMILY.
SO COLOR.
ALL IS PRESENT IN ALL OF THE
DISCOURSES, FOR WHITE EUGENIC
AND FOR BLACK SCIENTISTS
INTERESTED IN THIS ISSUE OF
RACIAL FITNESS.
>> JEFFERY: THAT IS
FASCINATING.
WELL, DR. RANA HOGARTH, THANK
YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR FILE THIS
AFTERNOON.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU JOINING
OUR SERIES.
WE WISH YOU EVERY CONTINUED
SUCCESS IN YOUR WORK.
AND PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO DOING SO.
WELCOMING YOU BACK AT THE
LIBRARY ONE DAY SOON WHEN WE
REOPEN.
ALL OF THE BEST TO YOU.
THANK YOU, AGAIN FOR YOUR
PRESENTATION.
>> DR. HOGARTH: THANK YOU SO
MUCH, THIS IS GREAT FUN.
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
TAKE CARE.