The American Eugenics Society

• Founded in 1923 by Harry Crampton, Harry Laughlin, Madison Grant, and Henry Fairfield Osborn.
• It was a national eugenics society that spawned 28 state committees and a Southern California branch
• By 1930, over 1,200 people were counted among the members.
  • Notable donors included John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; Irving Fisher, and George Eastman
• Its express purpose was to spearhead the Eugenics movement on a national scale.
• Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the AES promoted its agenda by sponsoring exhibits, lectures, and contests at state and local fairs.
  • Fitter Family Contests pitted family's eugenic history against one another. Judgement included a medical examination for every member of the family that included a psychiatric evaluation.
    • Contests were sponsored at 7 to 10 fairs yearly
    • By 1930, more than 40 sponsors were looking to the AES for help in conducting such contests
    • The 1924 Kansas State Fair passed out Capper Medals to "Grade A Individuals;" these medals were named after a US Senator Capper
    • This family won the 1925 Texas State Fair
  • AES exhibits also included a Flashing Light display which highlighted birth rates of normal and inferior humans
    • For example, every 16 seconds a child is born in the US, every 48 seconds seconds that child is feeble-minded, while every 50 seconds that child is a criminal.
    • A Flashing Light Exhibit
• In 1926, the AES sponsored a Eugenic Sermon Contest, which was designed to solidify its Eugenic claims by finding Biblical references and support
  • An estimated 300 sermons were inspired by the contest; 60 were submitted for judging.

Sources

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