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Long Island and the Legacy of eugenics: station of intolerance
During the 20th century, eugenics dominated scientific objectivity in the quest to understand human genetics. The eugenics movement was not merely relegated to the fields of science or medicine. It directly infiltrated all walks of American life including academics, immigration, politics, and popular culture. On Long Island, and throughout the nation, eugenicists were granted unfettered access to conduct experiments on a wide array of captive populations at prisons, psychiatric centers, Native American reservations, poor families of rural areas, circus performances at Coney Island, and other locations all in an effort to legitimize this false science. American eugenicists maliciously practiced and avidly promoted eugenics around the globe which ultimately inspired the horrors inflicted by Adolf Hitler, Josef Mengele, and others within the Third Reich and beyond.
Although theoretically conceived in England, the methods, practice, and popularity of eugenics were undoubtedly made and perfected in America. Yet, it was not developed in some laboratory or governmental facility. Instead, the beacon of this sinister movement was the Eugenics Record Office; a two-and-a-half story administrative building at Cold Spring Harbor, New York under the direction of one man named Charles Benedict Davenport from 1910-1939. How did this small and somewhat secretive facility spark a global movement that forever altered the course of humanity? Who funded such an expansive operation and why? “Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics: Station of Intolerance” explores the local origins, characters, influences, methodologies, and ghastly consequences all of which emanated from this small Long Island facility for more than three decades and spread throughout the entire world.
Art cover courtesy of Gerard Dubois.
Although theoretically conceived in England, the methods, practice, and popularity of eugenics were undoubtedly made and perfected in America. Yet, it was not developed in some laboratory or governmental facility. Instead, the beacon of this sinister movement was the Eugenics Record Office; a two-and-a-half story administrative building at Cold Spring Harbor, New York under the direction of one man named Charles Benedict Davenport from 1910-1939. How did this small and somewhat secretive facility spark a global movement that forever altered the course of humanity? Who funded such an expansive operation and why? “Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics: Station of Intolerance” explores the local origins, characters, influences, methodologies, and ghastly consequences all of which emanated from this small Long Island facility for more than three decades and spread throughout the entire world.
Art cover courtesy of Gerard Dubois.