Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
Abstract
While from a late twentieth- and early twenty-first century perspective, the ideologies of eugenics (controlled reproduction to eliminate the genetically unfit and promote the reproduction of the genetically fit) and environmental conservation and preservation, may seem incompatible, they were promoted simultaneously by a number of figures in the progressive era in the decades between 1900 and 1950. Common to the two movements were the desire to preserve the ‘‘best’’ in both the germ plasm of the human population and natural environments (including not only natural resources, but also undisturbed nature preserves such as state and national parks and forests). In both cases advocates sought to use the latest advances in science to bolster and promote their plans, which in good progressive style, involved governmental planning and social control. This article explores the interaction of eugenic and conservationist ideologies in the careers of Sacramento banker and developer Charles M. Goethe and his friend and mentor, wealthy New York lawyer Madison Grant. In particular, the article suggests how metaphors of nature supported active work in both arenas.
Recommended Citation
Allen, Garland E., "“Culling the Herd”: Eugenics and the Conservation Movement in the United States, 1900–1940" (2013). Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations. 6.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs/6
Embargo Period
4-23-2012
Comments
This is a post-review author version. The final publication is available in the Journal of the History of Biology at www.springerlink.com. © Copyright 2012 Springer. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10739-011-9317-1