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59-455: With significant post-war activity The Galton Laboratory of National Eugenics was a laboratory established for the research of eugenics , later to the study of biometry and statistics , and eventually human genetics based at University College London (UCL) in London , England. The laboratory was originally established in 1904 and existed in name until 2020. The Eugenics Record Office,

118-439: A Eugenic Philosophy" framed eugenics as a social philosophy —a philosophy with implications for social order . That definition is not universally accepted. Osborn advocated for higher rates of sexual reproduction among people with desired traits ("positive eugenics") or reduced rates of sexual reproduction or sterilization of people with less-desired or undesired traits ("negative eugenics"). In addition to being practiced in

177-465: A cause of physical and social pathology as much as a defense against it. "When under any kind of noxious influence an organism becomes debilitated, its successors will not resemble the healthy, normal type of the species, with capacities for development, but will form a new sub-species, which, like all others, possesses the capacity of transmitting to its offspring, in a continuously increasing degree, its peculiarities, these being morbid deviations from

236-646: A focus on intelligence. Early critics of the philosophy of eugenics included the American sociologist Lester Frank Ward , the English writer G. K. Chesterton , and Scottish tuberculosis pioneer and author Halliday Sutherland . Ward's 1913 article "Eugenics, Euthenics, and Eudemics", Chesterton's 1917 book Eugenics and Other Evils , and Franz Boas ' 1916 article " Eugenics " (published in The Scientific Monthly ) were all harshly critical of

295-543: A formal inquiry into the history of eugenics at UCL. The Inquiry was chaired by Professor Iyiola Solanke , of the University of Leeds and included sixteen members. The original inquiry set out six terms of reference. In June 2020, UCL issued a formal apology for its history and legacy of eugenics. This followed a report and comprehensive set of recommendations given to UCL in February 2020 from its official Inquiry into

354-610: A group known as The Famous Five , also pushed for various eugenic policies. Following the Mexican Revolution , the eugenics movement gained prominence in Mexico. Seeking to change the genetic make-up of the country's population, proponents of eugenics in Mexico focused primarily on rebuilding the population, creating healthy citizens, and ameliorating the effects of perceived social ills such as alcoholism, prostitution, and venereal diseases. Mexican eugenics, at its height in

413-997: A lay member of the Judicial Appointments Commission . She was formerly: a member of the Economic and Social Research Council , where she served as chair of the Research Grants Board; a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life ; chair of the Public Legal Education and Support (PLEAS) task force; chair of the Advisory Panel for research on Family Advice and Information for the Legal Services Commission; chair of main panel J of

472-724: A number of countries, eugenics was internationally organized through the International Federation of Eugenics Organizations . Its scientific aspects were carried on through research bodies such as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics , the Cold Spring Harbor Carnegie Institution for Experimental Evolution , and the Eugenics Record Office . Politically,

531-551: A popular eugenics movement emerged in the United Kingdom, and then spread to many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and most European countries (e.g. Sweden and Germany ). In this period, people from across the political spectrum espoused eugenic ideas. Consequently, many countries adopted eugenic policies, intended to improve the quality of their populations' genetic stock. Historically,

590-500: A precursor to the Galton Laboratory, was established in 1904 by Francis Galton . In 1906 Karl Pearson took directorship of The Eugenics Record Office, eventually dissolving it. During its operation, The Eugenics Record Office employed three staffers: Dr. Edgar Schuster (Galton Research Fellow, 1905–1906), David Heron (Galton Research Fellow, 1906), and Ethel Elderton (Research Assistant and Secretary, 1905–1907). In 1907

649-399: Is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population . Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fertility of people and groups they considered inferior, or promoting that of those considered superior. The contemporary history of eugenics began in the late 19th century, when

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708-661: Is aimed at encouraging reproduction among the genetically advantaged, for example, the eminently intelligent, the healthy, and the successful. Possible approaches include financial and political stimuli, targeted demographic analyses, in vitro fertilization, egg transplants, and cloning. Negative eugenics aimed to eliminate, through sterilization or segregation, those deemed physically, mentally, or morally "undesirable". This includes abortions, sterilization, and other methods of family planning. Both positive and negative eugenics can be coercive; in Nazi Germany, for example, abortion

767-423: Is artificially pieced together of bits of mental hygiene, child guidance, nutrition, speech development and correction, family problems, wealth consumption, food preparation, household technology, and horticulture. A nursery school and a school for little children are also included. The institute is actually justified in an official publication by the profound question of a girl student who is reported as asking, “What

826-490: Is the connection of Shakespeare with having a baby?” The Vassar Institute of Euthenics bridges this gap! Eugenicist Charles Benedict Davenport noted in his article "Euthenics and Eugenics," reprinted in Popular Science Monthly : Thus the two schools of euthenics and eugenics stand opposed, each viewing the other unkindly. Against eugenics it is urged that it is a fatalistic doctrine and deprives life of

885-567: The Aktion T4 campaign, is understood by historians to have paved the way for the Holocaust . "All practices aimed at eugenics, any use of the human body or any of its parts for financial gain, and human cloning shall be prohibited." Hungarian Constitution "Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority." The first and most fundamental article of German basic law By

944-702: The Catholic Church was an opponent of state-enforced sterilizations, but accepted isolating people with hereditary diseases so as not to let them reproduce. Attempts by the Eugenics Education Society to persuade the British government to legalize voluntary sterilization were opposed by Catholics and by the Labour Party . The American Eugenics Society initially gained some Catholic supporters, but Catholic support declined following

1003-591: The Industrial Revolution have resulted in an increased propagation of deleterious traits and genetic disorders . Compulsory sterilization , also known as forced or coerced sterilization, refers to any government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually done by surgical or chemical means. Purported justifications for compulsory sterilization have included population control , eugenics, limiting

1062-598: The Research Assessment Exercise 2008. Genn is the daughter of Lionel and Dorothy Genn. She attended Minchenden Grammar School and studied for a joint degree in Sociology, Social Anthropology and Social Administration at the University of Hull . In 1972, she abandoned work towards an M.A. in Sociology and became a researcher, first at Cambridge Institute of Criminology (1972–74), then at

1121-510: The founding father of Singapore , actively promoted eugenics as late as 1983. In 1984, Singapore began providing financial incentives to highly educated women to encourage them to have more children. For this purpose was introduced the "Graduate Mother Scheme" that incentivized graduate women to get married as much as the rest of their populace. The incentives were extremely unpopular and regarded as eugenic, and were seen as discriminatory towards Singapore's non-Chinese ethnic population. In 1985,

1180-453: The 1930 papal encyclical Casti connubii . In this, Pope Pius XI explicitly condemned sterilization laws: "Public magistrates have no direct power over the bodies of their subjects; therefore, where no crime has taken place and there is no cause present for grave punishment, they can never directly harm, or tamper with the integrity of the body, either for the reasons of eugenics or for any other reason." In fact, more generally, "[m]uch of

1239-490: The 1930s, influenced the state's health, education, and welfare policies. The scientific reputation of eugenics started to decline in the 1930s, a time when Ernst Rüdin used eugenics as a justification for the racial policies of Nazi Germany . Adolf Hitler had praised and incorporated eugenic ideas in Mein Kampf in 1925 and emulated eugenic legislation for the sterilization of "defectives" that had been pioneered in

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1298-704: The Anglican clergymen William Inge and James Peile both wrote for the Eugenics Education Society. Inge was an invited speaker at the 1921 International Eugenics Conference , which was also endorsed by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York Patrick Joseph Hayes . Three International Eugenics Conferences presented a global venue for eugenicists, with meetings in 1912 in London, and in 1921 and 1932 in New York City. Eugenic policies in

1357-741: The Biometric Laboratory and the Francis Galton Laboratory for National Eugenics, in 1913 this department was renamed the Department of Applied Statistics and Eugenics. The department's increase in size prompted UCL to acquire or construct a new space. In 1912 Sir Herbert Bartlett offered space in the North-West front of UCL's Wilkins building. The outbreak of the First World War interrupted work and

1416-625: The History of Eugenics. Additionally, UCL announced that the institution would be denaming spaces and buildings named after Francis Galton and Karl Pearson. The spaces included the former Galton Lecture Theatre, the Pearson Lecture Theatre, and the Pearson Building. Nine of the inquiry's original sixteen members did not agree to sign this report. The MORE Group recommendations was an additional report compiled by nine of

1475-681: The MRC Experimental Genetics Unit, headed by Hans Grüneberg . Subsequently, on Grüneberg's retirement, the space occupied by his unit was reallocated to the newly created MRC Mammalian Development Unit , led by Anne McLaren , and the MRC Blood Group Unit , headed by Ruth Sanger , and subsequently Patricia Tippett. In 2013 the Galton Laboratory was incorporated into UCL's then new Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment. In 2018, then President and Provost of UCL, Professor Michael Arthur established

1534-558: The Office was reconstituted as the Galton Eugenics Laboratory as part of UCL, still under the direction of Karl Pearson a professor of Applied mathematics . The Galton Laboratory was financed by Francis Galton. On his death in 1911, Francis Galton left his estate to the University of London to fund a permanent Chair of Eugenics filled by Karl Pearson. Pearson created the Department of Applied Statistics which combined

1593-521: The Order of the British Empire (DBE) on 17 June 2006, elevated from Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). She was awarded honorary fellowship of Queen Mary in 2004, and the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Edinburgh in 2004, and by the University of Leicester on 13 July 2007. She was appointed an honorary Queen's Counsel in 2006. In 2011 Dame Hazel became

1652-554: The Oxford University Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (1974–1985) as a member of Wolfson College, Oxford , during which she also achieved her LLB . She joined the Law Department at Queen Mary College, University of London in 1985, and became Professor and Head of Department in 1991. In 1994 she went to work at University College London , where she has remained. Genn was created a Dame Commander of

1711-462: The United States were first implemented by state-level legislators in the early 1900s. Eugenic policies also took root in France, Germany, and Great Britain. Later, in the 1920s and 1930s, the eugenic policy of sterilizing certain mental patients was implemented in other countries including Belgium, Brazil, Canada , Japan and Sweden . Frederick Osborn 's 1937 journal article "Development of

1770-656: The United States once he took power. Some common early 20th century eugenics methods involved identifying and classifying individuals and their families, including the poor, mentally ill, blind, deaf, developmentally disabled, promiscuous women , homosexuals, and racial groups (such as the Roma and Jews in Nazi Germany ) as "degenerate" or "unfit", and therefore led to segregation, institutionalization, sterilization, and even mass murder . The Nazi policy of identifying German citizens deemed mentally or physically unfit and then systematically killing them with poison gas, referred to as

1829-865: The child was deemed incapable of living a Spartan life, the child was usually killed in a chasm near the Taygetus mountain known as the Apothetae . Further trials intended to discern a child's fitness included bathing them in wine and exposing them to the elements to fend for themselves, with the intention of ensuring that only those considered strongest survived and procreated. And so selective infanticide seems to have been as widespread in Ancient Rome as it had already long been in Athens . The term eugenics and its modern field of study were first formulated by Francis Galton in 1883, directly drawing on

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1888-610: The disabled at home. Similar concerns had been raised by early eugenicists and social Darwinists during the 19th century, and continued to play a role in scientific and public policy debates throughout the 20th century. More recent concerns about supposed dysgenic effects in human populations were advanced by the controversial psychologist Richard Lynn , notably in his 1996 book Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations , which argued that changes in selection pressures and decreased infant mortality since

1947-426: The doctrines; it comprehends them both. [...] [I]n the generations to come, the teachings and practice of euthenics [...] [may] yield greater result because of the previous practice of the principles of eugenics. The more rational the race becomes, the better roads, ships, tools, machines, foods, medicines and the like it will produce to aid itself, though it will need them less. The more sagacious and just and humane

2006-674: The early geneticists were not themselves Darwinians. Eugenics became an academic discipline at many colleges and universities and received funding from various sources. Organizations were formed to win public support for and to sway opinion towards responsible eugenic values in parenthood, including the British Eugenics Education Society of 1907 and the American Eugenics Society of 1921. Both sought support from leading clergymen and modified their message to meet religious ideals. In 1909,

2065-451: The end of World War II , many eugenics laws were abandoned, having become associated with Nazi Germany . H. G. Wells , who had called for "the sterilization of failures" in 1904, stated in his 1940 book The Rights of Man: Or What Are We Fighting For? that among the human rights, which he believed should be available to all people, was "a prohibition on mutilation , sterilization, torture , and any bodily punishment". After World War II,

2124-464: The idea of eugenics has been used to argue for a broad array of practices ranging from prenatal care for mothers deemed genetically desirable to the forced sterilization and murder of those deemed unfit. To population geneticists , the term has included the avoidance of inbreeding without altering allele frequencies ; for example, British-Indian scientist J. B. S. Haldane wrote in 1940 that "the motor bus, by breaking up inbred village communities,

2183-479: The incentives were partly abandoned as ineffective, while the government matchmaking agency, the Social Development Network , remains active. Developments in genetic , genomic , and reproductive technologies at the beginning of the 21st century have raised numerous questions regarding the ethical status of eugenics, sparking renewed interest in the topic. Hazel Genn Genn is

2242-695: The inquiry's members who did not agree to sign off on the Feb 2020 report. Reasons cited by members of the MORE Group for their refusal to sign the Feb 2020 report included a need for more time to develop the narrative of the report, a deeper understanding of UCL's eugenics history and a broader set of terms that gave equal weight and understanding to all targets of eugenics. The inquiry group published one additional group report in April 2021 co-chaired by Professor Hazel Genn and Dr. Kamna Patel . This report synthesised

2301-454: The mentally ill), compulsory sterilization , forced abortions or forced pregnancies , ultimately culminating in genocide . By 2014, gene selection (rather than "people selection") was made possible through advances in genome editing , leading to what is sometimes called new eugenics , also known as "neo-eugenics", "consumer eugenics", or "liberal eugenics"; which focuses on individual freedom and allegedly pulls away from racism, sexism or

2360-452: The midst of a severe mental epidemic; of a sort of black death of degeneration and hysteria, and it is natural that we should ask anxiously on all sides: 'What is to come next?" Max Simon Nordau (1892) The idea of progress was at once a social, political and scientific theory. The theory of evolution, as described in Darwin's The Origin of Species , provided for many social theorists

2419-402: The movement advocated measures such as sterilization laws. In its moral dimension, eugenics rejected the doctrine that all human beings are born equal and redefined moral worth purely in terms of genetic fitness. Its racist elements included pursuit of a pure " Nordic race " or " Aryan " genetic pool and the eventual elimination of "unfit" races. Many leading British politicians subscribed to

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2478-579: The necessary scientific foundation for the idea of social and political progress. The terms evolution and progress were in fact often used interchangeably in the 19th century. The rapid industrial, political and economic progress in 19th-century Europe and North America was, however, paralleled by a sustained discussion about increasing rates of crime, insanity, vagrancy, prostitution, and so forth. Confronted with this apparent paradox, evolutionary scientists, criminal anthropologists and psychiatrists postulated that civilization and scientific progress could be

2537-622: The new space was not used by the department until October 1919, with an official opening in June 1920. Pearson was succeeded as Galton Professor by R. A. Fisher in 1934. When Fisher moved to Cambridge in 1944 the laboratory was incorporated in an enlarged Department of Eugenics, Biometry and Genetics headed by J. B. S. Haldane , the Wheldon Professor of Biometry. This reversed a previous split in 1933 following Karl Pearson's retirement. The Galton Laboratory underwent many changes during

2596-498: The normal form – gaps in development, malformations and infirmities" Dysgenics refers to any decrease in the prevalence of traits deemed to be either socially desirable or generally adaptive to their environment due to selective pressure disfavouring their reproduction. In 1915 the term was used by David Starr Jordan to describe the supposed deleterious effects of modern warfare on group-level genetic fitness because of its tendency to kill physically healthy men while preserving

2655-676: The opposition to eugenics during that era, at least in Europe, came from the right." The eugenicists' political successes in Germany and Scandinavia were not at all matched in such countries as Poland and Czechoslovakia , even though measures had been proposed there, largely because of the Catholic church's moderating influence. "Any new set of conditions which renders a species' food and safety very easily obtained, seems to lead to degeneration" Ray Lankester (1880) "We stand now in

2714-584: The original February 2020 report with the further recommendations of the MORE Group. The most recent report was released in November 2021 focused on further research undertaken by the inquiry. The Galton Laboratory published many pieces including memoir series, lectures series, addresses, biometric series, and technical series. Originally established as the Galton Chair in National Eugenics,

2773-521: The original nature that is bred into man, the better schools, laws, churches, traditions and customs it will fortify itself by. There is no so certain and economical a way to improve man's environment as to improve his nature. According to Plutarch , in Sparta every proper citizen's child was inspected by the council of elders, the Gerousia , which determined whether or not the child was fit to live. If

2832-526: The post was renamed under Penrose to be the Galton Professor of Human Genetics. ^ Possibly succeeding Grüneberg. 51°31′23″N 0°07′59″W  /  51.523°N 0.133°W  / 51.523; -0.133 Eugenics Eugenics ( / j uː ˈ dʒ ɛ n ɪ k s / yoo- JEN -iks ; from Ancient Greek εύ̃ (eû)  'good, well' and -γενής (genḗs)  'born, come into being, growing/grown')

2891-487: The post-war period. Most notably this period saw another renaming of the department following negative associations of eugenics after World War II . This renaming was by Harry Harris in 1966, where it then became the Department of Human Genetics and Biometry. The Department of Human Genetics and Biometry, including the Galton Laboratory, became part of the Department of Biology in UCL in 1996. MRC Human Biochemical Genetics Unit

2950-695: The practice of "imposing measures intended to prevent births within [a national, ethnical, racial or religious] group" fell within the definition of the new international crime of genocide, set out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide . The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union also proclaims "the prohibition of eugenic practices, in particular those aiming at selection of persons". Lee Kuan Yew ,

3009-464: The prevention and removal of contagious disease and parasites . In a New York Times article of May 23, 1926, Rose Field notes of the description, "the simplest [is] efficient living". It is also described as "a right to environment", commonly as dual to a "right of birth" that correspondingly falls under the purview of eugenics. The influential historian of education Abraham Flexner questions its scientific value in stating: [T]he “science”

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3068-430: The rapidly growing movement. Several biologists were also antagonistic to the eugenics movement, including Lancelot Hogben . Other biologists who were themselves eugenicists, such as J. B. S. Haldane and R. A. Fisher , however, also expressed skepticism in the belief that sterilization of "defectives" (i.e. a purely negative eugenics) would lead to the disappearance of undesirable genetic traits. Among institutions,

3127-700: The recent work delineating natural selection by his half-cousin Charles Darwin . He published his observations and conclusions chiefly in his influential book Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development . Galton himself defined it as "the study of all agencies under human control which can improve or impair the racial quality of future generations". The first to systematically apply Darwinism theory to human relations, Galton believed that various desirable human qualities were also hereditary ones, although Darwin strongly disagreed with this elaboration of his theory. And it should also be noted that many of

3186-524: The spread of HIV , and ethnic genocide . Eugenic feminism was a current of the women's suffrage movement which overlapped with eugenics. Originally coined by the Lebanese-British physician and vocal eugenicist Caleb Saleeby , the term has since been applied to summarize views held by prominent feminists of Great Britain and the United States. Some early suffragettes in Canada, especially

3245-400: The stimulus toward effort. Against euthenics the other side urges that it demands an endless amount of money to patch up conditions in the vain effort to get greater efficiency. Which of the two doctrines is true? The thoughtful mind must concede that, as is so often the case where doctrines are opposed, each view is partial, incomplete and really false. The truth does not exactly lie between

3304-753: The theories of eugenics. Winston Churchill supported the British Eugenics Society and was an honorary vice president for the organization. Churchill believed that eugenics could solve "race deterioration" and reduce crime and poverty. As a social movement, eugenics reached its greatest popularity in the early decades of the 20th century, when it was practiced around the world and promoted by governments, institutions, and influential individuals. Many countries enacted various eugenics policies, including: genetic screenings , birth control , promoting differential birth rates, marriage restrictions , segregation (both racial segregation and sequestering

3363-853: Was a powerful eugenic agent." Debate as to what exactly counts as eugenics continues today. Early eugenicists were mostly concerned with factors of measured intelligence that often correlated strongly with social class. Although it originated as a progressive social movement in the 19th century, in contemporary usage in the 21st century, the term is closely associated with scientific racism . New, liberal eugenics seeks to dissociate itself from old, authoritarian eugenics by rejecting coercive state programs and relying on parental choice. Eugenic programs included both positive measures, such as encouraging individuals deemed particularly "fit" to reproduce, and negative measures, such as marriage prohibitions and forced sterilization of people deemed unfit for reproduction. In other words, positive eugenics

3422-647: Was established by Harris in 1962. He was Honorary Director until he went to Philadelphia in 1976, and the unit continued under the direction of David Hopkinson until its closure in October 2000. Sam Berry also held a Professorship in Genetics from 1972. In 1967 the laboratory moved into a dedicated new building Wolfson House along with a further two Medical Research Council units: the Human Biochemical Genetics Unit, headed by Harris, and

3481-447: Was illegal for women deemed by the state to be fit. Euthenics ( / j uː ˈ θ ɛ n ɪ k s / ) is the study of improvement of human functioning and well-being by improvement of living conditions . "Improvement" is conducted by altering external factors such as education and the controllable environments , including environmentalism , education regarding employment , home economics , sanitation , and housing , as well as

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