How the Use by Eugenicists of Family Trees and Other Genealogical
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genealogy Article How the Use by Eugenicists of Family Trees and Other Genealogical Technologies Informed and Reflected Discourses on Race and Race Crossing during the Era of Moral Condemnation: Mixed-Race in 1920s and 1930s Britain Peter J. Aspinall Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NF, UK; [email protected] Received: 4 June 2018; Accepted: 30 June 2018; Published: 5 July 2018 Abstract: In the 1920s and 30s, significant empirical studies were undertaken on mixed-race (‘hybrid’) populations in Britain’s seaport communities. The physical anthropologists Rachel Fleming and Kenneth Little drew on the methods of anthropometry, while social scientist Muriel Fletcher’s morally condemnatory tract belongs to the genre of racial hygiene. Whether through professional relationships, the conduct of their work, or means of disseminating their findings, they all aligned themselves with the eugenics movement and all made use of pedigree charts or other genealogical tools for tracing ancestry and investigating the inheritance of traits. These variously depicted family members’ races, sometimes fractionated, biological events, and social circumstances which were not part of genealogy’s traditional family tree lexicon. These design features informed and reflected prevailing conceptualisations of race as genetic and biological difference, skin colour as a visible marker, and cultural characteristics as immutable and hereditable. It is clear, however, that Fleming and Little did not subscribe to contemporary views that population mixing produced adverse biological consequences. Indeed, Fleming actively defended such marriages, and both avoided simplistic, ill-informed judgements about human heredity. Following the devastating consequences of Nazi racial doctrines, anthropologists and biologists largely supported the 1951 UNESCO view that there was no evidence of disadvantageous effects produced by ‘race crossing’. Keywords: mixed-race; hybrids; genealogy; pedigree chart; eugenics; anthropometry 1. Introduction In the first half of the twentieth century, processes of biological inheritance and their consequences lay at the heart of eugenic work, including that on ‘race crossing’ (Bland 2007). This made the tools of genealogists of immediate relevance. Bashford and Levine(2010, p. 10) have written: ‘One of the commonest images in eugenic publications was the family tree, the “pedigree chart”, which tracked the history of talented families, defective families, racially hybrid families, or of leprous, tubercular, epileptic, criminal, and alcoholic families’. Citing the work of Pauline Mazumdar(1992), they argue that the pedigree chart was ‘both the research and propaganda methodology of eugenics, especially in its early years’ (Bashford and Levine 2010, p. 10). Resta(1993, p. 236) observes that ‘the pedigree’s use and development is coincidental with the rise of human genetics and eugenics’. These charts were a staple amongst the technologies that eugenicists brought to bear on their work. As Figure1 shows, eugenics rose in its popularity from 1900 to a peak in the late 1920s, thereafter declining to 1970. In the first half of the century, the late 1920s and early 30s also saw peak usage of the terms ‘genealogical tree’ (and also ‘family tree’). These decades were the heyday of the Eugenics Society, the membership of this Genealogy 2018, 2, 21; doi:10.3390/genealogy2030021 www.mdpi.com/journal/genealogy Genealogy 2018, 2, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 15 Genealogy 2018, 2, 21 2 of 15 saw peak usage of the terms ‘genealogical tree’ (and also ‘family tree’). These decades were the Britishheyday organization of the peakingEugenics at Society, around the 800 membership in the 1930s. of They this witnessedBritish organization the last phase peaking of the at colonialaround 800 empire,in the to be 1930s. followed They witnessed by its relinquishment the last phase in of the the 1950s colonial and empire, early 1960s, to be followed the advent by its of relinquishment large-scale black immigrationin the 1950s and to Britain early 1960s, after thethe Secondadvent Worldof large-sc War,ale and black the immigration rise of ‘race relations’to Britain asafter an the area Second of studyWorld (Rich 1990 War,). and the rise of ‘race relations’ as an area of study (Rich 1990). Figure 1. Trend in the use of ’eugenics’ and ‘genealogical tree’ in Google Ngrams. Note: The graph Figure 1. Trend in the use of ’eugenics’ and ‘genealogical tree’ in Google Ngrams. Note: The graph shows the frequency of these keywords in a given year as a proportion of the total number shows the frequency of these keywords in a given year as a proportion of the total number of words of words in the database for that year. Source: Google Ngrams for the years 1900–1970 from in the database for that year. Source: Google Ngrams for the years 1900–1970 from the corpus of books the corpus of books ‘British English (2009)’ (published in Great Britain in the English language), ‘British English (2009)’ (published in Great Britain in the English language), with a smoothing of 3. with a smoothing of 3. Generated via Google Ngram Viewer: https://books.google.com/ngrams. Generated via Google Ngram Viewer: https://books.google.com/ngrams. For additional technical For additional technical information on the process of graphing Ngrams, see (Michel et al. 2010). information on the process of graphing Ngrams, see (Michel et al. 2010). Quantitative Analysis of Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books. Science. Supporting Online Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books. Science. Supporting Online Material (Published 16 Material (Published 16 December 2010. DOI:10.1126/science.1199644/DC1). December 2010. DOI:10.1126/science.1199644/DC1). It didIt not did escape not escape the notice the notice of anthropologists of anthropologists Herbert Herbert J Fleure, J Fleure, Rachel Rachel M Fleming, M Fleming, and Kenneth and Kenneth L Little atL Little this time at this that time the that presence the presence of long-established of long-established communities communities of Africans, of Africans, Chinese, Chinese, and and Arabs Arabs in Britain’sin Britain’s major major seaports seaports of Liverpool of Liverpool and and Cardiff Cardiff presented presented an an excellent excellent opportunity to to study study their their mixedmixed (‘hybrid’)(‘hybrid’) populations.populations. The The key key methodol methodologyogy they they chose chose to to measure measure human human heredity heredity was was anthropometry,anthropometry, thethe obtainingobtaining of systematic systematic measur measurementsements of ofthe the human human body body,, pioneered pioneered by Francis by FrancisGalton Galton in inthe the anthropometrical anthropometrical laboratory laboratory he set he setup in up 1884. in 1884. These These included included specific specific racial racial markers markerslike like skin, skin, hair, hair, and andeye colour eye colour and nasal and nasal breadth breadth in then in termed then termed ‘Anglo-Negroid’ ‘Anglo-Negroid’ and the and Mongolian the Mongolian(epicanthic) (epicanthic) fold in fold ‘Anglo-Chinese’ in ‘Anglo-Chinese’ children. children. Such Such work work opened opened the thedoor door to the to the infamous infamous racial racialhygiene hygiene report ofof socialsocial science-trainedscience-trained MurielMuriel Fletcher. Fletcher. Pedigree Pedigree charts charts were were used used by theseby these investigatorsinvestigators to characterize to characterize family family histories histories and deduce and deduce patterns patterns of inheritance. of inheritance. 2. Genealogical2. Genealogical Technologies Technologies The popularityThe popularity and usage and usage of genealogical of genealogical trees trees or pedigree or pedigree charts charts is reflected is reflected in the in publicationthe publication by eugenicby eugenic organizations organizations and their and supporterstheir supporters of guides of guides to their to their construction construction over over the periodthe period 1910 1910 to to the mid-1930s.the mid-1930s. These These were were different different from from the usual the usual guides guid ines that in theythat they explicitly explicitly targeted targeted eugenicists eugenicists and ‘medicaland ‘medical men’, men’, clearly clearly indicating indicating the utility the utility of the of charts the charts for eugenic for eugenic work work and and guidance guidance on how on how they couldthey could be annotated be annotated with eugenicwith eugenic information. information. Further, Further, there there was awas move a move towards towards pedigree pedigree chart chart standardisation,standardisation, with notablewith notable initiatives initiatives being being undertaken undertaken in 1913 in 1913 and and 1926, 1926, again again with with a view a view to to facilitatingfacilitating the collection the collection and recording and recording of eugenic of eugenic information. information. The firstThe attempt first attempt to standardize to standardize pedigree pedigree charts charts for eugenic for eugenic purposes purposes was undertaken was undertaken in 1913 in by 1913 the Researchby the CommitteeResearch Committee of the Eugenics of the Education Eugenics Society,Education including Society, AM including Carr-Saunders, AM Carr-Saunders, an eminent an biologist,eminent sociologist, biologist, and sociologist, later Director and later of Director the London of the School London of School Economics, of Economics,