HARRY LAUGHLIN
(Harry Hamilton Laughlin)
The Eugenics Record Office was an activist organization advocating the forced sterilization of those people who they deemed to be inferior from a hereditary point of view. Most Americans are today shocked to find that this organization and its ideas were so influential that more than 30 states had passed similar laws. Only California and Virginia however were zealous in carrying them out . By 1935, 20,000 forced sterilizations had been carried out in the United States. The Supreme Court at the time even found such laws Constitutional. See {603680}.
The phrase “submerged tenth” was ironically used earlier {595222} by a great humanitarian, William Booth, 1829-1912, British Cleric & Founder of The Salvation Army to refer to the poor and the underclass of England. The Salvation Army focused on helping the submerged tenth; the Eugenics Record Office, sterilizing them. The Eugenics Record Office was an activist organization advocating the forced sterilization of those people who they deemed to be inferior from a hereditary point of view. Most Americans are today shocked to find that this organization and its ideas were so influential that more than 30 states had passed similar laws. Only California and Virginia were very zealous in carrying them out however. By 1935, 20,000 forced sterilizations had been carried out in the United States. The Supreme Court at the time even found such laws Constitutional. See {603680}.
The correspondence involved the establishment of a new organization to promote legislative directed sterilization of those people who were not worthy of “pioneer” stock.
Harry Hamilton Laughlin was an American educator, eugenicist, and sociologist. He served as the Superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office from its inception in 1910 to its closing in 1939, and was among the most active individuals in influencing American eugenics policy, especially compulsory sterilization legislation.