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A project of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU

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Davenport Desk documents

01 annual report 1927 1 thumb
19 exhibit details 1 thumb
09 davenport 9.27 1 thumb
01 organization history 3 thumb
01 euthenics and eugenics   davenport 6 thumb
01 national committee on prisons and prison labor   origins, purpose and present activities 6 thumb
01 davenport 1923 diary 34 thumb
01 anthropology and eugenics 3 thumb
02 loose notes 1931 1 thumb
01 system of indexing human traits 3 thumb
01 davenport 1923 diary 41 thumb
01 davenport 1923 diary 17 thumb
01 report of the subcomittee on ultimate program 10 thumb
01 davenport 1923 diary 5 thumb
05 rising tide thumb
13 estabrook 5.15 thumb
01 davenport 1923 diary 21 thumb
09 personal schedule 01 thumb
15 outside activities 1926 27 1 thumb
03 davenport portrait thumb

As founder and director of the Eugenics Record Office, Harvard-trained biologist Charles Benedict Davenport gave the ERO its academic credentials. A young and ambitious biologist, by 1910 Davenport’s academic interests had shifted from animal morphology and evolution to human heredity, and he successfully lobbied railroad magnate widow and philanthropist Mary Harriman to help found what would become the country’s most influential eugenics research facility. The Davenport Desk files include drafts of his lecture and papers, which sport titles like “Do Races Differ in Mental Capacity?” and “A Biologist’s View of the Negro Problem.” Political and professional correspondences with disciple Harry Laughlin, colleague Madison Grant, and even Teddy Roosevelt lend insight to the pivotal role Davenport played as the visionary and figurehead of American eugenics. Meanwhile, letters to and from his wife and daughters shine a light on the eugenics leader’s personal life.

  • Trait Files
  • Davenport's Desk
  • Administrator's Desk
  • Library