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Harvard’s Eugenics Era

When academics embraced scientific racism, immigration restrictions, and the suppression of “the unfit”.
A women's liberation group marches in Boston on April 17, 1971.

The Reproductive Rights Movement Has Radical Roots

Abortion rights in the US were won in the 1970s thanks to militant feminist groups. As those rights are repealed, the fight must return to the streets.
Rows of Klansmen in white hoods with faces exposed march on Washington; the dome of the Capitol is visible in the background.

When the Klan Ruled Indiana… And Had Plans to Spread Its Empire of Hate Across America

The Klan dens of the heartland were powerful, vicious, and ambitious. Indiana was their bastion.
Detail of faces on a family tree.

The Pocahontas Exception: America’s Ancestor Obsession

The ‘methods and collections’ of genealogists are political because they have a great deal in common with genealogy as a way of doing history.
House Energy Committee Chairwoman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) speaks during a subcommittee hearing about the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic on Feb. 8.
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The Eugenic Roots of ‘Quality Adjusted Life Years,’ and Why They Matter

Why a powerful House Republican wants to ban a common insurance practice.
Margaret Sanger in 1928.

The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Ghost of Margaret Sanger

Religious conservatives see “anti-eugenic” laws as the most promising path to establish a federal ban on abortion.
A mural dedicated to George Floyd, left, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery in Tampa.
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Race, Class and Gender Shape How We See Age and Childhood

Assessing age — and protecting children — has always been subjective.
Robert De Niro as Gen. Dillenbeck, in "Amsterdam."

Did American Business Leaders Really Try to Overthrow the President, Like in "Amsterdam"?

How David O. Russell’s movie messes around with the story of the Business Plot.
Colorful rainbow image of a brain.

Mental Illness Is Not in Your Head

Decades of biological research haven't improved diagnosis or treatment. We should look to society, not to the brain.
A woman lights a candle at a memorial for the Buffalo shooting victims, May 2022.
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The Mass Shooting in Buffalo Reflects Deeply Rooted American Ideas

Until we grapple with our history, white supremacist terrorism will keep happening.
Horse and rider at 1917 Kentucky Derby

Fast Horses and Eugenics

The breeding of race horses validated those aspiring to belong to an American elite while feeding into racist beliefs about genetic inheritance.
James Dobson speaking at a Focus on the Family event

The Eugenics Roots of Evangelical Family Values

Although they have different beliefs, eugenicists and evangelicals have historically worked together to further a joint agenda.
Nurse Harriet Curley takes the pulse of a patient at Sage Memorial Hospital on the Navajo Indian reservation in 1949. (AP)

How Native Americans Were Vaccinated Against Smallpox, Then Pushed Off Their Land

Nearly two centuries later, many tribes remain suspicious of the drive to get them vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Posters reading "Is your child vaccinated? Vaccination prevents smallpox"

The Smallpox-Fighting “Virus Squads” That Stormed Tenements in the Middle of the Night

In the 1800s, they helped lay the groundwork for the anti-vaccine movement.
Artwork that says "Bury me fiercely" and features imagery of a face mask and cross

You Are Witness to a Crime

In ACT UP, belonging was not conferred by blood. Care was offered when you joined others on the street with the intent to bring the AIDS crisis to an end.
The Pfizer headquarters sign.
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Years of Medical Abuse Make Black Americans Less Likely to Trust the Coronavirus Vaccine

Reckoning with our past is crucial to getting buy-in for the vaccine.
A group of nurses.

Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail and Histories of Native American Nursing

Yellowtail, the first Crow registered nurse, fought for the inclusion of Native medicine and healing knowledge in reservation hospitals.
Photo of an interracial couple

On California’s Eugenicist Past

Jane Dailey considers the power of the law to reinforce racism.

How Eugenics Shaped Statistics

Exposing the damned lies of three science pioneers.

Trump's Touting of 'Racehorse Theory' Tied to Eugenics and Nazis Alarms Jewish Leaders

President Trump has alarmed Jewish leaders by appearing to endorse 'racehorse theory' — used by eugenicists and Nazis last century.

Carrying Community: The Black Midwife’s Bag in the American South

Black midwives were central to community health networks in the South.

The Eugenicists on Abortion

Contrary to what Clarence Thomas recently claimed, eugenicists never favored abortion as a means of population control.
Photo of Pat Maginnis with pitchfork.

They Called Her “the Che Guevara of Abortion Reformers”

A decade before Roe, Pat Maginnis’ radical activism—and righteous rage—changed the abortion debate forever.
Women's liberation movement demonstrating in Washington D.C.

The Waves of Feminism, and Why People Keep Fighting Over Them, Explained

If you have no idea which wave of feminism we’re in right now, read this.

Ku Klux Klambakes

What does the Klan of the 1920s have to teach us about the resurgence of organized bigotry in the Trump era?
Men in drag, 1915.

Transgender Men Who Lived a Century Ago Prove Gender Has Always Been Fluid

In her new book, ‘True Sex,’ historian Emily Skidmore looks at their lives and how society has treated them.

What the Nazis Learned from America

Rigid racial codes in the early 20th century gained the admiration not only of many American elites, but also of Nazi Germany.

The Black Politics of Eugenics

For much of the twentieth century, African Americans embraced eugenics as a means of racial improvement.

“The Passing of the Great Race” at 100

In the age of Trump, Madison Grant's influential work of scientific racism takes on a new salience.

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