EXPERIENCES AND VOICES OF EUGENICS FIELD-WORKERS - WOMENS WORK IN BIOLOGY

Experiences and ideas of eugenic 'field-workers' offer a new historica l perspective on American eugenics, while highlighting terms of women' s early twentieth-century scientific education and research employment . To advance knowledge of heredity, the US Eugenics Record Office (ERO ) between 1910 and 1924, trained 258 students (85% of them women) to c ollect information about individuals, families and communities. Though some historians have dismissed eugenic field-workers as careless or u ncritical, many had scientific or medical backgrounds, and took resear ch seriously. While gendered expectations and other obstacles limited women's hopes for professional advance, the female field-workers creat ed a strong community and culture of their own. Comparing notes, some recognized that their results did not support eugenic assumptions, and cautioned against letting enthusiasm overwhelm scientific integrity T hese women field-workers raised serious questions about methodology an d ethics, but the situation of eugenics work at the time undermined ch ances for such criticism to be acknowledged. After World War I, milita ry-related research and political manoeuvring dominated eugenics, furt her marginalizing field-workers. Ironically, while ERO head Charles Da venport had wanted students to promote eugenics, some demonstrated mor e fundamental commitment to scientific ideals - but to little avail.