Hoover
Institution Archives
David Starr Jordan Papers, 1794-1950
The collected papers of David Starr Jordan. Obviously
these papers will reveal a lot about David Starr Jordan’s involvement in the
forced sterilization program. Problems will be identifying where relevant
documents are located in the enormous collection. I have currently picked out
some correspondence with members of the Human Betterment Foundation to examine.
Commonwealth Club of California Records
The Commonwealth Club of California brought together many
prominent leaders in California to discuss current topics, including David
Starr Jordan and Lewis Terman. The Club has some records of debates about
eugenics, and I would assume included discussion of the forced sterilization program.
It would be interesting to see what Jordan said in public to his colleagues.
Stanford
University Archives
Lewis Madison Terman Papers
Terman was a professor of psychology at Stanford who was
also a member of the Human Betterment Foundation. He developed the IQ test,
which the forced sterilization relied upon to determine who would be
sterilized. The collection contains correspondence with David Starr Jordan; the
problem again will be identifying information about the sterilization program.
David Starr Jordan Papers
The papers of David Starr Jordan, held at the Stanford
University Archives. It is unclear from the description how these differ from
the collection at Hoov
er. However, the biography of David Starr Jordan that I
have read cites these papers, so they probably contain something of interest.
The problem is that the collection is not indexed online.
Jessie Knight Jordan Papers
The wife of David Starr Jordan. It is unclear if she
would have been discussing with Jordan the forced sterilization program.
California Institute of Technology Archives
Records of the Human Betterment
Foundation
The Human Betterment Foundation was a
group of intellectuals in California who researched and promoted the forced
sterilization program. David Starr Jordan and Lewis Terman were members. It
would obviously be fantastic to be able to read their collection, however it is
located very far away in Sacramento.
Charles M. Goethe papers
Charles Goethe was a member
of the Human Betterment Foundation and the founder of the Eugencis Section of
the California Commonwealth club. He obviously knew David Starr Jordan so it
would be interesting to see their correspondence and his thoughts on the forced
sterilization program.
Books
David Starr Jordan, The Blood of a Nation
David Starr Jordan’s book, published in 1909, in which he
explains his belief in eugenics. Unfortunately, the Stanford Library has lost
its only copy. I am currently looking for a replacement.
Ezra Seymour Gosney, Sterilization for Human Betterment;
a summary of results of 6,000 operations in California, 1909-1929
A report about the success and failures of the forced
sterilization program. Not sure what else is included until I can take a look
at it.
Paul Popenoe, Twenty-Eight years of Sterilization in
California
Paul Popenoe wrote a review of the forced sterilization
program 28 years after its inception. Popenoe was a member of the Human
Betterment Society. He was also the student of David Starr Jordan while
studying at Stanford; Jordan asked Popenoe to be the editor of the Journal of
Heredity after he graduated.
Human Betterment Foundation, Collected Papers on Eugenic Sterilization
in California; a critical study of results in 6000 cases
Collection of papers about the results and various
aspects of the forced sterilization program. Most of them were written by Paul
Popenoe (see above).
Edward Burns, The Prophet of Freedom
A biography of the life of David Starr Jordan. It was
published in 1950, just a few years after the programs of Hitler had made
eugenics a very controversial topic. Burns skims over Jordan’s involvement in
the sterilization program, saying he didn’t support it (which is clearly
untrue). Regardless, interesting contextual facts about Jordan’s life.
Alina, your sources all look really interesting!!! It is really lucky that your topic is so relevant to Stanford history since it looks like there are so many physical primary sources just here on campus. I think the inclusion of those various sources from the Human Betterment Foundation will provide a great foil to the Jordan specific sources.
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