About this Site

Content

Over 200 full text documents and images on this site provide an inside view of the eugenics movement in Vermont and show how eugenics initiatives dovetailed with the goals and interests of Vermont's progressive social reformers in the first half of the twentieth century.  The interface orients users to the documents through descriptive summaries of the projects and persons involved, set in historical context, with references to additional sources.  Links to relevant documents are grouped in each section to preserve their provenance, historical relationships, and chronology.  The "archive" lists all of the text documents in chronological order and permits key word searching.

Documents on this site were selected that (1) represent the full scope of the projects of the Eugenics Survey and its associates, (2) provide historical context and identify relationships both locally and nationally, (3) document the changing meaning of eugenics, (4) show the diversity of Vermonters' opinions on the controversies created by the Eugenics Survey of Vermont, and (5) illustrate the variety of available historical sources pertaining to eugenics in Vermont.  This site does not attempt to provide a complete history of eugenics in Vermont, for much of the history remains unrecorded -- encrypted within oral traditions and local folklore or hidden in the silent memories and experiences of those involved, either as participants or casualties of eugenics investigations and interventions.

A word about language:
Many will find the sentiments expressed and the language used in the documents on this site offensive and misleading. You will encounter archaic terms, obsolete concepts, and false assumptions presented as scientific facts. Eugenics period literature is replete with derogatory labels, moral judgments, and prejudices concerning families in poverty and people with disabilities. Yet historical understanding involves a confrontation with the voices of the past, both alien and familiar. A glossary of archaic terms, abbreviations, and aliases or place names with local, historical meaning is provided.

Use of Materials on this Site

Ethical Use of Case records

Samples of confidential case records form the Eugenics Survey archive are included on this site in order to illustrate (1) the methods used to collect personal information on individuals and families under investigation, (2) the context in which personal information was supplied, and (3) the prejudiced and circumstantial nature of evidence that the Eugenics Survey claimed to be factual and "scientific." It was the policy of the Eugenics Survey to keep the identity of particular persons, families, or towns in their studies confidential, through use of pseudonyms in public presentations of their findings.

Despite the fact that these records have been open to the public since 1952, the names of families and persons investigated have been deleted from case files published on this site and replaced with aliases, shown in brackets. Pseudonyms used by the Eugenics Survey and its associates are preserved, however, because they dramatize the attitudes of the investigators to the people they studied. The towns where the Survey operated and the identity of informants that supplied confidential information to the Survey are retained as they appear in the source documents, the difference being that those who cooperated with the Eugenics Survey did so voluntarily.

Any effort to expose the identity of particular individuals or families investigated by the Eugenics Survey without their participation and consent constitutes a misuse of sources on this site.

Publication Restrictions

The images and text on this web site are solely for educational and research uses. With the exception of government documents, images and texts may not be used in digital or print form by organizations or commercial enterprises except with written permission of the copyright holder or the repository of origin. The materials may be used in digital or print form with appropriate source citation in unpublished reports, classroom instruction, research, community forums, and other non-profit activities. Context summaries and overviews in the interface are under copyright. Cite as Nancy L. Gallagher, "Vermont Eugenics:  A Documentary History" (2001), www. uvm.edu/~eugenics/_____ (give title of section).

Return to: About this Site