Document Packet: Eugenics and African AmericansDocument 1: The two articles below were both written by Walter Ashby Plecker, MD, in an issue of the Virginia Health Bulletin, a publication of the Virginia State Board of Health. The issue was entitled "The New Family and Race Improvement.” It was published in Nov. 1925.

Introduction The purpose of this, the fifth of the New Family series of booklets, is to place before the better class of young people of Virginia knowledge as to the two great dangers threatening the integrity and supremacy of the native white American race.

These dangers are: 1. The relative decrease in the birth-rate of upper and middle classes of whites as a result of the "Race Suicide" movement, and changed conditions of living. 2. The ultimate and complete intermixture of the white and colored races if they continue to live together. The extent of this mixture already is shown by the fact that one-fourth of the colored race is mulatto, and that some lower classes of whites have been entering into marriage relations with these mulattoes, regardless of their negro blood. The remedies are self-evident: The better class of whites must realize that there are two crimes against their race tending towards its ruin: 1. Interference with the normal increase in the growth of the family. 2. Mixture of their blood with that of another race, whether in wedlock or out of wedlock. Inducing our young people to adopt these thoughts as essential fundamental principles, and to be guided by them, is the great task of those who love their country and who would save it for the Anglo-Saxon race. The principle of racial purity applies with the same force to the colored race and should be equally insisted upon by those who seek the real welfare of that race, and not racial amalgamation, as the most desirable end…

[signed] State Registrar of Vital Statistics.

By Walter Ashby Plecker, M. D.

----------------------------------------------------------------------Shall America Remain White?

This question may be answered “yes” today, but if delayed for several generations it may be forever too late. "Taxation without representation" was the slogan that fired the colonists of 1776; "states' rights" was the cry that called forth the determined resistance of the South in 1861; and "making the world safe for democracy" was the thought that mobilized the resources of our land and hurried millions of our young men to fight the Great War in Europe. As important as these questions were, in neither situation did losing to our enemies mean absolute disaster. In each case, our enemies were of our own blood and kind. The change of rulers and the downfall of our government would not mean the change of ideals and the destruction of white civilization. The South rose in majesty and strength after defeat by her Northern brethren. As horrible as may be the thought, even domination by the Central Powers, people of our own race, would not have meant absolute and hopeless ruin. These dangers were apparent to all and were met by armed and united resistance, but few realize that for 300 years the white race of America has been subjected to a process which, though more destructive than war, has aroused no popular fear, and has called forth only the most feeble and ineffective resistance…

…Major Earnest Sevier Cox in his recent book, "White America," gives a terrifying account of the results in South Africa following from the mixing of races, a mixing indirectly aided by the zeal of misguided missionaries who sought to show that all men are brothers and equals. White women in South Africa are in constant danger of attack by male negroes.

…None of our Southern States permits the intermarriage of whites and pure blacks, but all except Virginia and perhaps two others allow the intermarriage of whites with those of one-sixteenth or one-eighth negro blood. This serious situation calls for the speedy enactment of laws based upon that of Virginia, which defines a white person as one with no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian, and forbids the intermarriage of whites with those with the slightest trace of negro blood.

The only positive remedy for the situation is that advocated by Lincoln and other far-seeing statesmen, the absolute separation of the races. (If we continue to allow mixing of the races,) we will be a helpless mass of mental weaklings, incapable of strong government, and effective resistance to any nation of pure race which chooses to exploit us.

Document 2: This chart was published in a booklet entitled the “Second International Exchange of Eugenics.” It was used as a resource at the Second International Eugenics

Document 3: "Man believed to be white weds Negro woman," Louisville Courier

Conference in New York City. (1921)

"Per cent of increase in total population and in the white and negro population," of insane in hospitals

Louisville Courier April 13, 1921Man Believed White Weds Negro WomanCarl Johnson Arrested on Charge of Miscegenation

Carl Johnson, who claims to be a negro, was arrested last night at his home, 514 Broadway, Jeffersonville, where he resides with his negro wife, married recently at New Albany. He is charged with miscegenation. Johnson, 29 years old, applied for a marriage license three weeks ago at Jeffersonville. He was denied it when the clerk noted the contrasting colors of man and woman. The latter is black, the former as white as the average Caucasian. On April 9 Johnson and the woman, Grace Henson, 27, went to New Albany. They obtained a license from Aaron V. Johnson, clerk, and were married by E. Louis Rafferty, negro minister. Constable Harvey B. Holmes, Jeffersonville, learned of the marriage yesterday. Holmes went to school with Johnson at Sellersburg and says that he knew Johnson's father and other members of the family, and that Johnson has white relatives living. Johnson insists that he is a negro, but has offered no proof. The penalty for miscegenation is a fine of from $100 to $1,000 and a prison sentence of from one to ten years.

Document 4: "Race crossing in man," by Charles Davenport Date: around 1920

What is a race?

In early days man spread until he came to fill all the accessible corners of the continent upon which he arose. In peninsulas, on islands, in other isolated environments, the longest sojourners showed new mutations and those mutations that were adapted to the special conditions of the remote or isolated country survived. Since the conditions of life were different in these isolated regions and the mutations afforded by nature were diverse, each of the populations segregated in each area came to be stamped with a facies all its own. Each came to constitute a distinct race. In the course of thousands of generations, the scores of lines, an inconceivably great number of mutations will have arisen. The differentiation into unlike races and the special adjustments will have become all the more marked. Each race will have come to fit the environment, as a key fits the lock.

Mankind, in its different races, is more or less migratory. (Because mankind is moving) all barriers are being thrown down. Race mixture is occurring as never before in the history of mankind. Is it strange that statesmen, biologists, eugenicists are aroused to demand, "What can be predicted as to the consequences of such crossing?" Should it be welcomed as tending to produce a higher type of man or should steps be taken to prevent immigration to any country as a menace to its culture?

…

Now, of human characteristics, many are based on adaptations to the race’s surroundings. Thus the black skin of the tropical negro protects him from sunburn of the skin and even of the viscera, without uses of clothing. The fat deposits of the Eskimo form a useful blanket of protection against severe cold. The long legs of the Australian aborigines serve them well in tracking the kangaroo. The broad pelvises of the European women, who give birth to large and big-headed babies, are an obvious physiological adjustment.

The high intelligence of the European races is an adaptation to the competition and crowding arising in a life largely devoted to trade. Each race of man that has long persisted in a distinct environment has gained certain adaptations to that environment. The useful genetic adaptations have enabled their possessors to survive and the genetic make-up that produced them continues the characters of the race.

In the mixture of the races which is now taking place there are combinations of genetic traits which sometimes lead to disharmony in the offspring of racially mixed couples. For example, in America we have a union of some races that are characterized by large teeth, in large jaws, with others having small teeth in small jaws. It has been suggested by orthodontists that a combination of an hereditary tendency is large teeth, combined with hereditary small jaws produces the crowding of teeth which has made orthodontia so important a branch of medicine in the United States.

Mental and temperamental incompatibilities may also arise, as we see in the mulattoes of North America which combine something of a white man's intelligence and ambition with an insufficient intelligence to realize that ambition. This leads in the hybrid to dissatisfaction and the feeling that he is not getting a fair deal.

… the result of race crossing depends upon the particular nature of the cross. Race-crossing is not injurious [strikeout]perse[end strikeout], but may lead in some cases to a disharmony in the phenotype. Thus my conclusion is a pragmatic one; where a race cross is the one to produce physically mentally and temperamentally superior stock, it may be encouraged; where it produces stock that is below the average in these respects it may well be discouraged. In case of doubt we play safe by discouraging it.

Document 5: “Rankings in Murder” This diagram was published in the journal entitled Eugenical News. It is undated and the artist is unnamed.

Document 6:The article below was published in the Virginia Health Bulletin. It was written by W.A. Plecker

"The New Virginia Law to Preserve Racial Integrity" Virginia Health BulletinVol. XVI. MARCH, 1924. Extra No. 2

W.A. Plecker, M.D., State Registrar of Vital Statistics, Richmond, Va.

Senate Bill 219, To preserve racial integrity, passed the House March 8, 1924, and is now a law of the State. This bill aims at correcting a condition which only the more thoughtful people of Virginia know the existence of. It is estimated that there are in the State from 10,000 to 20,000, possibly more, near white people, who are known to possess an intermixture of colored blood, in some cases it is only a small amount, but still enough to prevent them from being white.

In the past it has been possible for these people to declare themselves white, or even to have the Court so declare them. Then they have demanded the admittance of their children into the white schools, and in not a few cases have intermarried with white people. In any large gathering or school of colored people, especially in the cities, many will be observed who are scarcely distinguishable as colored.

These persons, however, are not white in reality, and by the new definition of this law, no person with any trace of mixed blood may be classed as white.

Our bureau (The Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics) has kept a watchful eye upon the situation, and has guarded the welfare of the State as far as possible with inadequate law and power. The condition has gone on, however, and is rapidly increasing in importance. Unless radical measures are used to prevent it, Virginia and other parts of the Nation must surely in time go the way of all other countries in which people of two or more races have lived in close contact. With the exception of the Hebrew race, complete intermixture or amalgamation has been the inevitable result. To succeed, the intermarriage of the white race with mixed stock, must be made impossible.

But that is not sufficient, public sentiment must be so aroused that intermixture out of wedlock will cease. The public must be led to look with scorn and contempt upon the man who will degrade himself and do harm to society by such abhorrent deeds. The Bureau of Vital Statistics and clerks who issue marriage licenses are barriers placed by this law between the danger and the safety of the nation. The task of the Bureau of Vital Statistics is a great one…

The new law provides for the registration of all persons who desire it, and who will make application for such registration of color and birth, remitting at the same time the fee of twenty-five cents for each applicant. These births will be permanently recorded and preserved for all time, and will be of great value for many purposes, such as to prove American citizenship when applying for passports to go abroad, and for establishing and preserving the family tree for future generations…

Document 7: The document below is an application for marriage that was required under the new “Law to Preserve Racial Integrity”

Document 8:

Lynch Law (1907) : Benjamin Tillman

Have I ever advocated lynching at any time or at any place? I answered on my honor, “Never!” I have justified it for one crime, and one only (the rape of white women). I have consistently and persistently maintained that attitude for the last fourteen years.1 As governor of South Carolina I proclaimed that, although I had taken the oath of office to support the law and enforce it, I would lead a mob to lynch any man, black or white, who had ravished a woman, black or white.2 This is my attitude calmly and deliberately taken, and justified by my conscience in the sight of God.

Mr. President, the Senator from Wisconsin speaks of “lynching bees.”3 As far as lynching for rape is concerned, the word is a misnomer. When stern and sad-faced white men put to death a creature in human form who has deflowered a white woman, there is nothing of the “bee” about it. There is more of the feeling of participating as a mourner at a funeral. They have avenged the greatest wrong, the blackest crime in all the category of crimes, and they have done it, not so much as an act of retribution in behalf of the victim as a duty and as a warning as to what any man may expect who shall repeat the offense.4 They are looking to the protection of their loved ones; to the protection of the race.

Excerpted from The Congressional Record—Senate, 59th Congress, 2nd Session, vol. 41, pt. 2 (January, 1907), pp. 1437-1443

1 Tillman is referring to the rape of (white) women2 Tillman was governor of South Carolina from 1890-1894, a time in which he became “nationally notorious for his ‘lynching pledge.’ In cases where a black man was accused of raping a white woman, the governor said, he would himself lead the lynch mob.” Historians note, however, that Tillman never actually kept this promise. 3 The senator from Wisconsin to whom Tillman refers was John Coit Spooner, (1843-1919), also known as John C. Spooner, who served in the Senate from 1885-91 and 1897-1907. Spooner had served in the Union Army during the Civil War.A “lynching bee” refers to the spectacle of somebody (or some people) getting lynched. Usually used in reference to an African American, these "lynching bees" or "Negro barbecues" functioned as a space to produce a sense of community, like church revivals or carnivals. 4 Read any black man.

Document 9:First Newspaper Report of Charley Powell’s Lynching Excerpted in full from The Macon Daily Telegraph, 4 February 1912

NEGRO FIEND5 LYNCHED HERE_______

Assaulted Young Woman on Way Home From Work Last Night._______

TAKEN FROM DEPUTIES IN RAILROAD YARDS_______

At 2:50 o’clock this morning a crowd of about 100 men overpowered Deputy Sheriffs Williams and Birdsong near the plant of the of the Central Manufacturing Company on the Central of Georgia Railway, one mile south of the city, and taking Charley Powell, the negro who assaulted a young white woman last night, swung him to a telephone pole and riddled the body with bullets.

The deputies had taken the negro to the railroad yards in the hope of catching a train to either Columbus or Atlanta. They had the negro concealed in a box car. A railroad man is said to have furnished the tip that the deputies and their prisoner were there and the crowd of men made a rush for the yards. They found the trio hidden in the box car and soon overpowered the officers and despite their appeals to let the law run its course, quickly dragged the negro from the car, still securely handcuffed.

Sheriff Hicks told The Telegraph this morning he had done everything that he possibly could to get the negro safely out of the city. He said:

“I went to the office of the chief dispatcher and tried to arrange one of the outgoing trains stopped at some point where my deputies could take their prisoner aboard. The dispatcher could not make the proper arrangements and I took the deputies on out into the yards hoping that they would be able to stop a train. I did all in my power to prevent a lynching.”

When they learned that the sheriff had succeeded in getting his prisoner out of the jail, the leaders began to take steps to intercept the deputies in their flight. Arrangements were made to block the road leading into Griffin, it being reported that the deputies had headed for Atlanta in an automobile. One searching party went out to Lakeside Park, it being reported that the negro would be taken aboard a Central train at the M. and A. Junction.

Sheriff Hicks states that Powell was taken from the jail at 12:45 o’clock and he gave his deputies instructions to get him out of the county as quickly as possible.

_________

Just as a young white woman reached First and Ocmulgee streets last night about 10 o’clock, while on her way home from her work, she was set upon by a negro fiend, Charley Powell, by name, who beat her over the head with a pistol rendering her unconscious, and then dragged her down a steep embankment and under a negro house, where he accomplished his purpose.

[Illegible]…drag the young wounded woman down the embankment. Mrs. Hendrix called for help and her cries were heard by a young man. He rushed to the telephone to notify the police. Just at that time there did not happen to be a call officer at police headquarters. Bicycle Officer Moseley came in a moment later and he was quickly dispatched to the scene. He fired his pistol into the air and the report was heard by Policeman J. H. Mettis who was at New and Walnut streets.

Headed Off the BlackAsking a lady at a nearby house to notify the sheriff, the two policemen started after the negro, Patrolman

Moseley starting at the first house in the bottom at the foot of New street, while Policeman Mettis hurried to First and Ocmulgee streets, where he was sure the black would have to emerge from the bottom. No sooner had he arrived than the negro made his appearance. As soon as he saw the policeman he opened fire and by the third shot Policeman Mettis was upon him. The negro fought desperately, using his gun as a club, and beat the officer over the arm. Policeman Mettis could not get to his own gun, but he fought the negro with his club and beat his head into a pulp. Before the black had been subdued Sheriff J. H. [sic] Hicks came to the assistance of the policeman and the two officers managed to subdue the negro.

5 Fiend: demon

By that time the auto patrol wagon had arrived and the negro was hurried to police headquarters and a few moments later on order from Chief Chapman was taken to the county jail and turned over to Sheriff Hicks for safekeeping.

News Spreads RapidlyThe news of the assault spread rapidly through the business portion of the city. There were not many people on

the street, but when it was learned that the negro had been removed to the county jail, a crowd of about 200 men gathered in front of the jail and demanded that the negro be turned over to them. Sheriff Hicks declared that the negro had already been removed and the crowd realizing they were too late withdrew for a consultation. At a late hour this morning no trouble was anticipated for the statement of the sheriff was apparently accepted by the men gathered about the jail.

The negro who committed the assault has been employed by the Macon Bottling [sic] works as a chauffeur and when taken into custody had his chauffeur’s certificate in his pocket. He is a black negro and according to Policeman Mettis weighs about 140 pounds. The policeman says that the negro fought desperately. Policeman Mettis’ escape was remarkable and was only due to the fact that the last two times Powell snapped his pistol the cartridges failed to explode. The first three shots were fired at such close range that Policeman Mettis heard the bullets whiz by his ear. The fourth and fifth time that the pistol was snapped the gun refused to work.

__________

Woman Rendered Unconscious The young woman victim of the negro occupies a position that requires her to remain at her post of duty until late

on Saturday nights. She left her work work [sic] shortly before 10 o’clock and was within a stone’s throw of the house in which she lives when the negro attacked her. The blow from the negro’s pistol rendered her unconscious for a time but she fought the negro after she had been dragged down the embankment. Her throat bore the marks of the negro fiend’s fingers.

After the negro broke and ran, the young woman was able to make her way up the embankment. By that time several persons were approaching. Among the number was Dr. Webb, who at once recognized the young woman. He quickly took her to her home only a short distance away, where he gave her medical attention. It was stated late last night that while the young woman was badly injured she would recover.

The negro had a double object in the assault, one of which was robbery and the other to satisfy his fiendish lust. After the assault he took the young woman’s hand satchel and still had it under his arm when he was captured by Policeman Mettis. There was only a small amount of money in the purse.

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Document 10: