| Title | Date | Author(s) | Publisher | Type | Eugenics 0-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elements of Biology | 1907 | Hunter, George William | American Book Company, New York | Phylogenetic | 0 |
| Applied Biology | 1911 | Bigelow, Maurice A; Bigelow, Anna N | Macmillan, New York | Unity of Life | 0 |
| Essentials of Biology | 1911 | Hunter, George William | American Book Company, New York | Phylogenetic | 1 Domestication and selective breeding introduced at end of Zoology section. |
| Elementary Biology: Plant, Animal, Human | 1912 | Peabody, James Edward; Hunt, Arthur Ellsworth | Macmillan, New York | Phylogenetic | 0 |
| A Civic Biology | 1914 | Hunter, George William | American Book Company, New York | Economic | 4 Strongly eugenic, refers to the "feeble-minded" as parasites, that "blood tells," that there are clearly good families and bad families, and regarding bad families, save for our "humanity" we would "kill them off to prevent them from spreading" (263). However, conclusion less doctrinaire. |
| Practical Biology | 1916 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 0 |
| Civic Biology | 1918 | Hodge, Clifton F. and Dawson, Jean | Ginn, Boston | Economic | 4 Strongly eugenic. Directly links evolution to eugenics and boldly promotes the critical need to prevent the "feeble-minded" – 1 in 30 Americans, according to the authors – from reproducing (344-45). |
| Elementary Biology: An Introduction to the Science of Life | 1919 | Gruenberg, Benjamin C | Ginn, Boston | Unity of Life | 1 Very mildly eugenic. |
| Biology for High Schools | 1920 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 1 Mildly suggests students "take care" in selecting mates so that the inherited tendency toward "industry and thrift" are passed on to children. |
| Biology for Beginners | 1921 | Moon, Truman J | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 1 Implies racial progress. |
| Civic and Economic Biology | 1922 | Atwood, Wm. H | P. Blakiston's, Philadelphia | Economic | 5 Harshly eugenic. Contains the most shocking defense, summed up by this quote: "One of the reasons why Greece, Rome, and the other great nations of antiquity perished is that they violated the principles of eugenics. If our nation is to live its people must be of the best, and their blood must not be contaminated by that of the unfit. What is your state doing to improve the next generation?" (337). |
| New Essentials of Biology | 1923 | Hunter, George William | American Book Company, New York | Phylogenetic | 1 Identical to Hunter 1911. |
| The Biology of Man and Other Organisms | 1923 | Linville, Henry R | Harcourt, New York | Normative | 4 Strongly eugenic in its demands for "social control of inheritance" (178), though structure mitigates narrative force, climaxing with calls for correct posture, exercise and proper diet. |
| Biology of Home and Community | 1923 | Trafton, Gilbert H | Macmillan, New York | Economic | 0 No eugenics, despite focus on domestication and species improvement. |
| Living Things, An Elementary Biology | 1924 | Clement, Arthur G | Iroquois Publishing Co, Syracuse, NY | Economic | 4 Eugenics serves as closing statement, after plant and animal breeding. Talks of hard costs to society of bad heredity: Jukes and Kallikaks. |
| Biology and Human Welfare | 1924 | Peabody, James Edward; Hunt, Arthur Ellsworth | Macmillan, New York | Economic | 5 Harshly prescriptive. Heritage and habits of equal importance. |
| New Biology | 1924 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 2 Text is generally descriptive not prescriptive. Little or no content on habits, posture, mate selection, trade selection. |
| Living Things, An Elementary Biology | 1925 | Clement, Arthur G | Iroquois Publishing Co, Syracuse, NY | Economic | 4 Eugenics serves as closing statement, after plant and animal breeding. Talks of hard costs to society of bad heredity: Jukes and Kallikaks. |
| Biology and Human Life | 1925 | Gruenberg, Benjamin C | Ginn, Boston | Economic | 4 Suggests intelligent control of reproduction via enlightened institutionalization is the only path to more advanced civilization. |
| New Civic Biology | 1926 | Hunter, George William | American Book Company, New York | Economic | 5 Harshly eugenic and deterministic. "Our knowledge of heredity" underscored promotion of natural personal limits - with students suited for the professions, commercial life or the trades relative to their inborn traits (402). |
| An Introduction to Biology | 1926 | Kinsey, Alfred C | Lippincott, Chicago | Unity of Life | 2 Asks students in one exercise to find stories on Jukes, Kallikaks, Darwin and Edwards families. Does not index eugenics, but has a deterministic thrust. "There are really very few of us who have the necessary heredities to make good Presidents of the United States" (174). |
| Biology for Beginners | 1926 | Moon, Truman J | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 1 Implies racial progress, but does not cover eugenic language. |
| Modern Biology: Its Human Aspects | 1926 | Waggoner, Harry Dwight | D. C. Heath, Boston | Phylogenetic / Unity of Life hybrid | 4 Harsh, though typical for the decade ... comparable to Atwood (1927). Quote: "A high class human family can retain its excellence only so long as the marriages of its members are with individuals of the same type. Marriages with lower types can result only in a deterioration in the sum total of desirable family qualities" (347). |
| Biology | 1927 | Atwood, Wm. H | P. Blakiston's, Philadelphia | Economic | 4 Less harsh than Atwood 1922. However, eugenics presented as a climax to the text and a key focus of biology. |
| New General Biology | 1929 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 2 Nearly identical to Smallwood 1924. |
| Problems in Biology | 1931 | Hunter, George William | American Book Company, New York | Economic | 4 Retains all the harsh language of Hunter 1926, but argument no longer as clearly presented. |
| Essentials of Biology | 1931 | Meier, W. H. D; Meier, Lois | Ginn, Boston | Phylogenetic | 2 Though it closes with eugenics, the text contains no supporting argument. |
| Dynamic Biology | 1933 | Baker, Arthur O; Mills, Lewis H | Rand McNally, New York | Normative (weakly) | 3 Standard 1930s presentation comparing Juke and Kallikak families with Edwards family. Warns of close intermarriages and immigrants of "defective stock" (655). |
| New Introduction to Biology | 1933 | Kinsey, Alfred C | Lippincott, Chicago | Unity of Life | 2 Does not index eugenics. Retains Juke etc. exercise and deterministic tone of Kinsey 1926. |
| The Living World | 1933 | Mank, Helen Gardner | Benj. H. Sanborn & Co, Chicago | Unity of Life / Health | 0 |
| Biology for Beginners | 1933 | Moon, Truman J; Mann, Paul B | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 3 Introduces genetics and eugenics, including H. H. Goddard's Kallikak study. |
| Biology for Today | 1934 | Curtis, Francis D; Caldwell, Otis W; Sherman, Nina Henry | Ginn, Boston | Unity of Life | 2 Strong pitch for eugenic awareness closes text, but avoids harsher prescriptions of many earlier and most competitors. |
| New Biology | 1934 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 3 Introduces Juke and Kallikak studies. Along with Edwards, Darwin and Bach. |
| Biology | 1935 | Fitzpatrick, Frederick L; Horton, Ralph E | Houghton Mifflin, Boston | Economic | 4 Proudly eugenic. Closes on the topic. However, remains strictly economic, not normative, throughout. |
| Our World of Living Things | 1936 | Heiss, Elwood D; Osborn, Ellsworth S; Manzer, J. Gordon | Webster Publishing Company, St. Louis, MO | Unity of Life / Health | 4 Unapologetically progressionist, calmly eugenic: "All available data indicate that intelligence is determined by the genes which a person inherits" (173). |
| Everyday Problems in Biology | 1936 | Pieper, Charles J; Beauchamp, Wilber L; Frank, Orlin D | Scott, Foresman and Company, Chicago | Unity of Life / Economic | 3 Advocates limits on immigration and reproduction of feeble-minded, balanced by environment and education defense. |
| New Biology | 1937 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 3 Introduces Juke and Kallikak studies. Along with Edwards, Darwin and Bach. |
| New Introduction to Biology | 1938 | Kinsey, Alfred C | Lippincott, Chicago | Unity of Life | 2 Identical to Kinsey 1926, 1933. |
| Adventure with Living Things | 1938 | Kroeber, Elsbeth; Wolff, Walter H | D. C. Heath, Boston | Phylogenetic / Unity of Life hybrid | 1 Quite similar to Smith 1938. Indexes and gives lengthy treatment to the topic, only to rebut and disclaim. |
| Biology: a Revision of Biology for Beginners | 1938 | Moon, Truman J; Mann, Paul B | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 3 All but identical to Moon 1933. |
| Exploring Biology | 1938 | Smith, Ella Thea | Harcourt, New York | Unity of Life | 2 Eugenics described at length. Pitched as perhaps unarguable for the 'feeble-minded.' But highly disclaimed. |
| A Biology of Familiar Things | 1939 | Bush, George L; Dickie, Allan; Rukle, Ronald C | American Book Company, New York | Normative | 3 Moderately eugenic, sums the social cost of feebleminded at $100,000,000. Mostly suggestive regarding mate selection. |
| Living Things and You | 1940 | Downing, Elliot R; McAtee, Veva M | Lyons and Carnahan, Chicago | Normative | 3 Unapologetic in its presentation, though suggests that legislative solutions are not the answer, that "individuals who are taught the laws of sex and of inheritance will, it is hoped, act with discretion" (505). |
| Science of Living Things | 1941 | Clinton, Weymouth G | Holt, New York | Unity of Life | 2 Closes with eugenics (Kallikak and Edwards families compared), but topic burried, tacked on after lawn care, flower gardens and grafting. |
| Biology: a Revision of Biology for Beginners | 1941 | Moon, Truman J; Mann, Paul B | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 3 All but identical to Moon 1933. |
| Biology and Human Affairs | 1941 | Ritchie, John W | World Book Company, Yonkers-On-Hudson | Normative | 4 Disclaims "negative eugenics," but strongly promotes "positive eugenics" (699). Normative, and by definition, deterministic. |
| Dynamic Biology Today | 1943 | Baker, Arthur O; Mills, Lewis H | Rand McNally, New York | Normative | 3 Quite similar to Baker 1933, though somewhat demoted; eugenics no longer on par with genetics, ecology, pathology, etc. (compare p. 56, 1933 with p. 46, 1943). |
| Everyday Biology | 1943 | Curtis, Francis D; Caldwell, Otis W; Sherman, Nina Henry | Ginn, Boston | Unity of Life | 2 Identical to Curtis 1934. |
| Exploring Biology | 1943 | Smith, Ella Thea | Harcourt, New York | Unity of Life | 1 Eugenics described but immediately disclaimed: "Let us see what is wrong with the program that aims to improve mankind by 'breeding from the best families'" (513). |
| Biology and Man | 1944 | Gruenberg, Benjamin C; Bingham, N. Eldred | Ginn, Boston | Unity of Life | 0 Gruenberg is first author to drop eugenics completely after once advancing the idea. |
| Biology for Better Living | 1946 | Bayles, Ernest E; Burnett, R. Will | Silver Burdett Company, New York | Normative | 1 Mostly anti-eugenic. Takes a stand against Juke/Kallikak "bad heredity" story. Further reading references in conflict. |
| Biology: a Revision of Biology for Beginners | 1946 | Moon, Truman J; Mann, Paul B | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 3 All but identical to Moon 1933. |
| Biology for You | 1946 | Vance, B. B; Miller, D. F | Lippincott, Chicago | Normative | 1 Text mentions eugenics, but disclaims effectiveness. |
| Modern Biology | 1947 | Moon, Truman J; Mann, Paul B; Otto, James H | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 4 Expands discussion of eugenics as "genetics applied to human inheritance" (606), and reinforces importance by using the topic to eugenics heredity and breeding to evolution. Kallikak study remains. |
| Biology and Human Affairs | 1948 | Ritchie, John W | World Book Company, Yonkers-On-Hudson | Normative | 4 Identical to Ritchie 1941 (598-99). |
| Elements of Biology | 1948 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A; Dodge, Ruth A | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 3 Introduces Juke and Kallikak studies. Along with Edwards, Darwin and Bach. Eugenics sandwiched between "maturity" and "decline" and "the end," linking individual development with species history. |
| Exploring Biology | 1949 | Smith, Ella Thea | Harcourt, New York | Unity of Life | 1 Eugenics defined by just one paragraph, though unlike previous editions, not disclaimed. |
| Adventures with Animals and Plants | 1950 | Kroeber, Elsbeth; Wolff, Walter H | D. C. Heath, Boston | Unity of Life | 1 As in 1938, eugenics introduced and rebutted. |
| Modern Biology | 1951 | Moon, Truman J; Mann, Paul B; Otto, James H | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 4 Text identical to Moon 1947, Kallikak study intact. |
| Elements of Biology | 1952 | Smallwood, W. M; Reveley, Ida L; Bailey, Guy A; Dodge, Ruth A (lead author) | Allyn and Bacon, Boston | Phylogenetic | 3 Jukes, Kallikaks, Edwards, Darwins and Bachs all present. In 1952! |
| Basic Biology for High Schools | 1953 | Fenton, Carroll Lane; Kamby, Paul E | Macmillan, New York | Unity of Life | 0 |
| Exploring Biology | 1954 | Smith, Ella Thea | Harcourt, New York | Unity of Life | 2 Eugenics defined. Further readings suggested. "Value" pitched, but possibility of near-term application dismissed. Several sections end with statements claiming understanding "may enable man to take a hand in directing "the future course of evolution" (482). |
| Biology in Daily Life | 1955 | Curtis, Francis D; Urban, John | Ginn, Boston | Unity of Life | 3 Though content similar to Curtis 1943, and contains a notable pitch for racial equality (503), class differences strongly implied (498-505). |
| Biology in Our Lives | 1955 | Hunter, George W; Hunter, F. R | American Book Company, New York | Normative | 4 Highly deterministic. Torn on the topic of eugenics (448-450). On one hand eugenics "is entirely contrary to the social and moral codes of democracy." On the other hand, places the cost to society of the "various classes of defective people" at $3,000,000,000. |
| Modern Biology | 1956 | Moon, Truman J; Mann, Paul B; Otto, James H | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 4 Text retains strong presentation of eugenics, though finally drops Kallikak study. |
| Biology | 1957 | Krober, Elsbeth; Wolff, Walter H; Weaver, Richard L | D. C. Heath, Boston | Unity of Life | 1 Mere mention of genes and environment. |
| Biology : The Living World | 1958 | Curtis, Francis D; Urban, John | Ginn, Boston | Unity of Life | 3 Relevant text (590-596) nearly identical to Curtis 1955 (1949, 1953). |
| Biology for You | 1958 | Vance, B. B; Miller, D. F | Lippincott, Chicago | Normative | 0 Eugenics indexed, but not actually included in text. |
| New Dynamic Biology | 1959 | Baker, Arthur O; Mills, Lewis H; Tanczos Jr., Julius | Rand McNally, New York | Normative | 2 Quite similar to Baker 1933 and 1943. Drops warnings about immigrants, shifts to global concerns - population explosion. However, anti-racist and pro-nurture/environment. |
| Exploring Biology | 1959 | Smith, Ella Thea | Harcourt, New York | Unity of Life | 0 Eugenics gone from text along with all claims to value of human control of evolution. |
| Modern Biology | 1960 | Moon, Truman J; Otto, James H; Towle, Albert | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 4 Text retains 1956 presentation of eugenics. |
| Your Biology | 1962 | Smith, Ella Thea; Lisonbee, Lorenzo | Harcourt, New York | Normative | 0 |
| BSCS "Green Version" aka Biological Science: An Ecological Approach | 1963 | Bates, Marston; Kolb, Haven C (Supervisors) | Rand McNally, New York | Unity of Life | 0 Text is non-progressionist. Almost hostile to humans. |
| BSCS "Blue Version" aka Biological Science: Molecules to Man | 1963 | Deyrup, Ingrith; Welch, Claude (Supervisors) | Houghton Mifflin, Boston | Unity of Life | 1 No mention of eugenics, and text not specifically deterministic. However, discussion of "population genetics" mixed with mutation, radiation and Muller studies. Weak tea, relatively, but suggests it is important for biologists to measure changes in gene frequencies in populations over time. |
| Modern Biology | 1963 | Moon, Truman J; Otto, James H; Towle, Albert | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 4 Text retains 1956 presentation of eugenics. Last popular US textbook to feature topic. |
| BSCS "Yellow Version" aka Biological Science: An Inquiry Into Life | 1963 | Moore, John A (Supervisor); Glass, Bentley (Co-supervisor, though not credited as such) | Harcourt, New York | Normative | 3 Eugenics, far out of fashion, not mentioned but present like a spirit in the text. Glass, supervisor and director, was a strong reform eugenicist, and felt strongly that the human species would need to continue to evolve - progressively - by setting cultural conditions favorable to the task. Influenced by Frederick Osborn and Hermann Muller. |
| Biology | 1965 | Kroeber, Elsbeth; Wolff, Walter H; Weaver, Richard L | D. C. Heath, Boston | Unity of Life | 1 Mere mention of genes and environment. |
| Modern Biology | 1965 | Otto, James H; Towle, Albert | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 2 The word eugenics finally disappears from main text, but much of the content remains under the label "population biology." |
| Exploring Biology | 1966 | Smith, Ella Thea; Lawrence, Thomas Gordon | Harcourt, New York | Unity of Life | 0 No eugenics. Though warns of threat of "overpopulation by man" (692). |
| BSCS "Yellow Version" aka Biological Science: An Inquiry Into Life | 1968 | Moore, John A (Supervisor) | Harcourt, New York | Normative | 2 Cultural evolution, and the conditions necessary to ensure continued progress, present, but unlike 1963, not climax of text. Glass influence lightened. Implied racial proof of evolution surprisingly strong. |
| Modern Biology | 1969 | Otto, James H; Towle, Albert | Holt, New York | Phylogenetic | 2 Identical to Otto 1965. Eugenics not in text, yet remains in glossary. |
Textbook History
Just what were we taught in biology class?
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