Work of the Eugenics Record Office

Abstract

PROF. DAVENPORT and his staff of collaborators and “field” workers have shown great activity in the collection of family histories. The two first of a series of quarto memoirs, beautifully printed at the expense of Mr. Rockefeller, and published by the Eugenics Record Office, contain elaborate accounts of the members of two particular stocks whose claim to fame resembles and rivals that of the Jukes. The “Hill Folk,” whose relationships with one another and with their common ancestry were investigated by Miss Danielson, comprise more than 700 persons all descended from two particular individuals who settled near a New England town in about the year 1800. Elaborate calculations as to their cost to the town and State for aid as paupers and for maintenance in prisons and institutions reveal the fact that these charges are constantly and rapidly increasing. Feeblemindedness, alcoholism and the evils which spring from each or both in combination are terribly prevalent among them, and their distribution within the families is clearly shown in the extensive pedigree charts which embellish the memoir.