Arthur Howard Estabrook (May 9, 1885-December 6, 1973) was an American researcher and eugenist.

Early life and education

Arthur Estabrook was born on May 9, 1885, in

Leicester, Massachusetts Leicester ( ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,087 at the 2020 United States census. History What is now Leicester was originally settled by the Nipmuc people and was known by them as ''Towtaid' ...

. His parents were Susan Rebecca (Beck) and Arthur Francis Estabrook. Estabrook earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

, the latter in 1906. He remained at Clark after graduating, serving as a fellow and assistant in the

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

department until 1907. In 1910, he completed his doctorate from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. He married Jessie McCubbin on October 25, 1911. He also studied at the

School of Philanthropy at Columbia University The Columbia School of Social Work is the graduate school of social work of Columbia University in New York City. It is one of the oldest social work programs in the US, with roots extending back to 1898. It began awarding a Master of Science d ...

in 1914.

Career

After completing his doctorate in 1910, Estabrook joined the

Carnegie Institution The Carnegie Institution for Science, also known as Carnegie Science and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is an organization established to fund and perform scientific research in the United States. This institution is headquartered in Wa ...

, working in the

Eugenics Record Office The Eugenics Record Office (ERO), located in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, United States, was a research institute that gathered biological and social information about the American population, serving as a center for eugenics and human heredity ...

Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070. History Cold S ...

. During his work at Carnegie, he was a special investigator for the Indiana State Commission on Mental Defectives for two years, from 1916 until 1918. That year, he served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

as a Captain in the Sanitary Corps. His service ended in 1920. In 1924, Estabrook traveled to

Amherst County, Virginia Amherst County is a county, located in the Piedmont region and near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its county seat is also named Amhers ...

, where he served as an expert witness during the first trial regarding the forced sterilization of Carrie E. Buck. He spoke in favor of the sterilization. Estabrook served as president of the Eugenics Research Association from 1925 until 1926. Estabrook returned to Virginia to represent the Eugenics Record Office during ''

Buck v. Bell ''Buck v. Bell'', 274 U.S. 200 (1927), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., in which the Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, inc ...

'' in 1927. He did research around the court case in Virginia, researching sterilization and its use in Virginia. Estabrook worked at Carnegie in the Eugenics Record Office until 1929, when he joined the American Society for the Control of Cancer. By 1931, his wife, Jessie McCubbin, had died. He married his second wife, Anne Ruth Medcalf, on July 8, 1931.

Research

Estabrook was a eugenist and studied

dysgenics Dysgenics refers to any decrease in the prevalence of traits deemed to be either socially desirable or generally adaptive to their environment due to selective pressure disfavouring their reproduction. In 1915 the term was used by David Starr J ...

. In 1912, he and Charles Davenport studied the Nam family. The Nam family, the name which is a pseudonym, for a New York "degenerate family" with high rates of crime, disease and poverty in the family. He published a work about the family with Davenport, advocating eugenics. In 1915, Estabrook published a re-analysis of

Richard Louis Dugdale Richard Louis Dugdale (1841 – 23 July 1883) was an American merchant and sociologist, best known for his 1877 family study, '' The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity''. Early life Dugdale was born in Paris to English paren ...

's work about the

Jukes family The Jukes family was a New York "hill family" studied in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The studies are part of a series of other family studies, including the Kallikaks, the Zeros and the Nams, that were often quoted as arguments in ...

. While Dugdale's work supported improving the environment which led to the Jukes family having high rates of crime among family members, Estabrook took Dugdale's research and created a proposal for

forced sterilization Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, refers to any government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually do ...

to be used to prevent Jukes family members from reproducing. Estabrook's researched interracial relationships which included mixed race people, Europeans, Africans, and

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

s in North Carolina. He also studied the proposed connections between

race and intelligence Discussions of race and intelligence—specifically regarding claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines—have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of race was first introduced. With th ...

. Estabrook studied the

Lumbee The Lumbee, also known as People of the Dark Water, are a mixed-race community primarily located in Robeson County, North Carolina, which claims to be descended from myriad Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands who once inhabited th ...

Pembroke, North Carolina Pembroke is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. It is about 90 miles inland and northwest from the Atlantic Coast. The population was 2,823 at the 2020 census. The town is the seat of the state-recognized Lumbee Tribe of ...

. His researched resulted in the work ''Mongrel Virginians: The Win Tribe'', published in 1926 and co-authored with

Ivan E. McDougle Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the ...

. Estabrook also researched eugenics and sterilization of children with disabilities in Erie County and

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

in New York. He also studied housing in Buffalo.

Later life and death

Estabrook died in Chatham Center, New York, on December 6, 1973. He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

Legacy

The papers of Estabrook are held in the collections of the

Indiana State Library The Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau is a public library building, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the largest public library in the state of Indiana, housing over 60,000 manuscripts. Established in 1934, the library has gathe ...

, the Carnegie Institution, the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, and the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a Public university, public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the St ...

Works by Arthur Estabrook

*(1910). ''Effect of chemicals on growth in paramecium.'' Baltimore. *with Davenport, C. Benedict. (1912). ''The Nam family: a study in cacogenics.'' Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y: The New Era Printing Company]. *(1916). ''The Jukes in 1915.'' Washington: The Carnegie Institution of Washington. *with McDougle, I. E. (Ivan Eugene)., Carnegie Institution of Washington. Dept. of Genetics. (1926). ''Mongrel Virginians: the Win tribe.'' Baltimore: The Williams & Wilkins Company.

References

External links

"Controlling Heredity: The American Eugenics Crusade: 1870-1940"
from the University of Missouri {{DEFAULTSORT:Estabrook, Arthur 1885 births 1973 deaths People from Leicester, Massachusetts Clark University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni People from Chatham, New York American Eugenics Society members United States Army personnel of World War I American Cancer Society people 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American academics