Guy Irving Burch (1899 – January 13, 1951) was an American

eugenicist Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetics, genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human Phenotype, phenotypes by ...

and the founding director of the

Population Reference Bureau The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) is a private, nonprofit organization specializing in collecting and supplying statistics necessary for research and/or academic purposes focused on the environment, and health and structure of populations. The ...

. Burch coined the phrase "population explosion" during the 1930s, when

demographers Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

in the United States and Western Europe were warning of imminent population decline. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he became a proponent of global population control.

Early life and education

Burch was born in Clayton, NM in 1899. He attended Culver Military Training Academy in Indiana, the Cavalry Officers' Training School in Texas, and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York. He was heavily influenced by such books as ''

The Passing of the Great Race ''The Passing of the Great Race: Or, The Racial Basis of European History'' is a 1916 racist and pseudoscientific book by American lawyer, anthropologist, and proponent of eugenics Madison Grant (1865–1937). Grant expounds a theory of Nordi ...

'' by

Madison Grant Madison Grant (November 19, 1865 – May 30, 1937) was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known for his work as a conservation movement, conservationist, eugenics, eugenicist, and advocate of scientific racism. Grant i ...

(1916), '' The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy'' by

Lothrop Stoddard Theodore Lothrop Stoddard (June 29, 1883 – May 1, 1950) was an American historian, journalist, political scientist and white supremacist. Stoddard wrote several books which advocated eugenics, white supremacy, Nordicism, and scientific raci ...

(1920), ''Mankind at the Crossroads'' by

Edward Murray East Edward Murray East (October 4, 1879 – November 9, 1938) was an American plant geneticist, botanist, agronomist and eugenicist. He is known for his experiments that led to the development of hybrid corn and his support of 'forced' eliminat ...

(1923), and ''Standing Room Only?'' by Edward A. Ross (1927).

Professional Activities

Burch established the

in New York in 1929 and moved it to Washington, D.C. shortly thereafter. He was the co-author, with the sociologist, Elmer Pendell, of a self-published 1945 book titled ''Population Roads to Peace or War'', which was republished by

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

in 1947 as ''Human Breeding and Survival''. The geneticist

Bentley Glass Hiram Bentley Glass (January 17, 1906 – January 16, 2005) was an American geneticist and noted columnist. Career Born in China to missionary parents, he attended college at Baylor University in Texas. He then furthered his education at th ...

described the book as "well written and interesting in style," but "loose and uncritical in analysis and opinion." He predicted that it would "exert a wide but unfortunate influence." Glass's prediction was correct. Burch and Pendell's book was enormously influential, inspiring ''

Road to Survival A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The wo ...

'' by

William Vogt William Vogt (15 May 1902 – 11 July 1968) was an American ecologist and ornithologist, with a strong interest in both the carrying capacity and population control. He was the author of the best-seller '' Road to Survival'' (1948), National ...

and ''

Our Plundered Planet ''Our Plundered Planet'' is a book published in 1948 by American conservationist Fairfield Osborn about environmental destruction by humankind. With a focus on soil, the book is a critique of humankind's poor stewardship of Earth. It typifies th ...

'' by Fairfield Osborn (son of

Henry Fairfield Osborn Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. (August 8, 1857 – November 6, 1935) was an American paleontologist, geologist and eugenics advocate. He was professor of anatomy at Columbia University, president of the American Museum of Natural History for 25 y ...

), which in turn inspired ''

The Population Bomb ''The Population Bomb'' is a 1968 book co-authored by former Stanford University professor Paul R. Ehrlich and former Stanford senior researcher in conservation biology Anne H. Ehrlich. From the opening page, it predicted worldwide famines due t ...

'' by

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure fo ...

. It was also a major inspiration for the population activities of Hugh Moore. While advocating population control overseas, Burch advocated eugenics in the United States to increase the birthrate among high-IQ parents and reduce it among low-IQ parents. He also campaigned against immigration to the United States both before and after World War II. Burch was a member of the

Population Association of America The Population Association of America (PAA) is a non-profit scientific professional association dedicated to the study of issues related to population and demography. The PAA was established by Henry Pratt Fairchild and Frederick Osborn, with fun ...

, the

American Eugenics Society The American Eugenics Society (AES) was a pro-eugenics organization dedicated to "furthering the discussion, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge about biological and sociocultural forces which affect the structure and composition of huma ...

, the

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

fraternity, and the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

Personal life

Burch married Wilhelmine Taylor in 1920, with whom he had two daughters. He died at the age of 51 from complications of a heart ailment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burch, Guy Irving 1899 births 1951 deaths American Eugenics Society members People from Union County, New Mexico