CHARLES FREMONT DIGHT:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical
Society
| | |
|
|
| Creator: |
Dight, Charles Fremont,
1856-1938. |
| Title: | Charles Fremont Dight
papers. |
| Date: | 1883-1984. |
| Abstract: | Correspondence (undated and 1892-1936),
photographs (1879-1930s), lecture notes (1900-1908), essays, article
manuscripts (1906-1910, 1933-1936), newspaper clippings (1900-1927), scrapbooks
(1914-1930s), radio scripts (1928, 1933), editorials (ca.1921-1935), income tax
forms (1919-1936), pamphlets, flyers, bills, minutes, and printed matter
related to the life and career of a Minneapolis medical professor, socialist
politician, and leader of the eugenics movement in Minnesota. |
| Quantity: | 4.0 cu. ft. (8 boxes,
and 1 folder in reserve collections). |
| Location: | P1628: See Detailed Description for shelf
locations. |
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C. F. Dight was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania in 1856. He graduated
with a medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1879. After serving as
a health officer in Holton, Michigan, from 1879 to 1881 he returned to the
university to assist pathology professor Alonzo B. Palmer. From 1883 to 1889 he
was professor of anatomy and physiology at the American University of Beirut,
Syria (now Lebanon). From about 1890 to 1892 Dight served as resident physician
and teacher of physiology and hygiene at Shattuck School, Faribault,
Minnesota.
Dight married Dr. Mary A. Crawford in 1892, but was divorced in 1899
without children. During this period he practiced medicine for a year in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire; taught for two years as professor at the medical
school of New Orleans University; and spent four years in travel and study in
New York, Chicago, Ann Arbor, and the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1899 Dight returned to Minnesota and began teaching at Hamline
University's medical school. In 1901 he also became medical director of the
Ministers Casualty Union, a Minneapolis insurance company. When the University
of Minnesota assimilated Hamline's medical school program in 1907 Dight stayed
on, lecturing on pharmacology at the university until 1913.
From 1914 to 1918 Dight served as Minneapolis alderman from the 12th
ward. He was a staunch socialist.
In the early 1920s Dight launched a crusade to bring the eugenics
movement to Minnesota. He believed that many of society's evils could be
eliminated through selective breeding. His main lines of approach included
eugenics education, changes in marriage laws, and the segregation and
sterilization of "defectives." He organized the Minnesota Eugenics Council in
1923 and began campaigning for a sterilization law. In 1925 the Minnesota
legislature passed a law allowing the sterilization of the "feeble-minded" and
insane who were resident in the state's institutions. For the next several
legislative sessions Dight fought unsuccessfully for expansion of the law to
include sterilization of the unfit outside of institutions. The Minnesota
Eugenics Society became moribund by the early 1930s, but Dight continued his
legislative efforts as late as 1935 and also continued to speak and write on
the subject of eugenics. In 1935 he published History of
the Early Stages of the Organized Eugenics Movement for Human Betterment in
Minnesota, a 69-page pamphlet. In 1936 he published
Call for a New Social Order, a 181-page book
comprising three parts: memoirs of his years as a socialist Minneapolis
alderman, 1914-1918; published versions of his radio talk on eugenics; and
essays on "mental faculties" and other subjects.
Dight died in Minneapolis in 1938. One biographer has noted that
"Although he never made much more than $1500 a year, his spartan habits, astute
investments, and calculated failure to file income tax returns helped him build
a $200,000 estate" (Medelman, p. 12, full citation below). He left the estate
to the University of Minnesota to found what became the Dight Institute for the
Promotion of Human Genetics.
This sketch was taken from the Dight Papers and from Gary Phelps, "The
Eugenics Crusade of Charles Fremont Dight," Minnesota
History, 49:99-108 (Fall 1984); from John Medelman, "The Incredible Dr.
Dight," Twin Citian, July 1962, 10-13; and from
three items by Evadene Burris Swanson: "A Biographical Sketch of Charles
Fremont Dight, M.D.," Dight Institute of the University of Minnesota, Bulletin
(Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press), No. 1, 1943, 8-22 (which includes
a chronology of Dight's life, p. 8, and a bibliography of his published
writings, p. 20-22; "The Story of Charles F. Dight," unpublished typescript,
[194-?], 71 p., including footnotes; and "Some Sources for Northwest History:
the Dight Papers," Minnesota History, 25:62-64
(1944). All of the published sources referred to in this biographical sketch
are available in the Minnesota Historical Society book and serials
collections.
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Topics include Dight's teaching in Beirut, Lebanon and a number of
American medical schools; his writings on socialism and his public service as
Minneapolis alderman (1914-1918); and his writings on eugenics and his
leadership in the Minnesota movement to pass legislation regarding eugenic
sterilization.
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| This collection is indexed under the following
headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers
desiring materials about related topics should search the catalog using these
headings. |
| Topics: |
| | Birth control -- Minnesota. |
| | Eugenics -- Minnesota. |
| | Investments. |
| | Municipal bonds. |
| | Medical education. |
| | Socialism -- Minnesota. |
| | Sterilization, Eugenic --
Minnesota. |
| | Technocracy. |
| Persons: |
| | Dight, George Washington,
[1850?]-1930. |
| | Dight family. |
| | Eitel, George G., d.
1928. |
| | Francis, Frances
Dight, b. 1883. |
| | Gilkey, Georgia May
Dight, b. 1877. |
| | Hover, Galen M., b.
1896. |
| | Hover, Sarah Isabella
Dight, b. 1888. |
| | Lockhart, A. F.
|
| | Whipple, Lizzie Emma
Dight, b. 1876. |
| Organizations: |
| | American Eugenics
Society. |
| | American University of
Beirut. |
| | Citizen's Artesian Water
League (Minneapolis, Minn.). |
| | Human Betterment Society
(Pasadena, Calif.). |
| | Llano colony (Secular
Community). |
| | Minneapolis (Minn.). City
council. |
| | Minneapolis College of
Physicians and Surgeons. |
| | Minnesota. State Board of
Control. |
| | Minnesota. State Board of
Health. |
| | Minnesota Eugenics
Society. |
| | University of Minnesota.
Dight Institute for Human Genetics. |
| | University of Minnesota.
Dept. of Medicine (1888-1913). |
| Places: |
| | Beirut (Lebanon). |
| | Minnesota -- Politics and government --
1858-1950. |
| | New Llano (La.). |
| | Minneapolis (Minn.) -- Politics and
government -- 1898-1918. |
| | Minneapolis (Minn.) -- Officials and
employees. |
| Occupations: |
| | Physicians. |
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| Preferred Citation: |
| | [Indicate the cited item and/or series
here]. Charles Fremont Dight Papers. Minnesota Historical Society. |
| | See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples |
| Accession Information: |
| | Accession number: 5363A; 5411; 14,828 |
| Processing Information: |
| | Processed by: John M. Wickre, March 1988; Frank P. Hennessy,
1994 |
| | Catalog ID number: 09-00038054 |
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Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the
location and box numbers shown below.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Personal Papers
|
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 1 |
Biographical and genealogical material, undated, 1921-1984. 2 folders.
|
| | | This material includes copies of the 1984 Phelps article on
Dight and material by Evadine Burris Swanson cited above, autobiographical
information written by Dight, and genealogical information on the Dight family
(1921 and 1928). |
| |
Correspondence, 1892-1936. 3 folders.
|
| | | Most of this group of papers consists of Dight family
correspondence, 1927-1936. It includes letters related to Dight family
reunions, and correspondence with Dight's nieces: Lizzie Emma Dight Whipple in
Natick, Massachusetts (1927-1936); Isabella Dight Hover (and her husband Galen
Hover) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1925-1928), Sherman, New York (1929-1934),
and Grand Junction, Colorado (1934-1935); Frances Dight Francis in New
Wilmington, Pennsylvania (1928-1936); and Georgia May Dight Gilkey in Brooklyn
(1928-1934) and St. Petersburg, Florida (1935). |
| | | There is also material related to C. F. Dight's brother, George
W. Dight, in Seattle, Washington including a patent document and drawings
([ca.1890?]) related to a "pumping apparatus" invented by George; a note from
George (May 2, 1928) and reply by C. F. (May 16, 1928) regarding the Dight
family reunion; and correspondence regarding George's illness (Jan.-Feb. 1925)
and death (May 1930). |
| | | Other items include an essay on "How and What the Turks Eat"
([1890?]); a printed sheet ([ca.1898?]) advertising "The Dight Thermal
Inspirator and Animal Heat Conserver" invented by C. F. Dight, Brooklyn, N.Y.;
a set of letters answering Dight's newspaper inquiry for a room in a private
home (June-July 1932); correspondence with Arthur Hurtt (Aug.-Oct. 1933) in
California, mostly regarding the health of Arthur and Mrs. Hurtt; and letters
relating to Dight's search for a nursing home (1934-1936), including an
information sheet on the Jones-Harrison Home for aged Protestant men and women,
Minneapolis ([ca.1936]). |
| |
Photographs, 1879-1903. 3 folders.
|
| | | Photographs of Dight (ca.1900-1930s); of the families of the
same four nieces whose letters comprise the bulk of the series above: Lewis and
Lizzie Emma Dight Whipple, Galen and Isabella Dight Hover, Joseph and Frances
Dight Francis, and Waldo and Georgia May Dight Gilkey (undated and 1896, 1928);
his "tree" house; and his medical school class (1879). |
| |
Saturday Lunch Club materials, [ca. 1927]-1937.
|
| | | This folder includes a copy of the club's 1927 printed history
(which includes references to Dight), a list of members (undated), some
correspondence, and printed matter. |
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 2 |
Financial Files:
|
| | |
Bonds and other investments, undated, 1920-1937. 4 folders.
|
| | | | The first two folders contain notes and two small record books
pertaining to Dight's personal investments. The last two folders contain
investment newsletters, printed items, and correspondence related to specific
bonds issued by the Minneapolis Gas Light Company, the Minneapolis Theatre
Company, Northern States Power Company (Minneapolis), Otter Tail Power Company
(Fergus Falls, Minn.), Swedish Hospital (Minneapolis), and Tri-State Telephone
and Telegraph Company (St. Paul). Non-Minnesota investments held by Dight vary
from Randolph County (N.C.) road and bridge bonds to Seattle municipal light
and power bonds, and from Republic of Chile bonds to the bonds of the Sisters
of Charity of Providence of Montana (Columbus Hospital, Great Falls,
Montana). |
| | |
Income taxes, 1919-1936. 2 folders.
|
| | | | This folder contains U.S. and some Minnesota income tax
returns, and correspondence related to U.S. Internal Revenue Service audits of
Dight's returns. |
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Return to the Organization of the Collection Section
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Medical Career Files
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| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 2 |
Miscellaneous items, undated, [ca. 1883]-1893.
|
| | | This folder includes physiology class notes (undated), an 1883
clipping related to Dr. Mary A. G. Dight [Dight's ex-wife], a letter of
recommendation for Dight from the University of Michigan medical school (1883),
and a printed flyer advertising a plan for Dight's prepaid medical service at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire (ca.1893). |
| |
American University of Beirut, 1883-1936.
|
| | | From 1883 to 1889 Dight was professor of anatomy and physiology
at this school. The folder includes Dight's license to practice medicine in the
Ottoman Empire (1883), a paper by Dight entitled "Sanitary Progress" (1886), a
request for contributions to the Near East College Association (1935), a
Christmas letter from the university president (1936), and a list of former
members of the faculty and staff (1936). |
| |
New Orleans University, undated, 1893-1896.
|
| | | Dight was a professor and dean at the university's medical
school during this period. The folder includes a clipping from the university's
newspaper listing Dight as a professor of anatomy and chemistry in the medical
department (undated); a copy of a letter from Dight regarding standards for
medical education, and noting that the New Orleans University medical school
"admits men and women students of all races" (July 28, 1895); and a 40-page
typescript for a talk given by Dight to a New Orleans women's club on the
subject of heredity, sterilization of criminals, and the need for sex education
for young women (undated). There are also two undated photographs of an
unidentified woman, taken by a New Orleans photographer. |
| |
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, [ca. 1896].
|
| | | This folder contains notes on the study of hygiene (1896), and a
letter of inquiry regarding teaching positions and listing Dight's educational
and medical experience (ca.1896). |
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 3 |
Hamline University:
|
| | | Dight taught at the Hamline University medical school during
this period. These folders consist of lecture notes, two pamphlets Dight wrote
(undated and 1902), and copies of pages from the university catalogs for
1899-1900 (listing Dight as professor of physiology in the Hamline University
College of Medicine) and 1906-1907 (listing Dight as professor of physiology
and embryology at the "Minneapolis College of Physicians and Surgeons/The
Medical Department of Hamline University"). |
| | |
Miscellaneous, 1900-1908.
|
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Lecture notes, 1900-1908.
|
| | |
Physiology lecture notes, 1900-1908. 2 folders.
|
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University of Minnesota, [ca. 1908]-1911.
|
| | | The University of Minnesota assimilated Hamline's medical school
program in 1907. Dight remained on the staff as an instructor in pharmacology
until 1913. There are only a few items in this folder, including three that
have information on his educational and medical experience. |
| |
Correspondence and miscellaneous items, [ca. 1919]-1937.
|
| | | This folder includes a letter relating to nursing education
(1919); correspondence with the Minnesota State Board of Examiners in the Basic
Sciences regarding the necessity of Dight registering under the state basic
science act (1927); and personal correspondence with fellow doctors including
Harry M. Guildford in Madison, Wisconsin (ca.1918-1936). |
| |
Ministers Casualty Union, [ca. 1915]-1936.
|
| | | From 1901 until his retirement in 1933 Dight was medical
director of the Ministers Casualty Union, a Minneapolis firm providing "life,
accident and sick benefit insurance at cost for clergymen only." This folder
includes Dight's reports to the company's board of directors (1922-1933,
incomplete), scattered copies of form letters issued by the company
(1915-1936), and four small notebooks kept by Dight when investigating claims
against the company (1920s). Dight used the backs of company form letters when
making notes on a variety of subjects, and Ministers Casualty Union form
letters are therefore scattered throughout the collection. About 1936 the name
of the company was changed to Ministers Life and Casualty Union. |
| |
Minneapolis "Walkathon," 1932-1933.
|
| | | The walkathon was a walking endurance contest that took place
July 11-September 6, 1932 in the Minneapolis auditorium. Materials in this
folder include two flyers advertising the contest, with contest rules; a
typewritten copy of Dight's report, "The Walking Endurance Contest Considered
from a Physician's Point of View"; and letters related to Dight's efforts to
end the contest in Minneapolis and prevent such contests in other cities. There
is also a small booklet with Dight's notes about the contest, about an eye
operation performed on him in January 1933, and about other subjects. |
| |
Miscellaneous printed items, undated, [ca. 1916]-1927.
|
| | | This folder contains a few printed leaflets and flyers related
to such pseudo-medical subjects as phrenology, character analysis, and personal
development. |
| |
Miscellaneous essays, undated.
|
| | | Manuscript for "Medical Superstition and Graft, the Physician
and Socialism"; and miscellaneous medical essays. |
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Political Files
|
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 3 |
Miscellaneous items, [ca. 1906]-1919. 2 folders.
|
| | | This folder includes a mimeographed flyer from the Public
Ownership Party, Minneapolis (Aug. 25, 1906) regarding help for Dight as party
"organizer"; and miscellaneous items related to socialism and politics. |
| |
"The Way Out: Socialism" (manuscript), [ca. 1906]-[ca. 1910].
|
| | | An essay with some chapters typewritten and some in the form of
annotated copies of printed articles written by Dight for socialist journals
such as Wayland's Monthly, Studies in Socialism, and One-Hoss
Philosophy Quarterly (all 1906). |
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 4 |
Minneapolis Alderman Files, 1914-1918:
|
| | |
Miscellaneous.
|
| | | | A folder of miscellaneous material includes a campaign flyer
(Oct. 31, 1914); mimeographed copies of correspondence between Theodore
Roosevelt and Ernest Lundeen (Oct.-Nov. 1917) regarding Lundeen's patriotism
and his views on the war in Europe; a report to the city council on Dight's
study of public health in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Toronto, and on his
attendance at the American Public Health Association in Rochester, N.Y. (Sept.
1915); and items related to socialism and to specific issues such as
prohibition. |
| | |
Municipal markets.
|
| | | | Another folder on municipal markets includes information on T.
B. Walker's privately owned Central City Market and on the Mayor's Commission
on Municipal Markets (undated and ca.1915-1918). There are also items related
to food costs, including a study submitted to the council's committee on
commerce and markets by the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association bureau
of municipal research (Nov. 21, 1916). |
| | |
Feeding garbage to hogs.
|
| | | | A folder on feeding city garbage to hogs (undated and
ca.1917-1918) includes items related to Dight's promotion of the concept, as
well as a printed pamphlet on "Garbage Utilization" published by the U.S. Food
Administration (1918) and a letter from the North Hennepin Stock Feeder's
Association to the city council (ca.1918) regarding the possibility of
purchasing city garbage for use as livestock feed. |
| |
Petitions to President Roosevelt, [ca. 1933].
|
| | | The folder contains petitions presented to President Franklin D.
Roosevelt asking for a more equitable sharing of wealth, the abolition of
private profit, and public ownership of resources and industries. |
| |
Citizen's Artesian Water League (Minneapolis, Minn.),
1925-1936.
|
| | | A few items related to efforts promoting the use of artesian
wells, rather than the Mississippi River, as a supply source for Minneapolis
city water. |
| |
Llano Co-operative Colony (Newllano, La.), [ca. 1933]-1936.
|
| | | Correspondence and small printed items related to the colony and
to Dight's investment in the Llano Co-operative Oil Corporation of
Newllano. |
| |
Technocracy, [ca. 1933]-1934.
|
| | | Typed essays by Dight, small printed leaflets, and other items
related to the north central division of the Continental Committee on
Technocracy, an organization advocating "a scientific reconstruction of our
economic systems"; and to the general subject of a new industrial order. |
| |
"Call For a New Social Order" (manuscript), [ca. 1933]-1936.
|
| | | Typed pages of a manuscript (undated) for a book published in
1936, along with a few items (mostly 1936) related to the printing of the book
by Argus Publishing Company, Minneapolis and its distribution to various
libraries by Dight. |
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Eugenics Files
|
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 4 |
Minnesota Eugenics Society Records, [ca. 1923]-1936. 3 folders.
|
| | | Minutes, correspondence, form letters, financial materials, and
other items related to the society (2 folders); and typed field notes and a few
letters of A. F. Lockhart (Sept. 7-Dec. 3, 1926, one folder). Lockhart visited
potential donors and members (especially physicians) and wrote letters
soliciting memberships, money, and other support. The Lockhart folder also
contains two letters (Nov. 15 and 30) regarding his work. |
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 5 |
Correspondence and related papers, undated, 1920-1928. 11 folders.
|
| | | This group consists principally of Dight's correspondence as
president of the Minnesota Eugenics Society, along with other material related
to the subject of eugenics. It includes copies of various versions of
sterilization bills presented to the Minnesota legislature; correspondence with
legislators, supporters, members of the state advisory council of the Minnesota
Eugenics Society, the State Board of Health, and the State Board of Control;
requests for donations; scattered copies of articles and pamphlets published by
Dight; and materials related to items written by him on the subjects of
eugenics and sterilization, including pamphlets, booklets, and letters to the
editors of local newspapers. The Phelps article, cited above, provides a good
summary of the issues and activities prominent in this part of the
collection. |
| | | Noteworthy items include three small books containing Dight's
notes on his legislative efforts (undated and ca.1920s-1931); his booklet
entitled "Human Thoroughbreds - Why Not," and correspondence regarding its
publication (1922); correspondence related to proposed "Fitter Family"
competitions at the Minnesota State Fair (1923-1924, 1926); correspondence with
Lotus D. Coffman, president of the University of Minnesota, regarding the
proposed office of "State Eugenist [sic]" (Oct. 4, 5, 19, 1926) and Dight's
bequest for the formation of a eugenics program at the University (Feb. 27,
1927); correspondence and a photograph related to the presentation of a plaque
to Charles Lindbergh "in recognition of his superior hereditary endowment"
(Aug.-Sept. 1927); a copy of a letter from A. A. Wood to John Burke regarding
Wood's will (Jan. 5, 1928; possibly the source of some of the money for the
Dight Institute?); a request from Roy L. Garis (Vanderbilt University) for
information on Mexican labor (Aug. 24, 1929); three printed bulletins of the
American Equity Association (Washington, D.C.) opposing sterilization and the
unjust imprisonment of insane persons (1929); a copy of the printed booklet,
"Increase of the Unfit a Social Menace; Facts Which Call for Enactment of an
Adequate Eugenics Law for Human Betterment; Opposition to It by the Minnesota
State Board of Control" (1930), and correspondence related to the ensuing
controversy (1930-1931); a letter and two printed leaflets from Edward C.
Baumann of the Christian Brotherhood of America, Bagley, Minnesota (March 20,
1930); correspondence with governor-elect Floyd B. Olson regarding the
possibilities for eugenics and sterilization legislation in the coming session
(Dec. 13, 1930); correspondence regarding Dight's radio talks on radio station
WRHM (1933-1934); correspondence with the Minnesota Historical Society
regarding Dight's history of the eugenics movement and the possibility of
Dight's leaving money to the historical society for the promotion of eugenics
(1935). |
| | | Correspondents in the papers include the following members of
the advisory council of the Minnesota Eugenics Society:
Eitel, George G., chief surgeon of Eitel General
Hospital, Minneapolis, and vice president of the Minnesota Eugenics Society
(1925-1926);
Canfield, E. H., attorney, Luverne, Minn. (1926, Sept.
10, 1929);
Guilford, Paul W., physician, Minneapolis (1925-1930);
Jenks, A. E., professor of anthropology, University of
Minnesota (1926);
Kuhlmann, Fred, director of the bureau of research,
State Board of Control (1925-1928, 1936);
Lyon, E. P., dean, University of Minnesota medical school
(1926, 1928-1931);
Nachtrieb, Henry F., professor of animal biology,
University of Minnesota, (1922-1923, 1926, 1936);
Smith, Roy L., minister, Simpson Methodist Episcopal
Church, Minneapolis (1926, 1928).
|
| | | Other authors include:
Chase, Ray P., state auditor (1929-1930);
Chelsey, A. J., executive officer of the State Board of
Health (1926, 1928);
La Du, Blanche, chairman, State Board of Control
(1928-1931, 1934);
Mayo, William J., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. (March 8,
April 3, Oct. 1, 1926);
Osgood, Phillip E., minister, St. Mark's Church,
Minneapolis (1926, 1929-1930);
Paige, Mabeth Hurd, chairman, Minnesota House Committee
on Public Welfare (1927, 1934);
Swendsen, Carl J., member, State Board of Control
(1931).
|
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 6 |
Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1929-1937. 7 folders.
|
| |
American Eugenics Society (New Haven, Conn.),
[ca. 1926]-1936. 2 folders.
|
| | | Correspondence (bulk 1926-1931) and printed items related to the
work of the society nationally, and to Dight's work in Minnesota, including
correspondence between Dight and Leon F. Whitney, society field secretary. The
printed items include a form letter and membership list. |
| |
Birth control, 1931-1936.
|
| | | Mostly semi-print items related to the National Committee on
Federal Legislation for Birth Control, and to the Minnesota Birth Control
League, Inc. The National Committee materials include correspondence,
semi-print newsletters (April and June 1932), and form letters signed by
Margaret Sanger, president. The Minnesota League items include a printed
membership leaflet (1931), an annual report (May 1933), minutes of meetings
(Jan., Sept., Oct. 1934; Jan. 1935), and a newsletter (Sept. 1935), as well as
correspondence with Genevieve Steefel, chairman of the publicity committee. |
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 7 |
Eugenics Record Office/Eugenics Research Association
(Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, N.Y.), [ca. 1922]-1935.
|
| | | Harry H. Laughlin was assistant director of the Eugenics Record
Office and secretary of the Eugenics Research Association. Letterheads of the
Eugenics Record Office state that it was a subdivision of the department of
genetics of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, while the Eugenics Research
Association seems to have had some sort of affiliation with the American Museum
of Natural History in New York. This folder contains printed items related to
the two organizations, as well as Dight's correspondence with Laughlin
regarding eugenics, sterilization, and eugenics conferences. |
| |
Human Betterment Foundation (Pasadena, Calif.),
[ca. 1927]-1936.
|
| | | Printed items published by the foundation on the subject of
eugenic sterilization, and correspondence of Dight with E. S. Gosney
(foundation president) and Paul Popenoe (secretary). |
| |
"Essentials of Heredity and Eugenics" (manuscript) and
other essays, undated.
|
| | | Typed drafts of essays on the subject of eugenics. |
| |
Editorials, [ca. 1921]-1935. 3 folders.
|
| | | Typed letters to the editors of the Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis
Star, and Minneapolis Tribune on
sterilization and eugenics in general. |
| |
Radio talks, 1928, 1933. 2 folders.
|
| | | Typed copies of talks on heredity and eugenics presented over
various radio stations. |
| Location | Box |
| Res. 82 | |
Correspondence with Adolf Hitler and related items,
1933. 4 items.
|
| | | These items comprise the originals of the photocopied items
found in the eugenics scrapbook. Included are: a note written by Dight to Adolf
Hitler on the letterhead of the Minnesota Eugenics Society (August 1, 1933), in
which Dight praises Hitler's plan "to stamp out mental inferiority among the
German people"; a printed postcard (August 23, 1933) from Hitler, acknowledging
the courtesy; a printed card inviting Dight to a eugenics lecture in Munich
later that year; and the front pane of the postal cover that presumably
enclosed the latter two items. |
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Clippings and Scrapbooks
|
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 7 |
Newspaper clippings: Eugenics and miscellaneous,
[ca. 1901]-1937. 3 folders.
|
| | | Most of the clippings relate to eugenics. |
| Location | Box |
| P1628 | 8 |
Newspaper clippings: Eugenics and miscellaneous,
[192-]-1937. 2 folders.
|
| |
Newspaper clippings: Llano
Colonist, 1932-1934.
|
| | | A few partial copies of the newspaper of the Llano Co-operative
Colony, Newllano, Louisiana. |
| |
Scrapbook: Aldermanic activities, 1914-1918. 2 folders.
|
| | | Clippings principally related to Dight's service as Minneapolis
12th ward alderman and his promotion of municipal ownership of profit-making
industries, especially municipal markets (1916) and the feeding of municipal
garbage to hogs (1917-1918), but also including items related to a municipal
electrical plant, ice plant, and ice harvesting operations. Other clippings
include information on Dight's campaign for alderman (1914), his treehouse, the
ward council/citizen's advisory committee he created to advise him, the
Minneapolis Union [railroad] Station, saloons, the pasteurization of milk sold
in the city, and the utilization of electric power from the Ford dam. |
| |
Scrapbook: Eugenics and miscellaneous, [ca. 1912]-[ca. 193-].
|
| | | This scrapbook deals mostly with eugenics, including copies of
Dight's letters to the editors of various newspapers. There also are clippings
related to the Minneapolis Walkathon (1932) and to technocracy (1935). One of
several manuscript items in the scrapbook is a note written by Dight to Adolf
Hitler on the letterhead of the Minnesota Eugenics Society (August 1, 1933), in
which Dight praises Hitler's plan "to stamp out mental inferiority among the
German people." Dight's note is accompanied by a printed postcard (August 23,
1933) from Hitler, acknowledging the courtesy, and a printed card inviting
Dight to a eugenics lecture in Munich later that year. |
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