Some materials from this collection are available online.
Using These Materials
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
The collection is open to use by "qualified and responsible scholars". Please note that several files are restricted and this is noted next to the respective folder. Researchers must complete a non-disclosure form before gaining access and reproductions are not permitted.
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Summary
- Abstract:
- Papers of eugenics researcher Arthur Estabrook focus on racial integrity, sterilization of the mentally defective, venereal disease, intelligence, and criminality. Limited material is availible on the Jukes of New York state, the "Tribe of Ishmael" of Indiana, and the Carrie Buck trial.
- Extent:
- 2.0 cubic ft.
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Arthur H. Estabrook Papers, 1908-1962. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Estabrook Papers).
Background
- Scope and Content:
The papers of Dr. Arthur H. Estabrook contain correspondence, news clippings, research materials, and reports and publications on his research on racial integrity, sterilization of the mentally defective, venereal disease campaign in New York City, crippled children in Buffalo and Erie County, and a housing study in Buffalo.
The major part of the collection deals with studies on racial integrity; mixtures of Indians, Whites, and African Americans; intelligence and criminality. This early eugenics work by Estabrook was conducted in Pembroke, North Carolina, and in Robeson County, North Carolina. The resultant publication, co-authored with Ivan, E. McDougle, was Mongrel Virginians: The Win Tribe, published in 1926.
The collection contains some background material for the 1915 study of the Jukes of New York state, and the 1922 study of the "Tribe of Ishmael" of Indiana. The material dealing with the Carrie Buck trial (the 1924 case against the Virginia statute on sterilization of the mentally defective, which was eventually upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Buck v. Bell [1927]) consists of limited correspondence, news clippings, and court records. Two studies resulted in publications: "The Crippled Children Situation in Buffalo and Erie County" and A Roof Over Their Heads. What's What in Housing in Buffalo.
In addition to the writings by Estabrook, the collection is of interest because of the newspaper clippings showing current attitudes and the wide range of the research materials included.
- Biographical / Historical:
Dr. Arthur Howard Estabrook was born on May 9, 1885, to Arthur Francis and Susan Rebecca (Breck) in Leicester, Massachusetts. Estabrook earned an AB degree in 1905 and an AM in 1906 from Clark College in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was a fellow and assistant in zoology at Clark in 1906-1907. Estabrook received his PhD from Johns Hopkins in 1910 and was a student at the School of Philanthropy in New York in 1914. Estabrook married Jessie McCubbin on October 25, 1911, and married Anne Ruth Medcalf on July 8, 1931, after his first wife's death.
Dr. Estabrook worked in the Eugenics Record Office of Carnegie Institution of Washington (1910-1929) and served as a special investigator for the Indiana State Commission on Mental Defectives (1916-1918). Estabrook traveled to Virginia on behalf of the Eugenics Record Office to study the issues and people involved in the Virginia sterilization case of Carrie Buck. Estabrook served in the U.S. Army in 1918-1920 as a Captain in the Sanitary Corps. He began working for the American Society for the Control of Cancer in 1929 and served as president of the Eugenics Research Association in 1925-1926. [Unless otherwise noted all information in this text is from Who's Who in America, 1935-1936 edition (Chicago : Marquis Who's Who)].
Estabrook died on December 6, 1973, in Chatham Center, New York [Files of the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, Chatham (NY) Courier, 13 December 1973].
- Acquisition information:
- All items in this manuscript group were donated to the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, by Dr. Arthur H. Estabrook. The first accession was received in March 1966 and additional material was deposited in 1968.
- Processing information:
Processed 1985 February 5 by Marion P. Munzer.
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into 14 series.
- Series 1: Correspondence regarding Studies of Indian Families in Pembroke, North Carolina and Robeson Counties, North Carolina, by Estabrook and Ivan E. McDougle, 1916-1917, 1923-1927
- Series 2: Manuscripts by Arthur H. Estabrook regarding his Studies of Racial Characteristics, 1922, 1924, 1926, undated
- Series 3: Manuscripts by Others, 1924-1925
- Series 4: Genealogical Charts, undated
- Series 5: Notes, 1908-1925, undated
- Series 6: Photographs, 1923-1925, 1931, undated
- Series 7: Clippings, 1912-1936, undated
- Series 8: Miscellaneous Publications by Others, 1914, 1917, 1922, 1924-1926
- Series 9: Carrie Buck Trial, 1924-1927
- Series 10: Venereal Disease Campaign, 1924-1925, 1929-1930, 1936, undated
- Series 11: Crippled Children in Buffalo and Erie County, 1936, 1943, 1947
- Series 12: Housing Study, Buffalo, 1930, 1943, undated
- Series 13: Publications by Estabrook, 1912, 1920, 1923, 1926
- Series 14: Research Material, 1908-1962
Series 1-8 relate to studies on racial integrity, mixtures of Indians, Whites, and African Americans, intelligence and criminality. This early work by Estabrook was conducted in Pembroke, North Carolina, and in Robeson County, North Carolina. Please note the dates for series 5 and 7 are not inclusive.
- Physical location:
- The materials are located onsite in the department.
Subjects
- Subjects:
- Medicine and Health Care
Criminal Justice and Prisons
Involuntary sterilization -- Virginia.
Miscegenation
Heredity, Human
Public health
Housing -- New York (State) -- Buffalo
Children with disabilities -- New York (State) -- Buffalo
Public welfare
Sociology
Eugenics
Sexually transmitted diseases - Names:
- Juke family
Estabrook, Arthur H. (Arthur Howard), 1885-
Buck, Carrie, 1906-1983.
Contents
Access
Using These Materials
- ACCESS:
- The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
The collection is open to use by "qualified and responsible scholars". Please note that several files are restricted and this is noted next to the respective folder. Researchers must complete a non-disclosure form before gaining access and reproductions are not permitted.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Arthur H. Estabrook Papers, 1908-1962. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Estabrook Papers).