Category:Eugenics at UVA

People, organizations, and others involved with eugenics at the University of Virginia. Before the term eugenics was coined by Francis Galton in 1883, professors at the university attempted to establish scientific connections between heredity and race.^[1] In the early 20th century, many professors and faculty members were involved in the research and education of the study of eugenics. Their combined work over several decades contributed to the making of Virginia as a key state in the national eugenics movement. Eugenics is "the scientifically inaccurate theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations. Eugenicists believed in a prejudiced and incorrect understanding of Mendelian genetics that claimed abstract human qualities (e.g., intelligence and social behaviors) were inherited in a simple fashion. Similarly, they believed complex diseases and disorders were solely the outcome of genetic inheritance."^[2]