First International Eugenics Congress is held at the University of London

July 24-29, 1912. The first International Eugenics Congress is held at the University of London, one of three held between 1912 and 1932. It was organized by the Eugenics Education Society of Britain (Pearl, 1912). It included biologists, physicians, politicians from Europe and North America, among them well known Canadians such as Alexander Graham Bell and Sir William Osler.

Many of the presenters aired their eugenic concerns. For them,

“western civilization was in danger of collapse, since we were preserving the weak and ‘genetically undesirable’ and allowing them to breed at an alarming rate…Indeed the pauper pedigrees presented at the Congress…proved conclusively that the poor and the feebleminded were highly fecund and would one day inherit the earth unless wise men intervened with a programme of genetic measures” (Chitty, 2007, p. 38).

These presenters urged their colleagues to campaign for eugenic legislation in their home countries, and to fight to eliminate feeblemindedness.

The Congress acts as a global venue for the discussion and application of programs for the improvement of the human population. Among the delegates were Sir Winston Churchill and Charles Darwin's son Major Leonard Darwin. The Congress was considered a major success at the time, and attendance exceeded expectations, with over 800 attendees (Pearl, 1912). It was also praised as being understandable and accessible to the general public, and advancing the eugenics movement (Pearl, 1912).

A number of social opportunities were also presented during the Congress, in the form of banquets, receptions, teas, garden parties, and excursions. This allowed "the most distinguished persons in English scientific, social, literary, and public life" (Pearl, 1912, p.396) to meet each other and discuss eugenic issues.

-Erna Kurbegovic, Colette Leung, and Amy Dyrbye

  • Chitty, C. (2007). Eugenics, Race, and Intelligence in Education. London: Continuum Publishing.

  • McLaren, A. (1990). Our Own Master Race: Eugenics in Canada, 1885-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Pearl, R. (1912). The First International Eugenics Congress. Science, 36 (926). 395-396.

First International Eugenics Congress is held at the University of London

July 24-29, 1912. The first International Eugenics Congress is held at the University of London, one of three held between 1912 and 1932. It was organized by the Eugenics Education Society of Britain (Pearl, 1912). It included biologists, physicians, politicians from Europe and North America, among them well known Canadians such as Alexander Graham Bell and Sir William Osler.

Many of the presenters aired their eugenic concerns. For them,

“western civilization was in danger of collapse, since we were preserving the weak and ‘genetically undesirable’ and allowing them to breed at an alarming rate…Indeed the pauper pedigrees presented at the Congress…proved conclusively that the poor and the feebleminded were highly fecund and would one day inherit the earth unless wise men intervened with a programme of genetic measures” (Chitty, 2007, p. 38).

These presenters urged their colleagues to campaign for eugenic legislation in their home countries, and to fight to eliminate feeblemindedness.

The Congress acts as a global venue for the discussion and application of programs for the improvement of the human population. Among the delegates were Sir Winston Churchill and Charles Darwin's son Major Leonard Darwin. The Congress was considered a major success at the time, and attendance exceeded expectations, with over 800 attendees (Pearl, 1912). It was also praised as being understandable and accessible to the general public, and advancing the eugenics movement (Pearl, 1912).

A number of social opportunities were also presented during the Congress, in the form of banquets, receptions, teas, garden parties, and excursions. This allowed "the most distinguished persons in English scientific, social, literary, and public life" (Pearl, 1912, p.396) to meet each other and discuss eugenic issues.

-Erna Kurbegovic, Colette Leung, and Amy Dyrbye

  • Chitty, C. (2007). Eugenics, Race, and Intelligence in Education. London: Continuum Publishing.

  • McLaren, A. (1990). Our Own Master Race: Eugenics in Canada, 1885-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Pearl, R. (1912). The First International Eugenics Congress. Science, 36 (926). 395-396.