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The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 18, May 1, 2016, Article 21

AMERICAN EUGENICS SOCIETY FITTER FAMILIES MEDALS

If this were April 1st rather than May 1st I'd be awfully suspect of this story, but quite unfortunately, it's true. An April 26, 2016 "Object of Intrigue" article in the Atlas Obscura blog discussed the medals issued by the American Eugenics Society for their "Fitter Families" contest, where people were basically judged alongside hogs and champion rutabagas at county fairs. -Editor

American Eugenics Society Fitter Families Medal American Eugenics Society Fitter Families Medal reverse

On August 17, 1920, the Topeka Daily Capital reported an exciting development: a new class of competition had been added to the livestock judging categories at the Kansas Free Fair. Class 2.603, part of the Division 203, “Human Stock,” allowed families to submit themselves for judging by the fair's eugenics department. If they were deemed the most pleasing specimens at the fair, they would win the title of “Fitter Family.”

Though the category was new, the judging of humans according to the principles of eugenics wasn't a novel concept in 1920. For at least a decade, state fairs across America had been holding “Better Baby” competitions, in which infants were examined, measured, compared to growth charts, and awarded trophies for good health and genetic superiority. University of Michigan history professor Martin S. Pernick writes that such contests “rivaled livestock breeding and hybrid corn exhibits in popularity.”

Fitter Family competitions, which spread from Kansas across America during the 1920s, were an extension of the Better Babies idea. The advantage of examining older children and adults was that, unlike babies, these specimens could talk back. They also had more life experience for judges to draw upon when making their evaluations.

For every family, representatives from the Eugenics Society of the United States of America would fill out the Fitter Families Examination form. The required details for each family member included their date and place of birth, any serious illnesses, their education, occupation, “physical, mental or temperamental defects,” and “special talents, gifts, tastes, or superior qualities.”

The whole judging process lasted about three-and-a-half hours, and took place in the fair's Eugenics Building. Tacked onto the walls were posters declaring that within three generations, careful breeding could eliminate "unfit human traits" such as feeblemindedness, criminality, pauperism, and epilepsy.

Anyone scoring a B+ or better was given a bronze medal bearing the phrase “Yea, I have a goodly heritage.” This phrase was swiped from Psalm 16:6—the full sentence is, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.”

To read the complete article, see:
Here Are the Medals Given to Eugenically Healthy Humans in the 1920s (www.atlasobscura.com/articles/here-are-the-medals-given-to-eugenically-healthy-humans-in-the-1920s)

On the internet you'll find quite a bit of information on Eugenics and its disastrous consequences worldwide. It's just bizarre to think of today. -Editor

eugenics registering human pedigrees

To read the complete article, see:
The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics (http://predicthistunpredictpast.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-horrifying-american-roots-of-nazi.html)

So how would they have ranked my family? "The large male is rather doughy and smells funny. Minus 10 points"

Anyway, the closest numismatic connection we've discussed so far were Laura Gardin Fraser's "Better Baby" medals. -Editor

Laura Gardin Fraser Better Babies Medal (Obverse) Laura Gardin Fraser Better Babies Medal (Reverse)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL INFORMATION SOUGHT www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n25a16.html)

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Wayne Homren, Editor

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