Recent from talks
Charles Davenport
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Charles Davenport
Charles Benedict Davenport (June 1, 1866 – February 18, 1944) was a biologist and eugenicist influential in the American eugenics movement.
Davenport was born in Stamford, Connecticut on June 1, 1866, to Amzi Benedict Davenport, an abolitionist of Puritan ancestry, and his wife Jane Joralemon Dimon (of English, Dutch and Italian ancestry). Davenport was exceedingly proud of his ancestry, claiming in 1942 that he had been an American "for over three hundred years" because he was "composed of elements that were brought to this country during the 17th century." His father had eleven children by two wives, and Charles grew up with his family on Garden Place in Brooklyn Heights. His mother's strong beliefs tended to rub off onto Charles and he followed her example. During the summer months, Charles and his family spent their time on a family farm near Stamford.
As a young boy, Charles was tutored at home, reflecting his father’s strong Protestant beliefs. His father arranged this education to instill in him the values of hard work and learning. When he was not studying, Charles worked as a janitor and errand boy for his father's business. His father had a significant influence on his early career, as he encouraged Charles to become an engineer. However, this was not his primary interest, and after working for a few years to save up money, Charles enrolled in Harvard College to pursue his genuine interest of becoming a scientist. He graduated with a Bachelor's after two years, and earned a Ph.D. in biology in 1892. He married Gertrude Crotty, a zoology graduate of Harvard with whom he would later collaborate closely, in 1894. He had two daughters with Gertrude, Millia Crotty Davenport and Jane Davenport Harris di Tomasi.
Davenport's first faculty position was as a professor of zoology at Harvard, where he became one of the most prominent American biologists of his time, pioneering new quantitative standards of taxonomy. Davenport had a tremendous respect for the biometric approach to heredity pioneered by English eugenicists Francis Galton and Karl Pearson, whom he met in London, and was involved in Pearson's journal, Biometrika. However, after the rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's laws of heredity, he moved on to become a prominent supporter of Mendelian inheritance.
From 1899 to 1904 Davenport taught at the University of Chicago, where he was also curator of the university's Zoological Museum from 1901 to 1904. In 1903, he helped to found the American Breeders' Association, which later became the American Genetic Association.
In 1904, Davenport became director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He founded the Eugenics Record Office there in 1910, with a grant from railroad heiress Mary Averell Harriman, whose daughter Mary Harriman Rumsey had worked with Davenport at Cold Spring Harbor while she was a student at Barnard College. During his time at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Davenport began a series of investigations into aspects of the inheritance of human personality and mental traits, and over the years he generated hundreds of papers and several books on the genetics of alcoholism, pellagra (later shown to be due to a vitamin deficiency), criminality, feeblemindedness, tendency to seafaring, bad temper, intelligence, manic depression, and the biological effects of race crossing. Davenport taught eugenics courses to many people at the Laboratory, including the Massachusetts suffragist Claiborne Catlin Elliman. His 1911 book, Heredity in Relation to Eugenics, was used as a college textbook for many years. During Davenport's tenure at Cold Spring Harbor, several reorganizations took place there. In 1918 the Carnegie Institution of Washington took over funding of the ERO with an additional handsome endowment from Mary Harriman.
Davenport was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1907, and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1912. In 1921, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Davenport's research was guided by the racism and classism of his time, which he bought into wholeheartedly. Although he was one of the first scientists to recognize polygenic inheritance (the influence of many genes on a single trait), he continued to employ simple Mendelian models when convenient for making racist and classist claims. His work drew more and more criticism over time. Eventually, only his most ardent admirers regarded his work as truly scientific.
Hub AI
Charles Davenport AI simulator
(@Charles Davenport_simulator)
Charles Davenport
Charles Benedict Davenport (June 1, 1866 – February 18, 1944) was a biologist and eugenicist influential in the American eugenics movement.
Davenport was born in Stamford, Connecticut on June 1, 1866, to Amzi Benedict Davenport, an abolitionist of Puritan ancestry, and his wife Jane Joralemon Dimon (of English, Dutch and Italian ancestry). Davenport was exceedingly proud of his ancestry, claiming in 1942 that he had been an American "for over three hundred years" because he was "composed of elements that were brought to this country during the 17th century." His father had eleven children by two wives, and Charles grew up with his family on Garden Place in Brooklyn Heights. His mother's strong beliefs tended to rub off onto Charles and he followed her example. During the summer months, Charles and his family spent their time on a family farm near Stamford.
As a young boy, Charles was tutored at home, reflecting his father’s strong Protestant beliefs. His father arranged this education to instill in him the values of hard work and learning. When he was not studying, Charles worked as a janitor and errand boy for his father's business. His father had a significant influence on his early career, as he encouraged Charles to become an engineer. However, this was not his primary interest, and after working for a few years to save up money, Charles enrolled in Harvard College to pursue his genuine interest of becoming a scientist. He graduated with a Bachelor's after two years, and earned a Ph.D. in biology in 1892. He married Gertrude Crotty, a zoology graduate of Harvard with whom he would later collaborate closely, in 1894. He had two daughters with Gertrude, Millia Crotty Davenport and Jane Davenport Harris di Tomasi.
Davenport's first faculty position was as a professor of zoology at Harvard, where he became one of the most prominent American biologists of his time, pioneering new quantitative standards of taxonomy. Davenport had a tremendous respect for the biometric approach to heredity pioneered by English eugenicists Francis Galton and Karl Pearson, whom he met in London, and was involved in Pearson's journal, Biometrika. However, after the rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's laws of heredity, he moved on to become a prominent supporter of Mendelian inheritance.
From 1899 to 1904 Davenport taught at the University of Chicago, where he was also curator of the university's Zoological Museum from 1901 to 1904. In 1903, he helped to found the American Breeders' Association, which later became the American Genetic Association.
In 1904, Davenport became director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He founded the Eugenics Record Office there in 1910, with a grant from railroad heiress Mary Averell Harriman, whose daughter Mary Harriman Rumsey had worked with Davenport at Cold Spring Harbor while she was a student at Barnard College. During his time at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Davenport began a series of investigations into aspects of the inheritance of human personality and mental traits, and over the years he generated hundreds of papers and several books on the genetics of alcoholism, pellagra (later shown to be due to a vitamin deficiency), criminality, feeblemindedness, tendency to seafaring, bad temper, intelligence, manic depression, and the biological effects of race crossing. Davenport taught eugenics courses to many people at the Laboratory, including the Massachusetts suffragist Claiborne Catlin Elliman. His 1911 book, Heredity in Relation to Eugenics, was used as a college textbook for many years. During Davenport's tenure at Cold Spring Harbor, several reorganizations took place there. In 1918 the Carnegie Institution of Washington took over funding of the ERO with an additional handsome endowment from Mary Harriman.
Davenport was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1907, and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1912. In 1921, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Davenport's research was guided by the racism and classism of his time, which he bought into wholeheartedly. Although he was one of the first scientists to recognize polygenic inheritance (the influence of many genes on a single trait), he continued to employ simple Mendelian models when convenient for making racist and classist claims. His work drew more and more criticism over time. Eventually, only his most ardent admirers regarded his work as truly scientific.
Recent media