Indiana Magazine of History

Abstract:

The interdisciplinary study—including biology, politics, psychology, and economic history—of the American eugenics movement has attracted attention from many, but its geographical history has struggled to find a place. Using the life and work of regional geographer Stephen Sargent Visher as a case study reveals some aspects of the significant role that geography played in the eugenics movement. Utilizing archival research, the article shows that Visher's intellectual backdrop in Illinois and Indiana, his awareness of the influence of environmental and social conditions on human constitution, and his geographical expertise all provided him with the ammunition to propound a specific eugenic vision that often diverged from popular eugenic notions. The article also situates Visher's geographical ideas within the eugenics movement. His life helps us begin to understand the inter-connectedness of eugenics and geography in the Midwest.