Eugenics research. Poster illustrating eugenics research of the early 1920s,describing a group named 'the tribe of Ishmael'. Living in mostly Midwestern US states,they numbered 6000 in 1890,and had increased to around 10,000 in 1921. The text refers to feeble mindedness,paupers,beggars,criminals and prostitutes. This poster is from the Eugenics Record Office (founded 1910),Cold Spring Harbor,New York,USA. Eugenics is the controversial practice of selectively improving the genetics of human populations. One of the aims of eugenicists in this period was forced sterilisation of those with mental health conditions and a history of crime |