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Defending the Master Race: Conservation, Eugenics, and the Legacy of Madison Grant |  | Author: Jonathan Peter Spiro
Publisher: Univ. of Vermont Press
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 457750
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 508
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 1584657154
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.800973
EAN: 9781584657156
ASIN: 1584657154
Publication Date: December 31, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Scholars have labeled Madison Grant everything from the "nation's most influential racist" to the "greatest conservationist that ever lived." His life illuminates early twentieth-century America as it was heading toward the American Century, and his legacy is still very much with us today, from the speeches of immigrant-bashing politicians to the international efforts to arrest climate change. This insightful biography shows how Grant worked side-by-side with figures such as Theodore Roosevelt to found the Bronx Zoo, preserve the California redwoods, and save the American bison from extinction. But Grant was also the leader of the eugenics movement in the United States. He popularized the infamous notions that the blond-haired, blue-eyed Nordics were the "master race" and that the state should eliminate members of inferior races who were of no value to the community. Grant's behind-the-scenes machina tions convinced Congress to enact the immigration restriction legis lation of the 1920s, and his influence led many states to ban interracial marriage and sterilize thousands of "unworthy" citizens. Although most of the relevant archival materials on Madison Grant have mysteriously disappeared over the decades, Jonathan Spiro has devoted many years to reconstructing the hitherto concealed events of Grant's life. His astonishing feat of detective work re veals how the founder of the Bronx Zoo wound up writing the book that Adolf Hitler declared was his "bible."
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
Defending the Master Race January 23, 2010
Carolyn Pollak
Defending the Master Race is truly a great expose of the shocking success of the eugenics movement in this country and in Europe, a part of American history that seems to be missing in most of our history books. The author was meticulous with his documentation and clearly overcame huge obstacles in finding the information he needed. The book is so clearly and beautifully written that I found myself memorizing much of the amazing parts because I felt that this story was so vitally important to remember in this age of anti-immigration and racism. It was difficult to make myself put it down.
I wasn't even clear about what eugenics was before I read the book nor the extent of the movement's influence. I was horrified with what passed in the highest level of our society as truths that were openly racist and were used to justify implementing policies such as forced sterilization and turning away millions of immigrants including Jews who were ultimately murdered by the Nazis.
The seemingly schizophrenic accomplishments of Madison Grant-he founded the conservation movement and spearheaded the drive to create our national parks, the Natural History Museum , the Bronx Zoo just to mention a few of the achievements of this visionary and tireless behind the scenes activist -juxtiposed with the truly evil and powerful influences he created is mindboggling. But the book shows that his concern with preserving the "Nordic race" and his powerful influence and cooperation with the Nazis made sense, because everything he knew about in the breeding of animals he extrapolated to people!
Every American needs to know what's in this book.
A book that should be required reading for all college students. January 23, 2010
Paul C. Johnson (Vermont)
Jonathan Spiro has written a masterpiece! His book is much more than a biography of Madison Grant. The first 100 pages alone would make a lucid book on the history of the conservation movement in the U.S., with fascinating details of who did what. Other authors have begun their discussion of Madison Grant emphasizing his part in promoting eugenics, with less emphasis on his role in saving America's biological legacy. By starting with Grant's central role in conserving America's wildlife and forests, in the context of his being a member of the New York elite at a time of maximum immigration, Spiro has helped me to understand how an educated, caring person could have embraced the extreme racism of eugenics. He is a rare author that has created a page-turner from a exceedingly complex topic that is easily made overwhelming or boring. He is a genuine story-teller.
They Were Right May 27, 2009
Richard Hoste
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
For those of us in the world of ideas and with views outside of the mainstream, contemporary orthodoxy is so stifling that sometimes it's nice to be reminded that there was a time when things were different. In the earliest 20th century eugenics was mainstream enough to be endorsed by figures such as Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The International Eugenics Congress, taking place in 1921, had Alexander Graham Bell as its honorary president and was partly underwritten by future President Hoover. Guests included future Nobel laureate H. J. Muller, representatives from most of America's leading universities, delegates from the American Genetics Association, the American Philosophical Society, American Anthropological Association and the American Pediatric Society and scientists from over 25 different countries.
Even The New York Times, in an article on the conference explained that science had proven that "severe restriction of immigration is essential to prevent the deterioration of American civilization." The treasurer of the conference was a man named Madison Grant, arguably the most important conservationist of all time. He was also the main political force behind the eugenics movement, which encompassed anti-miscegenation laws, forced sterilization and immigration restriction. Johnathan Spiro, a history professor at Castleton College, has written Grant's one and only biography.
Madison Grant was born in Manhattan in 1865 and died in 1937. He came from a prominent American family and could trace his ancestry on both sides to before the country's founding. After spending years as an adolescent studying in Europe he graduated from Yale and then Columbia Law School. He had no need to work and could spend his life using his connections and charm fighting for causes he believed in.
One of Grant's first accomplishments was the drafting of the bill that created the New York Zoological Society at the urging of friend Theodore Roosevelt. This led to the opening of the Bronx Zoo in 1899. Within ten years it was the largest zoo in the world in terms of both size and number of animals.
Before Grant, conservationists tried to justify their activities by claiming a benefit for humans. If they urged people not to go out and shoot animals for their meat or fur it was so the animals could eventually fulfill some kind of human purpose like bringing money to a community through tourism. Grant broke with the utilitarian conservationists and argued for preserving nature for its own sake.
The plight of the bison in the early twentieth century greatly concerned Grant. At one time there had been around 30 million in North America. In 1886 they were down to 541. Some wealthy individuals tried to keep bison on their own land but to Grant's horror allowed them to breed with cattle and form half-breeds ("catalos"). Grant's organizations the Boone and Crocket Club, New York Zoological Society and The American Bison Society were instrumental in creating 4 national bison herds across the great plains. When he died there were twenty five thousand bison. Grant similarly helped save the bald eagle, Alaskan bear, fur seal and numerous other species. He was one of the founders of the Save-the-Redwoods league. Although this mainstream author praises Grant for saving different kinds plants and animals it was Madison Grant's interest in preserving his own race that got him written out of the history books.
According to Grant, conservation and eugenics "were two sides of the same coin, as both were `attempts to save as much as possible of the old America.'" He was by no means radical for his time. Of course, in the long run Grant and his disciples lost the intellectual battle. By the time of Grant's death eugenics and even theories about heredity influencing behavior were relegated to the fringes of intellectual life.
It's easy to burn straw men about the inadequacies of 1920s IQ tests or racial classifications and the author does plenty of that. And if Madison Grant were alive today, he would probably have to concede that he was wrong about the intellectual inferiority of Jews and Slavs. But if he was to take a tour of any American city, school or institution that has a significant proportion of blacks or Hispanics, read the latest newspaper article about elites scratching their heads at their inability to close racial gaps in achievement or read the latest scientific findings on race, heredity and IQ he would be completely justified in saying "I told you so." He'd find the moralizing and outrage of those so obviously wrong puzzling.
Excellent! February 28, 2009
Joseph Ransmeier (UM School of Law, Missoula, MT)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book provides a mesmerizing portrait of a largely forgotten- yet hugely important-figure in modern American history. Grant and his eugenics cronies wielded immense influence over contemporary politics, but have largely dissappeared from our society's conscience today.
In addition to detailing Grant's "exploits" in the "field" of scientific racism (such as advocating for forced sterilization of the handicapped and exclusion of jewish immigrants), the book contains in-depth coverage his role in the early conservation movement. Spiro's coverage of Grant's efforts in conserving California's redwood forests is particularly well written. Finally, Spiro's ability to explain the links between Grant's conservationist streak and his faith in eugenics are insightful and thought-provoking.
Historians will appreciate the highly detailed appendix and plentiful endnotes.
biography of prominent activist for conservation and eugenics February 9, 2009
Henry Berry (Southport, CT)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Madison Grant threw his energies equally into conservation and eugenics. He wrote the book on eugenics The Passing of the Great Race seeing the blond-haired, blue-eyed Nordic race as the top, more desirable race. He was a cofounder of the Eugenics Committee of the U.S.A. and American Eugenics Society. Grant's racial positions extended to sterilization of those he regarded as inferior races. And he worked on racial policies and practices with Southern segregationists.
Grant stood out in the field of conservation too. He was identified with Theodore Roosevelt in helping to create the country's magnificent national parks. He was a leader in zoological organizations; and he founded the Bronx Zoo. For his decisive role in preventing the complete destruction of California's giant sequoia trees, he had one species named after him.
Spiro does not try to reconcile nor rationalize these two salient interests and activities of Grant. He does not even see them as contradictory. Grant was not conflicted over his beliefs, passions, and activities. For Grant was a robust, socially active, well-to-do, well-connected individual of the latter 1800s and early 1900s in the Teddy Roosevelt mold naturally taking a lead in fields he felt strongly about and felt were beneficial for society. Like Roosevelt, he hunted big game while at the same time working toward a major zoo where animals could be preserved and appreciated by the public. The basis of his racial views was a strong America.
With the Holocaust and the coming of a racially diverse America over the decades following World War II, Grant's abhorrent racial views (pointed to by some defendants in the Nuremberg trials in support of their involvement in genocide) eclipsed his incomparable conservationist contributions so that he became identified with the former. Any interest in him thus sunk to zero.
Writing this voluminous biography on Grant going into different dimensions and influences while presenting him as a whole and understandable, though not necessarily sympathetic figure was particularly challenging for Spiro. Grant's relatives destroyed his papers when he died in 1937. Archival material in storage was ruined by a flood or carelessly thrown out. Spiro has overcome this "dearth" in the typical source material however by exhaustive reading of newspaper accounts of Grant's activities, letters of colleagues of his, and references to him in memoirs written by his contemporaries. Despite the obstacles, Spiro has written a balanced biography that portrays Grant as a prominent man of his time; which book also sheds light on controversies continuing to this day.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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