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Your consideration is invited in regard to the following question:‐‐
Would an educational campaign for the Eugenics Survey be desirable for the coming year?
In the light of the following explanation would you kindly vote yes or no on the above question and forward this sheet or send a note to the Director?
For five and a half years the Eugenics Survey has been accumulating data in regard to Vermont families. At first these were what might be called “low grade" families but the information as a whole is now fairly well balanced as regards the economic and social status of the people involved. Family traits have been searched for and in most cases found. Reasons for the present status of the family pointing to hereditary characteristics can be assigned in most cases‐‐ tentatively least.
With the very large volume of material classified and indexed in our files at the present time it is believed that there is sufficient basis for doing some educational work and I beg to submit the following proposal:‐‐
1. A preliminary study of needs.
This to consist of visits to various towns scattered over the state, selected rather at random. The purpose is to discover the amount of interest amongst those who might be called community‐leaders by virtue of their intelligence and interest in community affairs. If there is a very large library are there any books on heredity? Would the librarian or the trustees, et cetera care to have us recommend one or two good books on the subject? Are there funds to provide them, or could funds be specially secured? Have local clubs ever discussed heredity, heard lectures on the subject or considered doing either as part of the club's regular program?
A brief and necessarily superficial survey of the attitude of local leaders in regard to eugenics and heredity would form a part of this plan and the results would be summarized. A written report, very brief but containing essential information, would then be prepared for that town. In the case of small villages only two or three days would be necessary and by the end of six months a pretty complete picture of the need and available body of knowledge throughout the state would have been acquired.
2. Education.
Through the various existing organizations, many of which have already shown a real interest in Eugenics and a desire to increase their information on the subject, an attempt would be made to put into their programs study courses and lectures, and the use of the News Letter method would probably be attempted. The enclosed is a sample of the type of thing that could be used in this last mentioned fashion, This was prepared in cooperation with the Chairman of the Vermont Federation of Women's Clubs, Committee on International Relations, and has just been mailed out accompanied by a letter from this Chairman, Mrs. Herbert McMullen, to all the women's clubs in Vermont who are members of the Federation.
3. Source material.
It is hardly necessary to assure the Advisory Committee that caution will be exercised in the choice of the material to be sent out and no breach of confidence such as would reveal the names of or other identifying facts concerning specific persons will be made available any more than has been done in the past. It is our belief that valuable lessons in eugenics can easily be set up with the material now in our hands as background matter.
Your perusal of the above will be very greatly appreciated, and, in lieu of a committee meeting, a vote on the question by correspondence is earnestly desired. It might be stated further that such a program would be eminently appropriate in view of the probability that, whether additional funds become available or not, the Vermont Commission on Country Life will continue for another year in some form or other, and if it does so continue its purpose and program will be the dissemination of useful information and recommendations based upon the findings of the past three years. We have by no means exhausted the possibilities of the present town study and, if you vote in favor of the above plan, it will be the hope of the Director and the three present field Workers that it may be possible to return later to the town study which has proved so extremely interesting and, we believe, profitable.
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Vermont Public Records
Central Services Division
Route 2, Middlesex
Drawer 33
Montpelier, VT 05633