Eugenics Exhibit 4.6

Invitation sent Laughlin by University of Heidelberg. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University.

The University of Heidelburg expressed its gratitude for the tireless efforts of Harry H. Laughlin in support of eugenics by awarding him an honorary doctorate for his “services on behalf of racial hygiene” on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of the university. This is the invitation received by Laughlin inviting him to attend.
photo credit: Courtesy of Special Collections, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University.

Exhibit 4.6b: Letters

Letter from Laughlin to Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Heidelberg. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University.

Laughlin regretted that he was unable to accept the invitation to attend the ceremonies, but stood “ready to accept this very high honor” from “a nation which for many centuries nurtured the human seed-stock which later founded my own country.”
photo credit: Courtesy of Special Collections, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University.

Exhibit 4.6c: Letters

Laughlin writes that the conferring of the honor was “evidence of a common understanding of German and American scientists of the nature of eugenics… as those fundamental biological and social principles which determine the racial endowments and the racial health… of future generations.”
photo credit: Courtesy of Special Collections, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University.