Educators confront the 'science' of racism, 1898-1925

The literature depicting educators' role in scientific racism and eugenics during the early 20th century has tended to approach the topic in dichotomous terms, as an ideology that one was either for or against. In this historical study, the author adds some nuance to this literature by tracing leading educators' inconsistent and evolving thoughts on eugenics and the 'science' of race. By approaching the educational discourse on race as thinking rather than thought, the author explores how scholars such as G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey, Franz Boas, William Bagley, David Snedden, Edward Thorndike and Charles Ellwood struggled to make sense of a rapidly changing ideological landscape, but nevertheless supported the ideology of white supremacy.