18 



EUGENICAL NEWS^TlWei ^H 



DUGDALE OF "THE JUKES." 



Eichard L. Dugdale, of New York, 

 was in the early '70s the author of the 

 original " Jukes " study — a real pio- 

 neer work — whose history has been 

 brought down to 1915 by Dr. A. H. 

 Estabrook, '10. But little is known 

 of Dugdale personally, save that " he 

 was of a retiring- disposition." Not 

 even a photograph of him could be 

 found, but a family friend — now a 

 man more than 90 years of age — of 

 Dr. Esther F. Byrnes knew Dugdale 

 personally. Dr. Byrnes writes the fol- 

 lowing account of Dugdale as supplied 

 by her informant. 



" Dugdale at 30 to 35 was a man of 

 medium size and weighed slightly 

 under 130. We were both members of 

 the New York ' Society for the Study 

 of Economics ' which met at Cooper 

 Union. Dugdale said: 'There was no 

 conception of sociology in the group.' 

 Few members of this association at- 

 tended meetings, sometimes only 5 or 

 6, at other times as many as 15 or 20. 

 At the Society the work of Malthus, 

 Charles Bradshaw and Annie Besant 

 on ' birth control ' was discussed by 

 Dugdale and the others. The freedom 

 of speech which was found in the So- 

 ciety attracted Dugdale and through 

 common interest the two men became 

 acquainted. Dugdale had been active 

 in race betterment before he came to 

 the Society. Its meetings were ad- 

 vertised and open to the public ; there 

 were no records kept and there was 

 no secretary; informal discussion was 

 the rule. 



"Dugdale was always smooth- 

 shaven, his hair was light brown, 

 straight and always cut short in sum- 

 mer ; his eyes deep gray. In his dress 

 he was not careless but merely indif- 

 ferent. In summer he wore (accord- 

 ing to prevailing custom) a linen 

 duster all day and came to the evening 



meetings directly from his work in it. 

 In winter he wore with careless ease 

 a slouch hat with a narrow brim ; and 

 in summer a straw hat of the same 

 character. 



" His disposition was modest, unas- 

 suming, that of a student. He was 

 very quiet and very deliberate in 

 speech. He was an observer rather 

 than an active participant. He would 

 join in debate when he could throw 

 light on the matter under considera- 

 tion. He would not present his views 

 but would rather agree to those of 

 others ; was not argumentative or 

 critical or controversial in tempera- 

 ment but was constructive in argu- 

 ment. 



" His speech was one of unstudied 

 ease and cultivation. His voice was 

 soft — partially veiled ' as though he 

 would be shocked to impose himself 

 on others.' His manner w^as one of re- 

 spect for others. He was a man who 

 was not easily analyzed and one could 

 not tell from meeting him how he 

 would be with intimates. There is 

 little known of his private life. In 

 business he was a mechanical drafts- 

 man (the informant was an orna- 

 mental draftsman) and it is not 

 known where he Avas employed." 



