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{{Short description|American medical professor and eugenicist (1856–1938)}}
'''Charles Fremont Dight''' (1856–1938) was an American medical professor and promoter of the human [[eugenics]] movement in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Minnesota]].<ref name = MPR2011>Collins, Bob, [https://www.mprnews.org/amp/story/2011/08/01/minnesotas-eugenics-past "Minnesota’s eugenics past"], Minnesota Public Radio News. August 1, 2011.</ref> Dight Avenue, a street in [[Minneapolis]], was named for him until the city re-designated it as [[Cheatham Avenue]] in 2022.<ref name=Buchanan>{{cite news|url=https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2016/03/down-syndrome-awareness-day-dight-ave-and-persistence-intolerance|first1=Nicholas|last1=Buchanan|first2=Petra|last2=Buchanan|date=March 21, 2016|newspaper=Minnpost|accessdate=July 4, 2018|title=Down syndrome awareness day, Dight Ave., and the persistence of intolerance}}</ref><ref name=Welter>{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|first1=Ben|last1=Welter|date=June 22, 2015|newspaper=[[Star Tribune]]|title=Yesterday's News — Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection}}</ref>
'''Charles Fremont Dight''' (1856–1938) was an American medical professor and promoter of the human [[eugenics]] movement in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Minnesota]].<ref name = MPR2011>Collins, Bob, [https://www.mprnews.org/amp/story/2011/08/01/minnesotas-eugenics-past "Minnesota’s eugenics past"], Minnesota Public Radio News. August 1, 2011.</ref> Dight Avenue, a street in [[Minneapolis]], was named for him until the city re-designated it as [[Cheatham Avenue]] in 2022.<ref name=Buchanan>{{cite news|url=https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2016/03/down-syndrome-awareness-day-dight-ave-and-persistence-intolerance|first1=Nicholas|last1=Buchanan|first2=Petra|last2=Buchanan|date=March 21, 2016|newspaper=Minnpost|accessdate=July 4, 2018|title=Down syndrome awareness day, Dight Ave., and the persistence of intolerance}}</ref><ref name=Welter>{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|first1=Ben|last1=Welter|date=June 22, 2015|newspaper=[[Star Tribune]]|title=Yesterday's News — Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection}}</ref>


== Early life ==
== Biography ==
In 1856, Dight was born in [[Mercer, Pennsylvania]], to parents of [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch]] [[Germanic peoples|German]] heritage. He grew up on a farm.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Welter|first=Ben|date=2015-06-15|title=Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|access-date=2015-06-15}}</ref>
In 1856, Dight was born in [[Mercer, Pennsylvania]], to parents of [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch]] [[Germanic peoples|German]] heritage. He grew up on a farm.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Welter|first=Ben|date=2015-06-15|title=Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|access-date=2015-06-15}}</ref> Dight married Dr. [[Mary A. G. Dight|Mary A. Crawford]] in 1892, but they divorced in 1899. Dight had no children or heirs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dight, Charles Fremont, 1856-1938 - Social Networks and Archival Context|url=https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w69c8nt2|access-date=2022-01-04|website=snaccooperative.org}}</ref> Dight resided in a [[tree house]] home dwelling at 4818 39th Avenue in Minneapolis, which has since been demolished.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Welter|first=Ben|date=2015-06-15|title=Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|access-date=2015-06-15}}</ref>


⚫
Dight graduated from the [[University of Michigan Medical School]] in 1879. He was a health officer in [[Holton, Michigan]] from 1879 to 1881. He then worked at the university under professor Alonzo B. Palmer. Dight taught at the [[American University of Beirut]] from 1883 to 1889.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Upon returning to the United States, he was the resident physician and teacher of physiology and hygiene at the [[Shattuck-Saint Mary's|Shattuck School]] in [[Faribault, Minnesota]]. He later taught at the medical school at [[Hamline University]]; the medical school was absorbed into the [[University of Minnesota]] in 1907. Dight was a member of the [[Socialist Party of Minnesota]], and was an alderman from the 12th district of [[Minneapolis]] from 1914 to 1918.<ref name="mnhspapers">{{cite web|url=http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/P1628.xml?return=q%3D%2522public%2520ownership%2520party%2522|title=Charles Fremont Dight: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society|publisher=[[Minnesota Historical Society]]|accessdate=14 April 2016}}</ref> During his time in office, Dight was instrumental in passing an ordinance requiring the pasteurization of milk.<ref>Welter, Ben, [https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/ "Yesterday's News: Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection"], ''[[Minneapolis Star Tribune]]''.</ref><ref name="Phelps">{{cite news|url=http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/49/v49i03p099-108.pdf|title=The Eugenics Crusade of Charles Fremont Dight|last=Phelps|first=Gary|date=Fall 1984|publisher=[[Minnesota Historical Society]]|accessdate=14 April 2016}}</ref> He left the Socialist Party in 1917, prior to beginning his eugenics efforts.<ref name="Phelps" />
== Education and career ==
{{Eugenics sidebar}}
Dight graduated from the [[University of Michigan Medical School]] in 1879. He was a health officer in [[Holton, Michigan]] from 1879-1881. He then worked at the university under professor Alonzo B. Palmer. Dight taught at the [[American University of Beirut]] from 1883 to 1889.
⚫
Dight became a proponent of eugenics during the 1920s. He founded the [[Eugenics in Minnesota|Minnesota Eugenics Society]] in 1923 and persuaded the Minnesota legislature to pass a [[Sterilization (medicine)|sterilization]] law in 1925.<ref name="Buchanan" /> Dight actively pursued the same type of eugenics as [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] medicine.<ref name="Phelps" /> In 1933, Dight wrote a letter to [[Adolf Hitler]] praising his efforts to "stamp out mental inferiority".<ref>{{cite web|title=Letter to Hitler from Charles Dight|url=http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/letterHitler.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724235202/http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/letterHitler.pdf|accessdate=15 May 2021|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|archive-date=2011-07-24}}</ref>When he died in 1938, Dight gave his estate to the [[University of Minnesota]] to create the Dight Institute for Eugenics Research.<ref name="Buchanan" /> The institute was renamed the Dight Institute for the Promotion of Human Genetics and was in operation until the late 1960s when it was divested, and it later closed in the 1990s.<ref name="Buchanan" />


⚫
In 1918, the Minneapolis city council named a nine-block long street in the [[Longfellow, Minneapolis|Longfellow community]] "Dight Avenue" for him in recognition of his efforts to promote food safety.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Welter|first=Ben|date=2015-06-15|title=Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|access-date=2015-06-15}}</ref> The street name drew periodic criticism from the public and by [[Editorial board|editorial boards]] of newspapers, such as by the ''[[MinnPost]]'' in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Buchanan|first=Nicholas|last2=Buchanan|first2=Petra|date=2016-03-21|title=Down syndrome awareness day, Dight Ave., and the persistence of intolerance|work=[[MinnPost]]|url=https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2016/03/down-syndrome-awareness-day-dight-ave-and-persistence-intolerance/|access-date=2016-03-21}}</ref> The legacy of Dight Avenue became part of a wave of statute removals and official re-designations in the [[Aftermath of the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul|aftermath]] of [[George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul|protests]] following [[George Floyd]]'s murder in 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Brooks|first=Jennifer|date=2021-12-25|title=Minneapolis will change infamous street name to honor trailblazing firefighter|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/the-long-road-to-a-better-street-name/600130300/|access-date=2021-12-25}}</ref> In light of his views on eugenics, in 2021 a [[petition]] drive led by disability activist [[Noah McCourt]] requested that the City of Minneapolis rename the street, which received support from residents and city officials.<ref name=":0" /> In 2022, Dight Avenue was renamed after [[John Cheatham (firefighter)|John Cheatham]], one of the first [[African Americans|Black]] firefighters in Minneapolis.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jennifer Brooks: Minneapolis will change infamous street name to honor trailblazing firefighter|url=https://www.startribune.com/the-long-road-to-a-better-street-name/600130300/|access-date=2021-12-27|website=Star Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-06-01|title=Petition asks to rename Minneapolis street named after eugenicist who praised Hitler|work=[[Bring Me The News]]|url=https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/petition-asks-to-rename-minneapolis-street-named-after-eugenicist-who-praised-hitler|access-date=2021-06-01}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Croman|first=John|date=2021-12-28|title=Minneapolis street renamed for city's first Black firefighter|work=[[KARE-TV]]|url=https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/minneapolis-street-renamed-for-citys-first-black-fireman/89-9f70d9ce-628d-491c-b7d8-efca89e2825a|access-date=2021-12-28}}</ref>
⚫
Upon returning to the United States, he was the resident physician and teacher of physiology and hygiene at the [[Shattuck-Saint Mary's|Shattuck School]] in [[Faribault, Minnesota]]. He later taught at the medical school at [[Hamline University]]; the medical school was later absorbed into [[University of Minnesota]] in 1907. Dight was a member of the [[Socialist Party of Minnesota]],and was an alderman from 12th district of [[Minneapolis]], from 1914 to 1918.<ref name="mnhspapers">{{cite web|url=http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/P1628.xml?return=q%3D%2522public%2520ownership%2520party%2522|title=CHARLES FREMONT DIGHT: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society|publisher=[[Minnesota Historical Society]]|accessdate=14 April 2016}}</ref> During his time in office, Dight was instrumental in passing an ordinance requiring the pasteurization of milk.<ref>Welter, Ben, [https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/ "Yesterday's News: Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection"], ''[[Minneapolis Star Tribune]]''.</ref><ref name="Phelps">{{cite news|url=http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/49/v49i03p099-108.pdf|title=The Eugenics Crusade of Charles Fremont Dight|last=Phelps|first=Gary|date=Fall 1984|publisher=[[Minnesota Historical Society]]|accessdate=14 April 2016}}</ref> He left the Socialist Party in 1917, prior to beginning his eugenics efforts.<ref name="Phelps" />

⚫
Dight became a proponent of eugenics during the 1920s. He founded the Minnesota Eugenics Society in 1923 and persuaded the Minnesota legislature to pass a [[Sterilization (medicine)|sterilization]] law in 1925.<ref name="Buchanan" /> Dight actively pursued the same type of eugenics as [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] medicine.<ref name="Phelps" /> In 1933, Dight wrote a letter to [[Adolf Hitler]] praising his efforts to "stamp out mental inferiority".<ref>{{cite web|title=Letter to Hitler from Charles Dight|url=http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/letterHitler.pdf|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724235202/http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/letterHitler.pdf|accessdate=15 May 2021|archive-date=2011-07-24}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Dight married Dr. Mary A. Crawford in 1892, but they divorced in 1899. Dight had no children or heirs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dight, Charles Fremont, 1856-1938 - Social Networks and Archival Context|url=https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w69c8nt2|access-date=2022-01-04|website=snaccooperative.org}}</ref> Dight resided in a [[tree house]] home dwelling at 4818 39th Avenue in Minneapolis, which has since been demolished.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Welter|first=Ben|date=2015-06-15|title=Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|access-date=2015-06-15}}</ref>

== Legacy ==

=== University of Minnesota ===
When he died in 1938, Dight gave his estate to the [[University of Minnesota]] to create the Dight Institute for Eugenics Research.<ref name="Buchanan" /> The institute was renamed the Dight Institute for the Promotion of Human Genetics and was in operation until the late 1960s when it was divested, and it later closed in the 1990s.<ref name="Buchanan" />

=== Dight Avenue ===
⚫
In 1918, the Minneapolis city council named a nine-block long street in the [[Longfellow, Minneapolis|Longfellow community]] "Dight Avenue" for him in recognition of his efforts to promote food safety.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Welter|first=Ben|date=2015-06-15|title=Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/oct-14-1914-dight-avenue-s-hitler-connection/153894385/|access-date=2015-06-15}}</ref> The street name drew periodic criticism from the public and by [[Editorial board|editorial boards]] of newspapers, such as by the ''[[MinnPost]]'' in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Buchanan|first=Nicholas|last2=Buchanan|first2=Petra|date=2016-03-21|title=Down syndrome awareness day, Dight Ave., and the persistence of intolerance|work=[[MinnPost]]|url=https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2016/03/down-syndrome-awareness-day-dight-ave-and-persistence-intolerance/|access-date=2016-03-21}}</ref> The legacy of Dight Avenue became part of a wave of statute removals and official re-designations in the [[Aftermath of the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul|aftermath]] of [[George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul|protests]] following [[George Floyd]]'s murder in 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Brooks|first=Jennifer|date=2021-12-25|title=Minneapolis will change infamous street name to honor trailblazing firefighter|work=[[Star Tribune]]|url=https://www.startribune.com/the-long-road-to-a-better-street-name/600130300/|access-date=2021-12-25}}</ref> In light of his views on eugenics, in 2021 a [[petition]] drive led by disability activist [[Noah McCourt]] requested that the City of Minneapolis rename the street, which received support from residents and city officials.<ref name=":0" /> In 2022, Dight Avenue will be renamed after [[John Cheatham (firefighter)|John Cheatham]], one of the first [[African Americans|Black]] firefighters in Minneapolis.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jennifer Brooks: Minneapolis will change infamous street name to honor trailblazing firefighter|url=https://www.startribune.com/the-long-road-to-a-better-street-name/600130300/|access-date=2021-12-27|website=Star Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-06-01|title=Petition asks to rename Minneapolis street named after eugenicist who praised Hitler|work=[[Bring Me The News]]|url=https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/petition-asks-to-rename-minneapolis-street-named-after-eugenicist-who-praised-hitler|access-date=2021-06-01}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Croman|first=John|date=2021-12-28|title=Minneapolis street renamed for city's first Black firefighter|work=[[KARE-TV]]|url=https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/minneapolis-street-renamed-for-citys-first-black-fireman/89-9f70d9ce-628d-491c-b7d8-efca89e2825a|access-date=2021-12-28}}</ref>


== Publications ==
== Publications ==
Line 28: Line 17:
== See also ==
== See also ==


* [[2020–2021 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest]]
* [[2020–2022 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest]]
* [[List of name changes due to the George Floyd protests]]
* [[List of name changes due to the George Floyd protests]]
* [[Nazi eugenics]]
* [[Nazi eugenics]]
* [[Eugenics in Minnesota]]


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 15:41, 10 November 2024

Charles Fremont Dight (1856–1938) was an American medical professor and promoter of the human eugenics movement in the U.S. state of Minnesota.[1] Dight Avenue, a street in Minneapolis, was named for him until the city re-designated it as Cheatham Avenue in 2022.[2][3]

Biography

[edit]

In 1856, Dight was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania, to parents of Scotch German heritage. He grew up on a farm.[4] Dight married Dr. Mary A. Crawford in 1892, but they divorced in 1899. Dight had no children or heirs.[5] Dight resided in a tree house home dwelling at 4818 39th Avenue in Minneapolis, which has since been demolished.[4]

Dight graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1879. He was a health officer in Holton, Michigan from 1879 to 1881. He then worked at the university under professor Alonzo B. Palmer. Dight taught at the American University of Beirut from 1883 to 1889.[citation needed] Upon returning to the United States, he was the resident physician and teacher of physiology and hygiene at the Shattuck School in Faribault, Minnesota. He later taught at the medical school at Hamline University; the medical school was absorbed into the University of Minnesota in 1907. Dight was a member of the Socialist Party of Minnesota, and was an alderman from the 12th district of Minneapolis from 1914 to 1918.[6] During his time in office, Dight was instrumental in passing an ordinance requiring the pasteurization of milk.[7][8] He left the Socialist Party in 1917, prior to beginning his eugenics efforts.[8]

This article is part of a series on the
Eugenics Movement
Historical trajectory
Pre-war academic proponents
Post-war academic remnants
Pamphlets and manifestos
Organizations
Without significant post-war activity

With significant post-war activity

Related

Dight became a proponent of eugenics during the 1920s. He founded the Minnesota Eugenics Society in 1923 and persuaded the Minnesota legislature to pass a sterilization law in 1925.[2] Dight actively pursued the same type of eugenics as Nazi medicine.[8] In 1933, Dight wrote a letter to Adolf Hitler praising his efforts to "stamp out mental inferiority".[9]When he died in 1938, Dight gave his estate to the University of Minnesota to create the Dight Institute for Eugenics Research.[2] The institute was renamed the Dight Institute for the Promotion of Human Genetics and was in operation until the late 1960s when it was divested, and it later closed in the 1990s.[2]

In 1918, the Minneapolis city council named a nine-block long street in the Longfellow community "Dight Avenue" for him in recognition of his efforts to promote food safety.[4] The street name drew periodic criticism from the public and by editorial boards of newspapers, such as by the MinnPost in 2016.[10] The legacy of Dight Avenue became part of a wave of statute removals and official re-designations in the aftermath of protests following George Floyd's murder in 2020.[11] In light of his views on eugenics, in 2021 a petition drive led by disability activist Noah McCourt requested that the City of Minneapolis rename the street, which received support from residents and city officials.[11] In 2022, Dight Avenue was renamed after John Cheatham, one of the first Black firefighters in Minneapolis.[12][13][14]

Publications

[edit]
  • 1935: History of the Early Stages of the Organized Eugenics Movement for Human Betterment in Minnesota
  • 1936: Call for a New Social Order

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Collins, Bob, "Minnesota’s eugenics past", Minnesota Public Radio News. August 1, 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d Buchanan, Nicholas; Buchanan, Petra (March 21, 2016). "Down syndrome awareness day, Dight Ave., and the persistence of intolerance". Minnpost. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  3. ^ Welter, Ben (June 22, 2015). "Yesterday's News — Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection". Star Tribune.
  4. ^ a b c Welter, Ben (2015-06-15). "Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  5. ^ "Dight, Charles Fremont, 1856-1938 - Social Networks and Archival Context". snaccooperative.org. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  6. ^ "Charles Fremont Dight: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  7. ^ Welter, Ben, "Yesterday's News: Oct. 14, 1914: Dight Avenue's Hitler connection", Minneapolis Star Tribune.
  8. ^ a b c Phelps, Gary (Fall 1984). "The Eugenics Crusade of Charles Fremont Dight" (PDF). Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Letter to Hitler from Charles Dight" (PDF). Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  10. ^ Buchanan, Nicholas; Buchanan, Petra (2016-03-21). "Down syndrome awareness day, Dight Ave., and the persistence of intolerance". MinnPost. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  11. ^ a b Brooks, Jennifer (2021-12-25). "Minneapolis will change infamous street name to honor trailblazing firefighter". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  12. ^ "Jennifer Brooks: Minneapolis will change infamous street name to honor trailblazing firefighter". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  13. ^ "Petition asks to rename Minneapolis street named after eugenicist who praised Hitler". Bring Me The News. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  14. ^ Croman, John (2021-12-28). "Minneapolis street renamed for city's first Black firefighter". KARE-TV. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
[edit]
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