Debunked study of race in Hawaiʻi focus of exhibit at Windward CC

Eugenics in Hawaii table exhibit

Eugenics is the “scientifically inaccurate theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations,” according to the National Institutes of Health. Windward Community College’s Hale La‘akea Library in partnership with Bishop Museum, is hosting a table exhibit exploring the discredited theory of eugenics. 

The exhibit runs through December 15. Library hours for viewing are Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. (closed weekends and state holidays).

Opening Reception: Thursday, November 9
Hale La‘akea Library
1:30–3:45 p.m.
Guest speaker: Michael Wilson, Bishop Museum exhibit designer

An opening reception for the table exhibit will take place on Thursday, November 9, at 1:30 p.m., with Bishop Museum Exhibit Designer Michael Wilson discussing the exhibit at 2 p.m. Light refreshments will be served in the library breezeway.

The table exhibit states that race is NOT a biological truth—countering popular anthropological theories of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These attempts to turn the study of race into an objective science left a lasting and destructive legacy. It also features a reproduction of Pierre Marie Dumoutier’s cephalometer, which was designed to take head measurements to classify people into racial categories, as well as reproductions of hair and eye color charts to further measure physical differences in the population.

The table exhibit was made possible through the generous support of Professor Emerita Jacqueline Maly.

For more information, contact Head Librarian Sarah Sur at sgilman@hawaii.edu.

For more information, visit: http://windward.hawaii.edu