Race Betterment Foundation

The Race Betterment Foundation was a eugenics and racial hygiene organization founded in 1914[1] at Battle Creek, Michigan by John Harvey Kellogg due to his concerns about what he perceived as "race degeneracy". The foundation supported conferences (including three National Conferences on Race Betterment), publications (Good Health), and the formation of a eugenics registry in cooperation with the ERO (Eugenics Record Office).[2] The foundation also sponsored the Fitter Families Campaign from 1928 to the late 1930s and funded Battle Creek College. The foundation controlled the Battle Creek Food Company, which in turn served as the major source for Kellogg's eugenics programs, conferences, and Battle Creek College.[3] In his will, Kellogg left his entire estate to the foundation.[4] In 1947, the foundation had over $687,000 in assets.[4] By 1967, the foundation's accounts were a mere $492.87. In 1967, the state of Michigan indicted the trustees for squandering the foundation's funds and the foundation closed.[4]

  1. ^ Markel, Howard (2017). The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek. Pantheon. p. 461. ISBN 978-0307907271. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  2. ^ "EugenicsArchive". www.eugenicsarchive.org. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  3. ^ Engs, Ruth Clifford (2003). The progressive era's health reform movement : a historical dictionary. Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 275–276. ISBN 0313051852. OCLC 57482580.
  4. ^ a b c Markel, Howard (2017). The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek. Pantheon. p. 321. ISBN 978-0307907271. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2024-04-20.