Cultivating Motherhood and the rise of the
Eugenics Movement

Nineteenth-century scientific discoveries about the relationship between health and hygiene began to enter mainstream culture as women's health books were published establishing women as the masters of a healthy home.  The focus on women's reproductive health and perfecting motherhood was a way to educate white, middle-class women and promote healthier babies.  It was a cause that was soon enfolded int the Eugenics Movement as pseudo-scientific theories about heredity, class and race began to influence public policy.

 

This exhibition explores the popularization of the "Perfect Mother" ideal by featuring illustrations from books that were sold as women's "medical" desk references and patent medical trading cards with advertising imagery.  Although they are aesthetically pleasing images, they are artifacts promoting a specific agenda of the Eugenics Movement.