Ellsworth Huntington

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Ellsworth Huntington
Ellsworth Huntington.jpg
Born(1876-09-16)September 16, 1876
DiedOctober 17, 1947(1947-10-17) (aged 71)
Nationality American
Alma mater Beloit College [1]
Harvard University
Yale University [1]
Scientific career
Fields Geography
Climatology Human Ecology
Institutions Yale University

Ellsworth Huntington (September 16, 1876 – October 17, 1947) was a professor of geography at Yale University during the early 20th century, known for his studies on environmental determinism/climatic determinism, economic growth, and economic geography. He served as president of the Ecological Society of America in 1917, the Association of American Geographers in 1923 and president of the board of directors of the American Eugenics Society from 1934 to 1938. [2]

Contents

He taught at Euphrates College, Turkey (18971901); accompanied the Pumpelly (1903) and Barrett (19051906) expeditions to central Asia; and wrote of his Asian experiences in Explorations in Turkestan (1905) and The Pulse of Asia (1907). He taught geography at Yale (19071915) and from 1917 was a research associate there, devoting his time chiefly to climatic and anthropogeographic studies. He was the 1916 recipient of the Elisha Kent Kane Gold Medal from the Geographical Society of Philadelphia.

In 1909, Huntington led the Yale Expedition to Palestine. It was his mission to determine "step by step the process by which geologic structure, topographic form, and the present and past nature of the climate have shaped man's progress, moulded his history; and thus played an incalculable part in the development of a system of thought which could scarcely have arisen under any other physical circumstances." [3]

During the Progressive Era, Huntington expressed concern about immigration and the race mixing. He claimed that liberal immigration policy would lead to the "highest racial values" being "irrevocably swamped by those of lower calibre." [4]

He was on the original standing committee of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles from 1941.

Bibliography

Ellsworth Huntington at the Mill Spring, California, tree ring study, 1911 Ellsworth Huntington Mill Spring California 1911.jpg
Ellsworth Huntington at the Mill Spring, California, tree ring study, 1911

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental determinism</span> Theory that a societys development is predetermined by its physical environment

Environmental determinism is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards particular economic or social developmental trajectories. Jared Diamond, Jeffrey Herbst, Ian Morris, and other social scientists sparked a revival of the theory during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This "neo-environmental determinism" school of thought examines how geographic and ecological forces influence state-building, economic development, and institutions. While archaic versions of the geographic interpretation were used to encourage colonialism and eurocentrism, modern figures like Diamond use this approach to reject the racism in these explanations. Diamond argues that European powers were able to colonize, due to unique advantages bestowed by their environment, as opposed to any kind of inherent superiority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Morris Davis</span> American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist and meteorologist

William Morris Davis was an American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the "father of American geography".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic geography</span> Subfield of human geography and economics

Economic geography is the subfield of human geography that studies economic activity and factors affecting it. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Grant</span> American eugenicist, conservationist, and author (1865–1937)

Madison Grant was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known for his work as a conservationist, eugenicist, and advocate of scientific racism. Grant is less noted for his far-reaching achievements in conservation than for his pseudoscientific advocacy of Nordicism, a form of racism which views the "Nordic race" as superior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremiah Jenks</span> American economist, educator, and professor (1856–1929)

Jeremiah Whipple Jenks (1856–1929) was an American economist, educator, and professor at Cornell University, who held various posts in the United States government throughout his career. He served as a member of the Dillingham Immigration Commission from 1907 to 1914 in which he led research projects on the state of immigration to the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of geography</span>

The History of geography includes many histories of geography which have differed over time and between different cultural and political groups. In more recent developments, geography has become a distinct academic discipline. 'Geography' derives from the Greek γεωγραφία – geographia, literally "Earth-writing", that is, description or writing about the Earth. The first person to use the word geography was Eratosthenes. However, there is evidence for recognizable practices of geography, such as cartography, prior to the use of the term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Eugenics Society</span> Pro-eugenics organization (1922-2019)

The American Eugenics Society (AES) was a pro-eugenics organization dedicated to "furthering the discussion, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge about biological and sociocultural forces which affect the structure and composition of human populations". It endorsed the study and practice of eugenics in the United States. Its original name as the American Eugenics Society lasted from 1922 to 1973, but the group changed their name after open use of the term "eugenics" became disfavored; it was known as the Society for the Study of Social Biology from 1973–2008, and the Society for Biodemography and Social Biology from 2008–2019. The Society was disbanded in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Churchill Semple</span> American geographer (1863–1932)

Ellen Churchill Semple was an American geographer and the first female president of the Association of American Geographers. She contributed significantly to the early development of the discipline of geography in the United States, particularly studies of human geography. She is most closely associated with work in anthropogeography and environmentalism, and the debate about "environmental determinism".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphael Pumpelly</span> American geologist

Raphael Pumpelly was an American geologist and explorer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Alsworth Ross</span> American sociologist

Edward Alsworth Ross was a progressive American sociologist, eugenicist, economist, and major figure of early criminology.

William Wheeler Bunge Jr. was an American geographer active mainly as a quantitative geographer and spatial theorist. He also became a radical geographer and anti-war activist in the US and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dandan Oilik</span>

Dandan Oilik, also Dandān-Uiliq, lit. "the houses with ivory", is an abandoned historic oasis town and Buddhist site in the Taklamakan Desert of China, located to the northeast of Khotan in what is now the autonomous region of Xinjiang, between the Khotan and Keriya rivers. The central site covers an area of 4.5 km2; the greater oasis extends over an area of 22 km2. The site flourished from the sixth century as a site along the southern branch of the Silk Road until its abandonment before the Tibetan advance at the end of the eighth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miran (Xinjiang)</span> Ancient city in Xinjiang

Miran or Mirān is a former city that existed until the 1st millennium, on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. Located at an oasis, where the Lop Nur desert meets the Altun Shan mountains, Miran was once a major point on the Silk Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Griffith Taylor</span> British explorer (1880–1963)

Thomas Griffith "Grif" Taylor was an English-born geographer, anthropologist and world explorer. He was a survivor of Captain Robert Scott's Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica (1910–1913). Taylor was a senior academic geographer at universities in Sydney, Chicago, and Toronto. His writings on geography and race were controversial.

<i>Is Geography Destiny?</i> Book by John Luke Gallup

Is Geography Destiny? Lessons from Latin America is a book written by John Luke Gallup, Alejandro Gaviria, Eduardo Lora and published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which documents an advanced step of the rediscovery of geography by economists initiated by Paul Krugman in the early 1990s, however in another, more deterministic direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert DeCourcy Ward</span> American climatologist, author, and educator (1867–1931)

Robert DeCourcy Ward was an American climatologist, author, educator and leading eugenics and immigration reform advocate in the early 20th Century. He became the first ever professor of climatology in the United States and made contributions to the study of the climate. His advocacy for immigration reform and eugenics led him to co-found the Immigration Restriction League which was instrumental in the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924 which reduced Jewish and Italian immigration to the U.S. by over 95% and completely barred Asian immigration until 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Race suicide</span> Alarmist term used in eugenics

Race suicide was an alarmist eugenicist theory, coined by American sociologist Edward A. Ross around 1900 and promoted by folks like Harry J. Haiselden. Per the American Eugenics Archive, “race suicide” conceptualizes a hypothetical situation in which the death rate of a particular “race” supersedes its birth rate.

Stephen Sargent Visher was an American regional geographer and eugenicist. He spent most of his academic career as Professor of Geography at Indiana University, Department of Geology. His interests included the geography of intelligence, ecology and the historical geography of Indiana – on which he wrote prolifically. After his death he was called the "Mr Geography of Indiana" as a result of the many articles and books he wrote concerning the Hoosier State. His interests in eugenics influenced in the work of Ellsworth Huntington, while his geographical work and stories of eastern travel were among the main reasons Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle began traveling to the Far East.

Henry Strong Huntington Jr. (1882-1981), was a Presbyterian minister who advocated the healthful advantages of nudism. He established the Burgoyne Trail Nudist Camp near Otis, Massachusetts. He was editor of the magazine, The Nudist. He was also an advocate of eugenics.

Harlan H. Barrows was an American geographer. He served as chair of the geography department at the University of Chicago from 1919 until 1942, then was named emeritus professor. He was elected president of the Association of American Geographers in 1922. Barrows played a significant role in the development of historical geography and environmental conservation.

References

  1. 1 2 "Huntington< Ellworth". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
  2. Martin, Geoffrey (1971). "The Ellsworth Huntington Papers". The Yale University Library Gazette. 45 (4): 185–195. ISSN   0044-0175.
  3. "The Huntington Collection". Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  4. Lavery, Colm (October 2022). "The Power of Racial Mapping: Ellsworth Huntington, Immigration, and Eugenics in the Progressive Era". The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. 21 (4): 262–278. doi: 10.1017/S1537781422000299 . ISSN   1537-7814.

Further reading