Acknowledgments

Where do I begin to express gratitude, when so many people in so many
places have lent so many hands to advance the cause of this years-long
project? More than fifty researchers in fifteen cities in four countries,
assisted by scores of archivists and librarians at more than one hundred
institutions, combined to ingather and organize some 50,000 documents,
together with hundreds of pages of translation, as well as to review hundreds
of books and journals, all to collectively tear away the thickets of
mystery surrounding the eugenics movement around the world. I cannot
name all who need naming because of space limitations. In many cases, I do
not even know them all. Many helped behind the scenes. But if great projects
depend upon great efforts by a vast network, then T-VarAgainst the
weak is greatly indebted indeed.

I must begin by thanking my corps of skilled researchers, mostly volunteers.
Because the information needed for T-VarAgainst the weak resided in
many out-of-the-way archives as well as major repositories, the challenge
was to locate the right person in the right place at the right time, from the
hilly back country of southern Virginia to Berlin. Recruits came from the
Internet, organizational bulletin boards, word of mouth and my personal
website, as well as the devoted research team involved with my previous
books, IBM and the Holocaust and The Transfer Agreement. Some worked for
a few days in a strategic location to extract vital information; others worked
for months at a time in archives or my office.

Thanks are due to at least eight people in Germany, including Dennis
Riffel, Christina Herkommer and Jakob Kort, who worked tirelessly in
Berlin, Munich, Heidelberg, Koblenz and Munster at the archives and
libraries of the Max Planck Institutes (successor to the Kaiser Wilhelm
Institutes), Bundesarchiv, Heidelberg University, Miinster University, the
Frei University and many other locations reviewing and summarizing
thousands of pages. The laser-like ability of Riffel, Herkommer and their
colleagues to identify connections spanning decades between Germans and
Americans was indispensable.

In London, Jane Booth, Julie Utley, Diane Utley and several others
spent months checking numberless documents, reviewing pamphlets and
squinting at microfiche at the Public Record Office, Wellcome Library,
University College of London Archives, British Library, Cambridge and
other repositories to uncover links across the Atlantic.

In New York, more than a dozen researchers including Max Gross
assisted me at the New York Public Library, the archives of New York
University, Columbia University, and the Planned Parenthood Foundation.
In Virginia, Susan Fleming Cook, Bobby Holt and Aaron Crawford
dug through special and restricted library collections, archives, littleknown
museums, courthouse and institutional records, as well as the files
of the ACLU. In California I was assisted by Lorraine Ramsey who worked
in Chico, Sacramento and the University of California at Berkeley; Joanne
Goldberg at the archives of the Hoover Institution and Stanford University;
and others.

No fewer than eight researchers, including Christopher Reynolds and
David Keleti, spent long hours at the American Philosophical Society
archives in Philadelphia, the country's most precious eugenic resource. I
owe a debt to Ashley and Jodie Hardesty who, among a team of four,
scoured the valuable files of Vermont eugenicists, which in many cases
were still waiting to be processed. At Truman State University in Kirksville,
Missouri, I recruited a cadre of students to scrutinize thousands of pages of
documents from the files of Harry Laughlin in the Pickler Memorial
Library and its archive, and two of the most helpful were Benjamin Garrett
and Courtney Carter. The project was also aided when attorney Charles
Bradley volunteered to provide follow-up at the Rockefeller Archives.

Of special importance was Phyllis Bailey of Montreal, who labored at
university libraries in Montreal, the Public Records of Vermont, the
American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, and the Rockefeller
Archives in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Bailey drove from archive to archive
displaying extraordinary research skill and keen intellectual understanding
of the injustices she was investigating.

My Washington, D.C., research staff-about a dozen individuals-displayed
unflagging tenacity in researching at numerous archives, analyzing
and organizing thousands of documents, as well as delivering incomparable
research and manuscript detail work. No research project could ask for
more. Here I include Kate Hanna, who worked at the National Library of
Medicine and the Li brary of Congress, and, wielding her uncanny memory
could recall almost every line of thousands of pages of eugenics journals she
reviewed. Once Kate even corrected the date on an archival photograph.

Paul Dwyer displayed a special acumen for locating obscure volumes at
numerous libraries, including American University, Catholic University,
George Washington University, George Mason University, the University
of the District of Columbia and others; he was also among a team of a
dozen that pored through record groups at the National Archives. Eve
Jones searched files at the National Archives and the Carnegie Institution,
and my own considerable archival holdings.

John Corrado, assisted by Eve Jones, led the four-person fact and footnote
verification team whose chore it was to cross-examine every fact and
bit of fact context and then create the documentation trail, footnote by
footnote, folder by folder. Corrado is also an exceptional researcher. Often,
as I pounded my keyboard, I would call out an obscure name from decades
past; within moments, Corrado was able to report the details. He is a
researcher's researcher.

Corrado, Jones, Hanna and Dwyer were augmented and assisted by
Patricia Montesinos, Alexandra Carderelli, Greg Greer, Eric Smith, Erica
Ashton and several others. Numerous translators worked arduously and
often with little notice; chief among them was Susan Steiner, and Karl
Lampl also helped.

war Against the Weak could never have been completed without the
exceptional cooperation ofliterally scores of archivists and librarians. Some
archivists helped by producing as many as five thousand photocopies from
a single institution, often making an exception to their copying regulations,
and with special file and fact searches, as well as fellowship.

In England, those who deserve thanks include Anne Lindsay, Helen
Wakely, Tracy Tillotson, Chris Hilton and many others at the Wellcome
Library; Stephen Wright and Julie Archer at University College of London;
and numerous staffers at the Public Record Office and the British
Library.

In Germany, the list is long and represents the best of Germany's
unparalleled archival services, as well as its dedication to understanding its
own history. At the top of the list is Matthias M. Weber, archivist at the
Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry and an expert on German eugenics,
who spent many hours assisting my project. Wilhelm Lenz and Annegret
Neupert at Bundesarchiv both in Berlin and Koblenz greatly expedited our
work. Hans Ewald Kessler gave good advice and facilitated our access at
Heidelberg University archives and Robert Giesler did the same at the university
archives at Miinster. Harry Stein at Buchenwald Archive was indispensable
in locating and providing copies of Katzen-Ellenbogen trial
materials lost at the ational Archives in Washington. Helmut Freiherr
von Verschuer granted permission to freely examine his father's records.
Many more German librarians and archivists are not named for lack of
space and I apologize.

In the United States, I worked with dozens of repositories, many holding
local and seemingly innocuous materials and unaware of their international
value. The list stretched from community historical societies and
corporate libraries to the major eugenic archives. Four institutions rendered
profound assistance and their archivists reside at the apex of archival
personalities preserving the history of eugenics. Judith Sapko, archivist
extraordinaire at Pickler Memorial Library, labored more than I am permitted
to say; Sapko was in constant contact with me during months of
research. James Byrnes and Jennifer Johnsen at Planned Parenthood's
McCormack Library displayed unrivalled and unflinching cooperation by
continuously faxing materials-often within minutes of my request-to
verify or disprove information about Margaret Sanger. At Cold Spring
Harbor, Clare Bunce was a champion of research assistance, helping even
as her own archives were in flux; Mila Pollock was also an important help.
Valerie Lutz and Rob Cox, undermanned and greatly taxed, did their
utmost to respond to pressing needs at the American Philosophical Society
for more than a year.

There were many more in America. Marie Carpenti at the ational
Archives, Amy Fitch and Tom Nussbaum at the Rockefeller Archives and
John Strom at the Carnegie Institution Archives all helped continuously.

Several people at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
assisted greatly, including archivist Henry Mayer, several librarians, Tom
Cooney and Andy Hollinger. Unfortunately, the executive staff at
USHMM refused to open its records regarding IBM and certain other corporations,
as well as the topic of American corporations and eugenics, and
even rebuffed a Freedom ofInformation Act request, claiming the museum
was immune to FOIA requests. But this did not stop others at the museum
from doing their best to provide other traditional historical materials, and I
thank them.

In addition, dozens of librarians helped, finding and copying rare
newspapers, journals and other special materials in their collections. At the
top of the list is Janice Kaplan at the New York Academy of Medicine
Library, and David Smith, a reference librarian of the New York Public
Library; both worked with me for months. Anne Houston at Tulane
University and the staff of the Rockville Public Library also deserve special
mention, as does Charles Saunders and the staff at the Richmond Times-
Dispatch newspaper morgue. I apologize to many more who cannot be
listed for lack of space.

Numerous state officials went above and beyond. These include
Margaret Walsh, Judith Dudley and James S. Reinhard at Virginia's
Department of Hygiene, for allowing me to be the first to receive documents
from the files of the Central Virginia Training School regarding
Carrie Buck. I also thank state of Vermont officials for helping with important
archival documents relating to the Hitler regime. Many more state
officials worked with me on a confidential basis to reveal closed records.
Their names cannot be revealed, but they know who they are.

Literally dozens of experts, eyewitnesses and other sources gave of their
time to provide documentation in their possession, help trace facts or
exchange ideas. In some instances the exchanges were brief, and in some
cases the consultations were extensive and spanned weeks of effort. Among
them were Sam Edelman, Nancy Gallagher, Daniel Kevles, Paul
Lombardo, Barry Mehler, K. Ray Nelson, Diane Paul, Steve Selden, and
Stephen Trombley.

Great guidance, page by page, stretching over many weeks, was rendered
by Max Planck archivist Matthias Weber and geneticist Benno
Miiller-Hill in Germany; health policy historian Paul Weindling in
England; eugenics author]' David Smith at the University of Virginia; and
National Archives Nazi historian and archivist Robert Wolfe in the U.S. I
am also grateful to the many other draft readers whose comments were so
essential, including S. Jay Olshansky, a health issues expert at the
University of Illinois; William Seltzer, a demographic and census expert at
Fordham University; archivist Piotr Setkiewicz at Auschwitz Museum;
William Spriggs of the National Urban League; Ariel Szczupak in
Jerusalem; Abraham H. Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League; Malcolm
Hoenlein at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations; and more than a dozen others.

In each of my books, I have paid tribute to the musical talents of those
who have inspired and energized me. Crowning the playlist are Danny
Elfinan,Jerry Goldsmith and Hans Zimmer. To this I add John Barry, BT,
Moby, Afro Celt Sound System, John Williams and, of course, Dmitri
Shostakovich.

Polishing a manuscript is a never-ending process, and here I extend
special recognition to Elizabeth Black, Eve J ones, Phyllis Bailey and many
others who devoted endless hours to the numerous revisions, tweaks and
updates. In particular, Jones's deft understanding of both the historical facts
and editorial fine-tuning will be felt on every page.

No author could have asked for a better publishing team. I have been
blessed with great editors during the past three decades and among the
very finest was Jofie Ferrari-Adler, who melded with every sentence and
brought great skill and polish to the finished product. Four Walls Eight
Windows publisher John Oakes believed in the book from the beginning
and mobilized the entire company behind it; it has been an honor to travel
with him. Publicist Penny Simon, who worked with me on IBM and the
Holocaust, aided this project with her ceaseless energies. Most of all, this
project would not have been possible without the steadfast support of my
agent and manager, Lynne Rabinoff, who embodies the best ofliterary representation
here and abroad; few authors are fortunate enough to have an
agent so dedicated and energized, and Lynne's imprint will be felt throughout
this book.

A special word must be written for my family, robbed of my presence
for two years while I was holed up amidst stacks of documents. Their indulgence
was indispensable.

EDWIN BLACK
Washington, D. C.
June 1, 2003

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