Pioneer Fund 771182 225383404 2008-07-13T11:40:15Z Ramdrake 462159 Revert POV edits - please take it to the talk page. The '''Pioneer Fund''' is a U.S. [[Non-profit organization|non-profit foundation]] established in 1937 "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences." Currently headed by psychology professor [[J. Philippe Rushton]], the fund focuses on projects it perceives will not be easily funded due to controversial subject matter. Two of the Pioneer Fund's most notable recipients are the [[Minnesota Twin Family Study]] and the [[Texas Adoption Project]], which studied the similarities and differences of [[identical twins]] and other children adopted into non-biological families. The Pioneer Fund has been the main source of funding for the partly-genetic hypothesis of [[race and intelligence|IQ variation among races]]. Their funding and publications have generated controversy since the 1994 publication of ''[[The Bell Curve]]'', which drew heavily from Pioneer-funded research. The fund has also received criticism for its perceived stance on [[eugenics]].<ref>Lombardo, Paul A. (2002). "The American Breed": Nazi Eugenics and the Origins of the Pioneer Fund. ''Albany Law Review'', vol. 65, p. 743 <br>Rushton, J. Philippe (2002). The Pioneer Fund and the Scientific Study of Human Differences. ''Albany Law Review'' 66:209. <br>Lombardo, Paul A. (2002). Pioneer's Big Lie. ''Albany Law Review'', vol. 66, p. 207</ref> The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC), a civil rights advocacy organization, has characterized the Pioneer Fund as a [[hate group]].<ref name=splcmap">Southern Poverty Law Center [http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/index.html Map of Hate Organizatons.] Retrieved July 16, 2006.</ref> The SPLC cites the Pioneer Fund's funding of some organizations and individuals the SPLC considers [[racism|racist]].<ref name="Berlet">Berlet, Chip. [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=105 Into the Mainstream: An array of right-wing foundations and think tanks support efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable.] ''Intelligence Report'', Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved July 16, 2006.</ref> It has also been criticized by some scientists and journalists, and in various peer-reviewed academic articles.<ref>[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22pioneer+fund%22+%22racism%22&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search] Critics of the fund include the SPLC, IQ critic [[William H. Tucker]], and historian Barry Mehler and his [[Institute for the Study of Academic Racism]]. Researchers who have been the subject of criticism for accepting grants from the fund have long argued the public debates have been disconnected from the expert debates. [[Robert A. Gordon]], for example, replied to media criticisms of grant-recipients: "Politically correct disinformation about science appears to spread like wildfire among literary intellectuals and other nonspecialists, who have few disciplinary constraints on what they say about science and about particular scientists and on what they allow themselves to believe,"([http://www.pioneerfund.org/Gordon.pdf Gordon 1997], p.35)</ref> ==Early history== [[Image:John Marshall Harlan II.gif|right|thumb|125px|[[John Marshall Harlan II]], one of the first five Pioneer Fund directors, later became a U.S. Supreme Court justice.]] The Pioneer Fund was incorporated on March 11, 1937. The first five directors were: *[[Wickliffe Preston Draper]], heir to a large fortune and the fund's de facto final authority, served on the Board of Directors from 1937 until 1972. During [[World War I]], he served in the [[British Army]] and fought in the battles of Neuve-Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Messines and Ypres. He was awarded the British Star Medal (1914-1915) and the Belgian Croix de Guerre for his service. Later, he joined the American army where he was eventually promoted to [[lieutenant colonel]] in the cavalry.<ref>''The Science of Human Diversity: A History of the Pioneer Fund'', Richard Lynn, Rowman & Littlefield 2001, ISBN 0-7618-2041-8 pp. 3–19.)</ref> The Pioneer Fund describes him as someone who dedicated "his life to intellectual pursuits and philanthropy."<ref name="Pioneer Fund Founders">[http://www.pioneerfund.org/Founders.html Pioneer Fund Founders]Retrieved April 11, 2007.</ref> Pioneer Fund critic William H. Tucker, however, describes Draper as someone who "aside from his brief periods of military service ... never pursued a profession or held a job of any kind."<ref name="Tucker">Tucker, William H (2002). ''[http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/tucker/toc.html The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund].'' University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02762-0</ref> According to a 1960 article in ''[[The Nation]]'', an unnamed geneticist said Draper told him he "wished to prove simply that Negroes were inferior."<ref name="May">May, R. W. (May 14, 1960). "Genetics and Subversion." ''[[The Nation]]'' 190:421.</ref> He is said to have funded advocates of repatriation of blacks to Africa and [[anti-Semitic]] and [[neo-Nazi]] advocates such as [[Willis Carto]]. Draper allegedly made large financial contributions to efforts to oppose the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|American Civil Rights Movement]] and the racial [[desegregation]] mandated by ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', such as $215,000 to the [[Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission]] in 1963.<ref name="Tucker">Tucker, William H (2002). ''[http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/tucker/toc.html The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund].'' University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02762-0</ref> *[[Harry Laughlin]] was the director of the [[Eugenics Record Office]] at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, New York, funded by the Carnegie Institute of Washington. He served as the president of the Pioneer Fund from its inception until 1941. He was one of the eugenics movement's most energetic legislative activists. He worried about [[miscegenation]] and had proposed a research agenda to assist in the enforcement of Southern "race integrity laws" by developing techniques for identifying the "pass-for-white" person who might "successfully hide all of his black blood". He singled out Jews as a group "slow to assimilate," a problem related to his doubts that their loyalty was directed primarily to "American institutions and people" rather than to "Jews scattered through other nations." Eleven months after the [[Nuremberg Laws]], Laughlin wrote to an official at the University of Heidelberg, which had awarded him an honorary doctorate, arguing that the United States and the [[Third Reich]] shared "a common understanding of ... the practical application" of eugenic principles to "racial endowments and... racial health."<ref name="Tucker"/> *[[Frederick Osborn]] wrote in 1937 that the Nazi [[Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring]] was "the most exciting experiment that had ever been tried".<ref name"Osborn-sterilize">Osborn, Frederick (24 February 1937). 'Summary of the proceedings' of the Conference on Eugenics in Relation to Nursing. American Eugenics Society Archives.</ref><ref name="Mehler-fascism"/> Osborn was the secretary of the [[American Eugenics Society]], which was part of an accepted and active field at the time, the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Selective Service during [[World War II]] and later the Deputy U.S. Representative to the [[United Nations Atomic Energy Commission|U.N. Atomic Energy Commission]]. *[[Malcolm Donald]] was the Draper family lawyer, trustee of the Draper estate. He was a former editor of the ''[[Harvard Law Review]]'' and a [[brigadier general]] during [[World War II]]. *[[John Marshall Harlan II]]. Harlan's firm had done legal work for the Pioneer Fund. He was the only director whose name did not appear on the incorporation papers. He was director of operational analysis for the [[Eighth Air Force]] in World War II, and was appointed to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] by President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. During his confirmation process, he voiced support for the decision in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', but on the bench limited civil rights in ''[[Swain v. Alabama]]'' and dissented on ''[[Miranda v. Arizona]]''. The 1937 incorporation documents of the Pioneer Fund list two purposes. The first, modeled on the Nazi [[Lebensborn]] breeding program,<ref name="crawford">Crawford, James (1993). ''Hold Your Tongue: Bilingualism and the Politics of "English Only."'' Addison Wesley Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0201624793</ref> was aimed at encouraging the propagation of those "descended predominantly from white persons who settled in the original thirteen states prior to the adoption of the [[United States Constitution|Constitution of the United States]] and/or from related stocks, or to classes of children, the majority of whom are deemed to be so descended". Its second purpose was to support academic research and the "dissemination of information, into the 'problem of heredity and eugenics'" and "the problems of race betterment".<ref name="Mehler-fascism">Mehler, Barry (1989).[http://www.ferris.edu/ISAR/archives/mehler/foundation.htm Foundation for Fascism: the New Eugenics Movement in the United States.] ''Patterns of Prejudice'', vol. 23, no. 4.</ref> The Pioneer Fund argues the "race betterment" has always referred to the "human race" referred to earlier in the sentence, and critics argue it referred to racial groups. The document was amended in [[1985]] and the phrase changed to "human race betterment." The Pioneer Fund supported the distribution of a eugenics film titled ''[[Erbkrank]]'' ("Hereditary Defective" or "Hereditary Illness") which was published by the pre-war 1930s [[Nazi Party]]. William Draper obtained the film from the predecessor to the Nazi [[Office of Racial Policy]] (''Rassenpolitisches Amt'') prior to the founding of the Pioneer Fund.<ref name="Tucker"/> According to the Pioneer Fund site, all founders capable of doing so participated in the war against the Nazis.<ref name="pioneer-founders">Pioneer Fund. [http://www.pioneerfund.org/Founders.html Founders and Former Directors.] Retrieved July 16, 2006.</ref> Draper secretly met Dr. C. Nash Herndon of Bowman Gray School of Medicine at [[Wake Forest University]] in 1949. Little is known about their meetings, but Herndon was playing a major role in the expansion of the [[compulsory sterilization]] program in [[North Carolina]].<ref name="begos">Begos, Kevin (December 11, 2002). [http://extras.journalnow.com/againsttheirwill/parts/two/storybody3.html Benefactor With a Racist Bent: Wealthy recluse apparently liked the looks and potential of Bowman Gray's new medical-genetics department.] ''[[Winston-Salem Journal]]''</ref> In the 1950s and 1960s Draper supported two government committees that gave grants for genetics research. [[Harry F. Weyher, Jr.]] was his lawyer. The committee members included Representative [[Francis E. Walter]] (chair of the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]]), [[Henry E. Garrett]] (an educator known for his belief in the genetic inferiority of blacks), and Senator [[James O. Eastland]] of Mississippi.<ref name="lichtenstein">Lichtenstein, Grace (December 11, 1977). Fund Backs Controversial Study of "Racial Betterment." ''[[New York Times]]''</ref> Subsequent directors included:<ref name="pioneer-founders"/> *[[John M. Woolsey, Jr.]], a staff attorney at the [[Nuremberg Trials]] *[[Henry E. Garrett]] (1972-1973), the former president of the [[American Psychological Association]] *[[James P. Kranz, Jr.]] (1948) *[[Henry Rice Guild]] (1948-1974) *[[Charles Codman Cabot]] (1950-1973) *[[Harry F. Weyher, Jr.]] (1958-2002) *[[John B. Trevor, Jr.]] (1959-2000) *[[John F. Walsh, Jr.]] (1971-1973) *[[Marion A. Parrott]] (1973-2000) *[[Thomas F. Ellis]] (1973-1977) *[[Eugenie Mary Ladenburg Davie]] (Mrs. Preston) (1974-1975) *[[Randolph L. Speight]] (1975-1999) *[[William Dawes Miller]] (1983-1993) *[[Karl Schakel]] (1993-2002) *[[Edwin D. Morgan (businessman)|Edwin D. Morgan]] (2000-2001) *[[R. Travis Osborne]] (2000-2002) *[[John Philippe Rushton]] (2002-present) ==Current funding== Most of the Pioneer Fund's grants go to scientific research, including to researchers at 38 universities, and a smaller amount has gone to political or legal organizations, mostly to immigration restriction organizations. This section's figures are from 1971-1996 and are adjusted to 1997 USD.<ref name="Mehler-grantlist">Mehler, Barry. [http://www.ferris.edu/ISAR/Institut/pioneer/pfspread/pfp6.htm Pioneer Fund Grant Totals, 1971-1996.] Retrieved July 16, 2006.</ref> ===Scientific research=== Many of the researchers whose findings support the [[hereditarianism|hereditarian]] hypothesis of [[Race and intelligence|racial IQ]] disparity have received grants of varying sizes from the Pioneer Fund.<ref name="Mehler-funding">Mehler, Barry (July 7, 1998). [http://www.ferris.edu/ISAR/Institut/pioneer/search.htm Race Science and the Pioneer Fund] Originally published as "The Funding of the Science" in ''Searchlight'', No. 277.</ref> Large grantees, in order of amount received, are *[[Thomas J. Bouchard]] at the University of Minnesota. As compiled in 1997, the recipient of the largest amount of funding ($2.3 million USD) was [[Thomas J. Bouchard]]'s landmark [[twin study]], ''the Minnesota Study of Identical Twins Reared Apart'' (MISTRA), better known as the [[Minnesota Twins Project]]. The Minnesota Twins Project compared identical and fraternal twins who had been brought up in different families. Another notable twin study that was partially funded by the fund is the [[Texas Adoption Project]], which compared adopted children to their birth and adopted families. The studies, along with similar studies, have demonstrated that as much as half of intelligence and personality are inherited (See [[Intelligence quotient#Genetics vs environment]]). *[[Arthur Jensen]] at the Institute for the Study of Educational Differences *[[J. Philippe Rushton]] at the University of Western Ontario is the current head of the fund since 2002. In 1999, Rushton used some of his grant money from the Pioneer fund to send out tens of thousands of copies of an abridged version of his book ''[[Race, Evolution and Behavior]]'' to social scientists in anthropology, psychology, and sociology, causing a controversy.<ref name="Tucker-Conclusion">Tucker, William H. [http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/tucker/concl.html Conclusion: Pioneer or Pamphleteer] ''The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund''.</ref> The book describes Rushton's [[Race and intelligence (Culture-only or partially-genetic explanation)#Rushton.27s application of r-K theory|differential K theory]]. Tax records from 2000 show that his Charles Darwin Institute received $473,835 — 73% of that year's grants.[http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=83] *[[Roger Pearson]] at the Institute for the Study of Man. Eugenicist and anthropologist, founder of the ''[[Journal of Indo-European Studies]]'',<ref name="jies">[http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/lrc/iedocctr/jies.html The Journal of Indo-European Studies] via A. Richard Diebold Center for Indo-European Language and Culture.</ref> received over a million dollars in grants in the eighties and the nineties.<ref name="Tucker"/><ref name="Mehler-funding"/> Using the pseudonym of Stephan Langton, Pearson was the editor of ''The New Patriot'', a short-lived magazine published in 1966-67 to conduct "a responsible but penetrating inquiry into every aspect of the [[Jewish Question]]," which included articles such as "Zionists and the Plot Against South Africa," "Early Jews and the Rise of Jewish Money Power," and "Swindlers of the Crematoria.".<ref name="Mehler-funding"/> The [[Northern League (neo-Nazi)|Northern League]], an organization founded in England in [[1958]] by Pearson, supported Nazi ideologies and included former members of the Nazi Party.<ref name="Tucker"/> *[[Richard Lynn]] at Ulster Institute for Social Research (also on ''Mankind Quarterly'' editorial board) *[[Linda Gottfredson]] at the University of Delaware. [[Image:MRI brain.jpg|thumb|175px|The Pioneer Fund funds research on the basis and correlates of human ability and diversity. Notable topics in this research are the [[IQ#Genetics vs environment|heredity]] and [[neuroscience and intelligence|neuroscience of intelligence]].]] Other notable recipients of funding include: *[[Hans Eysenck]], the most-cited living psychologist at the time of his death (1997) *[[Lloyd Humphreys]] *[[Joseph M. Horn]] *[[Robert A. Gordon]] *[[Garrett Hardin]], author of the phrase the "[[tragedy of the commons]]" *[[R. Travis Osborne]] *[[Audrey M. Shuey]] *[[Philip A. Vernon]] *[[William Shockley]], winner of the [[Nobel prize]] in [[physics]] in 1956, received a series of grants in the 1970s. Shockley became famous in his later career for supporting the controversial genetic hypothesis of [[race and intelligence]] research and for being a proponent of [[eugenics]]. None of the substantial amounts received by Shockley went into any actual research; Shockley's primary use of the money was to carry out lobbying efforts and to cultivate media attention. In addition, it was while spending the 1966-1967 sabbatical year in close contact with Shockley that Arthur Jensen went from being a believer in racial IQ differences being primarily environmental in origin to advocating that they were inherent, a shift which quickly brought him Pioneer Fund support. Note that the fund has only funded some of their research, not necessarily their most important contributions. ===Political and legal funding=== The Fund gave the [[Federation for American Immigration Reform]] (FAIR) a total of $1.3 million between 1985 and 1994.<ref>"The Anti-Immigration Movement: From Shovels to Suits" Solana Larsen. ''NACLA Report on the Americas''. New York: May/Jun 2007. Vol. 40, Iss. 3; pg. 14, 5 pgs</ref> Among the grants was $150,000 for 'studies in connection with immigration policies'.<ref name="Lombardo">Lombardo, P. [http://www.albanylawreview.org/archives/65/3/TheAmericanBreed-NaziEugenicsandtheOriginsofthePioneerFund.pdf “THE AMERICAN BREED: NAZI EUGENICS AND THE ORIGINS OF THE PIONEER FUND"] Retrieved May 21, 2008. ''Albany Law Review''</ref> Funding was dropped after negative publicity during the campaign for California's [[California Proposition 187 (1994)|Proposition 187]] linked the Pioneer Fund to ads purchased by FAIR.<ref>"Pro-Prop. 187 group admits it bought ads POLITICS: FAIR says it only attempted to clear its name." MARILYN KALFUS: The Orange County Register. ''Orange County Register''. Santa Ana, Calif.: Oct 26, 1994. pg. A.12</ref><ref>"White Supremacist Link Trips Prop. 187" Pamela Burdman, Chronicle Staff Writer. ''San Francisco Chronicle''. San Francisco, Calif.: Oct 13, 1994. pg. A.4</ref> Other anti-immigration groups that have receivd donations from the Pioneer Fund include [[ProjectUSA]], Californians for Population Stabilization<ref>"Cannon critics sidestep FEC lists" Deborah Bulkeley Deseret Morning News. ''Deseret News''. Salt Lake City, Utah: Jul 17, 2004. pg. B.01</ref>, and [[ American Immigration Control Foundation]].<ref>"'Workers, go home!'" David L Ostendorf. ''The Christian Century''. Chicago: Dec 19-Dec 26, 2001. Vol. 118, Iss. 35; pg. 8, 2 pgs</ref> A minor grantee is the [[paleoconservatism|paleoconservative]] and [[white nationalist]] journalist [[Jared Taylor]], the editor of ''[[American Renaissance (magazine)|American Renaissance]]'' and a member the advisory board of the white nationalist publication the ''[[Occidental Quarterly]]''.<ref name="Berlet"/> Many of the key academic white nationalists in both [[Right Now!]] and ''American Renaissance'' have been funded by the Pioneer Fund, which was also directly involved in funding the parent organization of ''American Renaissance'', the New Century Foundation.<ref name="Mehler-funding"/> == Controversy == ===Criticism=== In addition to the funding and the connections to persons and organizations mentioned above, there are reported links between various past contributors to the science journal receiving funding from Pioneer ''Mankind Quarterly'' and Nazism. Italian biologist and ''Mankind Quarterly'' associate editor [[Corrado Gini]] authored an article titled "The Scientific Basis of Fascism" and was once a scientific advisor to [[Mussolini]]. The editorial board member [[Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer]] was [[Josef Mengele]]'s mentor before and during the [[Holocaust]] and is suspected of being his collaborator.<ref>http://www.eugenics-watch.com/intro.html</ref><ref>[http://bethuneinstitute.org/documents/naziconnection.html bethuneinstitute.org<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/mengele/nazi_3.html?sect=6 Dr. Josef Mengele, ruthless Nazi concentration camp doctor - The Crime Library - The Crime library<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The already mentioned Roger Pearson was a former editor. [[Image:Otmar von Verschuer.jpg|thumb|175px|[[Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer]], circa 1920s-1940s, measures [[twin]] girls as part of an [[anthropometry|anthropometric]] study of [[heredity]].]] The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC), a [[nonprofit]] organization, lists the Pioneer Fund as a [[hate group]] citing the fund's history, its funding of race and intelligence research, and its connections with allegedly [[racist]] individuals.<ref name="Mehler">Southern Poverty Law Center [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=623 Race and 'Reason'; Academic ideas a pillar of racist thought.] Retrieved April 15, 2008.</ref><ref name="Berlet">Southern Poverty Law Center [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=50 Into the Mainstream; An array of right-wing foundations and think tanks support efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable.] Retrieved April 15, 2008.</ref> They also state: "Race science has potentially frightening consequences, as is evident not only from the horrors of Nazi Germany, but also from the troubled racial history of the United States. If white supremacist groups had their way, the United States would return to its dark days. In publication after publication, hate groups are using this "science" to legitimize racial hatred. In Calling Our Nation, the neo-Nazi [[Aryan Nations]] publishes a piece by a New York psychologist surveying the work of Jensen, Garrett and numerous others. [[National Vanguard]], the publication of former physics professor [[William Pierce]] (see The Alliance and its Allies) and his neo-Nazi [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]], runs a similar piece that concludes that "it is the Negro's deficiency ... which kept him in a state of savagery in his African environment and is now undermining the civilization of a racially mixed America."<ref>[http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=625 SPLCenter.org: Race and 'Reason'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Center for New Community, a human rights advocacy organisation, mentioned the Pioneer Fund in an article on their website. They characterise the Pioneer Fund as 'a white supremacist foundation that specializes in funding “science” dedicated to demonstrating white intellectual and moral superiority.' They draw particular attention to Rushton's theories about differences between races as evidence of the racial slant which they claim accompanies much of the research which is backed by the Fund. <ref>[http://www.buildingdemocracy.org/reports/defendcoloradonow.pdf Defend Colorado Now: Lamm & FAIR]</ref> In accord with the tax regulations governing nonprofit corporations, Pioneer does not fund individuals; under the law only other nonprofit organizations are appropriate grantees. As a consequence, many of the fund's awards go not to the researchers themselves but to the universities that employ them, a standard procedure for supporting work by academically based scientists. In addition to these awards to the universities where its grantees are based, Pioneer has made a number of grants to other nonprofit organizations, corporations some feel have been created to channel resources to a particular academic recipient while circumventing the institution where the researcher is employed.<ref name = "uillinois-tucker">http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/tucker/intro.html</ref><ref>[http://www.ferris.edu/isar/Institut/pioneer/pfspread/pfp6.htm ISAR<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 2002, William H. Tucker criticized the Pioneer's grant-funding techniques: "Pioneer's administrative procedures are as unusual as its charter. Although the fund typically gives away more than half a million dollars per year, there is no application form or set of guidelines. Instead, according to Weyher, an applicant merely submits 'a letter containing a brief description of the nature of the research and the amount of the grant requested.' There is no requirement for peer review of any kind; Pioneer's board of directors—two attorneys, two engineers, and an investment broker—decides, sometimes within a day, whether a particular research proposal merits funding. Once the grant has been made, there is no requirement for an interim or final report or even for an acknowledgment by a grantee that Pioneer has been the source of support, all atypical practices in comparison to other organizations that support scientific research."<ref name = "uillinois-tucker"/> Rushton, the current head, has spoken at conferences of the [[American Renaissance magazine]], in which he has also published articles.[http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=214#27] Anti-racist ''[[Searchlight Magazine]]'' described one of these as a "veritable 'who’s who' of American [[white supremacy]]."[http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=162]. The Pioneer Fund was described by the London Sunday Telegraph (3/12/89) as a "neo-Nazi organization closely integrated with the far right in American politics." === Responses to criticisms === The Pioneer Fund's history after its 1937 incorporation focused on improving [[genetics|hereditary characteristics]], which at the time was pursued through the scholarly field [[eugenics]]. The scientific community had enthusiasm for what they saw as the promise of eugenics, and most developed nations employed some form of it, most commonly [[compulsory sterilization]] of those considered to have incurable [[Genetic disorder|hereditary diseases]]. High school and college textbooks from the 1920s through the 40s often had chapters touting the [[scientific progress]] to be had from applying eugenic principles to the population. Following [[World War II]], however, eugenics became associated with the brutal policies of the [[Nazism|Nazi]]s and fell out of favour. In addition to this historical focus of the Pioneer Fund, some of the fund's previous members and grantees - and essentially all of its administrators and board members, not least of all founder Wickliffe Preston Draper - have supported ideas such as [[desegregation|racial segregation]] and even the wholescale deportation of black Americans to Africa. The fund's administrators state that any criticism should be directed at these past individuals, not the entire organization, which funds much notable scientific work. The fund claims that it holds no political position or any inappropriate bias in choosing grantees. Pioneer supports research some consider controversial; for example, the study of the disparity between racial groups in average cognitive ability test scores ([[race and intelligence]]). Such studies examine the genetic and environmental factors underlying these group differences, and the results of studies supported by the Pioneer Fund invariably come down on the genetic side of the question, providing further fuel for suspicion as to the objectivity of Pioneer Fund backed research. The Pioneer Fund has stated that it rejects racism, and has claimed that it is the victim of smear campaigns waged by those who consider a discussion of race to be [[taboo]]. In addition, it has asserted that the majority of the criticism directed at the Fund falls into such categories as to make it more-appropriately directed at individuals than at an organization as a whole. {{Fact|date=March 2007}} The Fund writes on their website that one should consider the historical context surrounding such beliefs, as many mainstream scientists of the first half the twentieth century supported [[racialism|racialist]] views seen by some as politically incorrect today. They say that Wickliffe Draper's views on race do not influence decisions made by the Fund today. On the other hand, objective third-party research has thoroughly established that Harry F. Weyher continued to administer the Fund in the spirit intended by its founder Wickliffe Draper, who intended the fund to support only that research which would further the goal of ridding America of blacks altogether{{Fact|date=February 2008}}. Publicly recorded comments by the Pioneer Fund's current head, as well as his own political activities in concert with American Renaissance, continue to be very much in keeping with Draper's sentiments{{Fact|date=February 2008}}. [[Charles Murray (author)|Charles Murray]], co-author of [[the Bell Curve]], addressed the fund's history in response to criticism of it: "[T]he relationship between the founder of the Pioneer Fund and today's Pioneer Fund is roughly analogous to the relationship between [[Henry Ford]] and today's [[Ford Foundation]]."<ref name="Murray-critics">Murray, Charles (May 1995). [http://www.mugu.com/cgi-bin/Upstream/People/Murray/bc-crit.html "The Bell Curve" and its critics.] Commentary, v99 n5 p23(8).</ref> In the 1920s, Henry Ford authored [[anti-Semitic]] literature. Behavioral geneticist [[David T. Lykken]] wrote "If you can find me some rich villains that want to contribute to my research - Qaddafi, the Mafia, whoever - the worse they are, the better I'll like it. I'm doing a social good by taking their money... Any money of theirs that I spend in a legitimate and honorable way, they can't spend in a dishonorable way"<ref name="ohman">Patricia Ohman (7 March 1984). Do they get what they Pay for? ''Minneapolis City Pages'', p. 8.</ref> Science writer Morton Hunt received Pioneer funding for his book and wrote: "One could spend hundreds of pages on the pros and cons of the case of the Pioneer Fund, but what matters to me&mdash;and should matter to my readers&mdash;is that I have been totally free to research and write as I chose. I alerted Pioneer to my political views when making the grant proposal for this book but its directors never blinked."<ref name="Hunt-intro">Hunt, Morton (1998). ''The New Know-Nothings: The Political Foes of the Scientific Study of Human Nature'' Transaction Publishers: ISBN 0-7658-0497-2</ref> ==Notes== <div class="references-small"><references/></div> ==References== *''The Science of Human Diversity: A History of the Pioneer Fund'', Richard Lynn, Rowman & Littlefield 2001, ISBN 0-7618-2041-8 *Bouchard, T. J., Jr., Lykken, D. T., McGue, M., Segal, N. L., & Tellegen, A. (1990). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=2218526&dopt=Citation Sources of human psychological difference: The Minnesota study of twins reared apart]. Science, 250, 223-228. *{{note|web_1}}Joseph L. Graves, "[http://ant.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/2/2/131 What a tangled web he weaves: Race, reproductive strategies and Rushton's life history theory]," ''Anthropological Theory'' 2, no. 2 (2002): 131&ndash;54; Leonard Lieberman et al., "[http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/318434&erFrom=-2713168571825039959Guest How 'Caucasoids' Got Such Big Crania and Why They Shrank],"; ''Current Anthropology'' 42 (2001): 69&ndash;95; Zack Cernovsky, "[http://www.mugu.com/cgi-bin/Upstream/People/Rushton/rushton-black-reply.html On the similarities of American blacks and whites: A reply to J.P. Rushton]," ''Journal of Black Studies'' 25 (1995): 672. *Neisser, U. (2004). Serious scientists or disgusting racists? ''Contemporary Psychology'', 49, 5-7. == See also == *[[Nature versus nurture]] *[[Intelligence quotient#Practical importance]] *[[Intelligence quotient#Genetics vs environment]] ==External links== *[http://www.pioneerfund.org The Pioneer Fund] Official website **[http://www.pioneerfund.org/Controversies.html "Controversies:Setting the Record Straight"], the Pioneer Fund **[http://www.pioneerfund.org/ALR_pdf.pdf "The Pioneer Fund and the scientific study of human differences"], [[J. Phillipe Rushton]] (2002) A reply to Lombardo's article "The American Breed". **[http://www.pioneerfund.org/Gordon.pdf "How Smart We Are About What We Broadcast: An Open Letter to ABC News"] - [[Robert Gordon]] (1997) **[http://www.pioneerfund.org/Weyher_pdf.pdf Preface to ''the Science of Human Diversity''], [[Harry F. Weyher]] (2001) *[http://www.mugu.com/cgi-bin/Upstream/Issues/psychology/IQ/delaware.html "Big Brother in Delaware"], ''[[National Review]]'', Thomas Short (1991) ===Critical=== ==== Opinion pieces ==== *[http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45/022.html The New York Times: Fund Backs Controversial Study of "Racial Betterment] [12/11/77] *"[http://bethuneinstitute.org/documents/racialscientestrushton.html Racial Scientist Rushton Takes Over Pioneer Fund]" by David Lethbridge. The Bethune Institute for Anti-Fascist Studies, January 2003. *[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2008 NY Review of Books: 'The Bell Curve' and its Sources] *[http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/76605 Eugenics, racism, and conservative ideology (pt. 1)] *[http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45/049.html The Bell Curve and the Pioneer Fund] A special report by [[ABC World News Tonight]]. [[November 22]], [[1994]] (Criticized by Gordon 1997 above) *"[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05030/450021.stm Weird Science]" Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Post-Gazette, [[January 30]], [[2005]]. ==== Scholarly studies ==== *[http://www.ferris.edu/isar/Institut/pioneer/homepage.htm Pioneer Fund readings] from the [[Institute for the Study of Academic Racism]] **[http://www.ferris.edu/ISAR/archives/mehler/foundation.htm Foundation for Fascism: the New Eugenics Movement in the United States, Patterns of Prejudice] **[http://www.ferris.edu/ISAR/Institut/pioneer/search.htm Race Science and the Pioneer Fund] *[http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/tucker/toc.html The Funding of Scientific Racism] Online book *[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11998853&dopt=Citation "The American Breed": Nazi eugenics and the origins of the Pioneer Fund] *[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12115787&dopt=Citation Toward a racial abyss: eugenics, Wickliffe Draper, and the origins of The Pioneer Fund] ===Pro=== * ''The Science of Human Diversity: A History of the Pioneer Fund'', [[Richard Lynn]] (2001) ISBN 0-7618-2040-X *[http://www.vdare.com/sailer/pioneer.htm "Pioneer Fundophobia"], [[Steve Sailer]] (2001) *"The Pioneer Fund, the Behavioral Sciences, and the Media's False Stories," ([http://home.comcast.net/~neoeugenics/pioneer.htm 3rd party reprint]) [[Harry F. Weyher]] (1999), ''[[Intelligence (journal)|Intelligence]]''. [[Category:Foundations]] [[Category:Race and intelligence controversy]] [[Category:eugenics]]