Inventing America's Worst Family: Eugenics, Islam, and the Fall and Rise of the Tribe of Ishmael"Inventing America's Worst Family is an important, refreshing, and interesting work. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this account is its placement at the center of a larger narrative about America's obsession with Orientalism. The story emerges gracefully and compellingly; Deutsch clearly presents new material and has gone to great efforts to track what actually became of the Ishmael group, and its origins."—Wendy Kline, author of Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom "This is one of the most intriguing, imaginative works of history I've read in quite some time. Inventing America's Worst Family advances historical scholarship on poverty and eugenics in compelling ways, with its deep analysis of institutional realities and cultural trends. Deutsch combines a terrific story with his own impressive narrative talent; the book is ingeniously conceived, brilliantly researched, and beautifully told!"—J. Terry Todd, Drew University |
Contents
How Oscar McCulloch Discovered the Ishmaelites | 19 |
In Darkest Indianapolis | 49 |
How the Other Half Lives | 72 |
The Ishmaelites and the Menace of the Feebleminded | 102 |
Ishmaelites Immigrants | 130 |
How the Tribe of Ishmael | 155 |
An American Story | 172 |
Afterword | 201 |
Selected Bibliography | 231 |
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Common terms and phrases
according to Wright African American African American Islamic African Muslim American Story Arabs Arthur Estabrook Asiatic became Benjamin Ishmael cacogenic Charity Organization Society Charles Davenport Chicago Chism city’s claimed criminals culture Cumberland County Darkest Indianapolis decades degenerate Despite Discovered the Ishmaelites early Elijah Muhammad eugenicists eugenics movement Eugenics Records Office Feebleminded Fountain County Gypsies Half Lives Harry Laughlin Hugo Leaming Ibid immigrants Indiana Indianapolis individuals Ishmael family Ishmael Tribe John Ishmael Jukes Kate Kate Thornton Kentucky labor later Leaming’s Lost-Found Nation married McCulloch Discovered Menace migrants Moorish Science Temple Muslim Nation of Islam Native Americans Negro Nicholas County nineteenth century Noble Drew nomadic Notes to Pages Orientalist Oscar McCulloch pauper Pennsylvania pension pioneer portrait poverty published race racial social Stoddard supposedly township trustee Travellers Tribal Twenties Tribe of Ishmael undeserving poor University Press Upland Southern urban wandering William Yakub York