THE REPOSITORY FOR GERMINAL CHOICE

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2 THE REPOSITORY FOR GERMINAL CHOICE A.k.a: The Nobel Sperm Bank Founded by Robert Graham Escondido, California Opened in 1980, closed in 1999 Radical, controversial experiment

3 GOALS OF THE NOBEL SPERM BANK Create new generations of healthy, intelligent humans Reduce significance of genetic diseases Track the children s lives Solve the nature v.s nurture debate Save humanity

4 DAVID PLOTZ The Genius Babies and How They Grew article- Slate 2001 Published The Genius Factory in 2005 Interviewed over 24 families Self-proclaimed semen detective

5 HISTORY OF EUGENICS Eugenics= well born Late 19 th century in U.S and Britian Overpopulation, Darwinism, and racial paranoia Negative Eugenics Positive Eugenics

6 SOCIAL DARWINISM Survival of the fittest applied to mankind Thomas Mathus Francis Galton- Father of Eugenics Hereditary Genius

7 U.S RACIAL TENSION & PARANOIA Threats of immigration Supporters: upper/middle class white Americans Germany and American Eugenics

8 EUGENIC STERILIZATION 1910: Charles Davenport Eugenics Record Office in Cold Springs Harbor, Long Island Laws put in place against mental defectives Eugenic sterilization of the unfit By 1917, fifteen states legalized sterilization of the unfit By the 1930s, over 35,000 Americans were sterilized Another 25,000 were sterilized before the 1960s

9 POSITIVE EUGENICS TAKE OVER- MAYBE? Daedalus written by J.B.S Haldane, Dr. Addison David Hard & William Pancoat The first artificial insemination: 1909

10 AID: ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION BY DONOR Outrage, disbelief Immoral, against god and nature Silent tolerance Quiet spread of AID

11 FROZEN SPERM! 1949: scientists discover how to freeze sperm 1950 s and 1960s: scientists perfect the freezing process AID trend & business AID at home

12 HOUSING THE SPERM Hermann Muller One of america s first outstanding geneticists Nobel Prize in medicine Hermann Muller & Robert Graham Future of Man Plan the first sperm bank Difference in ideals Hermann Muller dies in 1967

13 ROBERT K. GRAHAM Born June 9 th, 1906 in Harbor Springs, Michigan Studied optometry at Ohio State Had 8 children, from 3 different wives, and 1 out of wedlock

14 ROBERT GRAHAM S INSPIRATION Makes $100 million by inventing shatterproof glasses The Future of Man

15 ROBERT GRAHAM S (RACIST?) INSPIRATION Disgust for the lower class Blamed social welfare programs for societal decline Emotional racism v.s Scientific racism? save mankind from a genetic catastrophe, retrograde humans are swamping out the intelligent minority Robert Graham

16 OPEN FOR BUSINESS Goal: find donors with a Nobel Prize in science 3 Nobel sperm donors by 1980 All donors kept confidential Robert Graham in his Repository

17 William Shockley WILLIAM SHOCKLEY Born in 1910 Only child of a wealthy engineer & ambitious mother Physicist Received the highest civilian award from the Navy Silicon Valley 1956: Awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the transistor

18 SHOCKLEY S REPUTATION Graham admired Shockley, funded his research Research became racially based Reputation decline 1960s-1970s I would think that it would be quite likely that there was some significant amount of elimination of genetic diseases [in Nazi Germany]. Just as the autobahns were a good thing, maybe there were some other good things about Hitler. William Shockley

19 WILLIAM SHOCKLEY & THE NOBEL SPERM BANK 1 st to donate a sample in 1977, and again in 1978 February 29 th,1980: Public debut of the Repository for Germinal Choice William Shockley in the public eye Graham s biggest liability

20 CHANGES TO THE REPOSITORY End all association with William Shockley No Nobel sperm, no Nobel babies Search for tall, handsome, intelligent men 1982: Good sperm, but no pregnancies

21 1 ST BABY IS BORN! VICTORIA KOWALSKI Born April 1982 to Joyce and Jack Kowalski Destined to be a genius Kowalski parents controversy

22 2 ND BABY IS BORN! DORON BLAKE Born in August of 1982 to mother Afton Blake Genius baby : using computers, playing chess, learning algebra and Einstein s theory of relativity Robert Graham s shining star Doron & Afton Blake Doron Blake

23 MORE BABIES! Women want genius sperm Mid 1980s: Dozen of babies were born each year Robert Graham dies 2 years before Repository closes Over 200 children born by the time the Repository closed in Mystery of the genius babies

24 INVESTIGATING THE GENIUS FACTORY : DONORS David Plotz: lead detective, author of The Genius Factory Donor Coral: Jeremy Sampson Father of Tom Legare & Alton Grant Fathered an estimated 30 children Michael: Donor & natural-born son of Nobelist Extreme narcissism in donors?

25 INVESTIGATING THE GENIUS FACTORY : DONORS Rationalists v.s Egotists Donor White: Roger

26 FLAWS OF THE REPOSITORY FOR GERMINAL CHOICE Donor Records & tracking the children s lives Older donors=higher risks Genius sperm is a rip off Genetic Expectations Nature vs. Nurture, the forever unsolved mystery Family Disparities, absent father

27 IMPACTS OF THE REPOSITORY FOR GERMINAL CHOICE Brought over 200 children into the world! Transformed how we think about babies Turned sperm banks into a business

28 SPERM BANKS TODAY Basically all sperm banks are genius sperm banks today Lesbians

29 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Do you think Robert Graham, founder of the Nobel Sperm Bank, was truly a racist, or just a product of his time in history? Do you think the outcome/reputation of the Nobel Sperm Bank would be different if William Shockley, and the other controversies, weren t associated with it? If you were unable to have children, would you consider applying to the Nobel Sperm bank? (assuming it is the 1980s, not today)