Reckoning with Institutional Histories: Anti-Eugenics Exchange with Yale, Denison, and UConn
Mayah*, a recently graduated senior at Yale, writes about a joint anti-eugenics meeting between students at Yale, Denison University, and University of Connecticut
Mayah Monthrope (she/her/hers) is a recent graduate of Yale University in the History of Science and Medicine department.
On March 28, 2025, members of the Anti-Eugenics Collective at Yale participated in an exchange with Denison University and the University of Connecticut. The event was held virtually and featured students and faculty . Each of our campuses are grappling with the legacy of eugenics in its own way – through archival research, memorials, and public history – and the exchange offered a space to share strategies, stories, and challenges.
Denison’s project is rooted in critical archival work. Rather than discarding problematic or outdated materials related to eugenics, they are intentionally saving and re-cataloging them for analysis. With recognition that these documents inform our present realities, their team is building a collection of books and materials to support long-term engagement. They place emphasis on sustained student involvement with the ultimate goal of making this history accessible to the wider public. They are working with Denison’s museum curators and archivists to design an exhibit capable of facilitating difficult conversations related to Denison’s involvement in the American Eugenics Movement.
The University of Connecticut’s student presentation focused on the Mansfield Training School Memorial Project, an important initiative examining the legacy of a former state institution where people labeled as "unfit" were institutionalized and often sterilized. Students across disciplines are involved in uncovering and interpreting this history – especially its framing as a form of "medical improvement" by eugenicists. What stood out most was their outstanding archival work: researchers have uncovered death records of institutionalized children. Dr. Brenda Brueggemann, a faculty member involved in the project, explained how she has incorporated this research into her coursework. Beyond academia, the work has grappled with the recency of Eugenics and its impact on their community. For example, this history was discussed in an open forum at Mansfield Town Hall, where former employees of the Training School joined the conversation. Rather than reducing the former institution to a haunted building, the team is working to humanize this history – ensuring people know what happened at the site by centering the people involved.
Their project continues to push against the sanitized narrative that these harms are "behind us." Master’s student Ashten Vassar spoke about the enduring physical presence of the Mansfield Training School, now UConn’s Depot Campus. As their project insists, the legacy of eugenics is not a closed chapter.
A key theme across all three campuses was the rejection of a single institutional narrative – a refusal to let our institutions suppress or ignore their ugly histories. Each school, archive, and community must wrestle with its own past. Undertaking this effort collectively and publicly opens up new possibilities for repair and anti-eugenic transformation. We left this event energized by our peers’ work and motivated to continue our work.