Wesley Clair Mitchell and the “Illiberal Reformers”: A Documentary Note

In this note we inquire whether Mitchell as a reformer ever expressed concern over thebiological quality of individuals and whether he did somehow share the Progressive Era faith in eugenics as an instrument for improving American society’s health, welfare, and morals. This is an aspect of Mitchell’s thought that has received scant attention in the literature and that projects him into the current debate on progressivism.