author
Madison Grant
1865–1937
A prominent figure in early American conservation, he also became one of the most influential public advocates of eugenics and scientific racism in the United States. His life and writing sit at the uneasy intersection of wildlife protection, elite politics, and deeply harmful racial ideology.
3 Audiobooks
The Conquest of a Continent; or, The Expansion of Races in America
by Madison Grant
The Rocky Mountain Goat
by Madison Grant
About the author
Born in New York City on November 19, 1865, Madison Grant was trained as a lawyer and moved in wealthy East Coast circles, but he became especially active in natural history and conservation. He worked with the New York Zoological Society, helped support efforts to protect bison and redwoods, and was involved in the early conservation movement at a time when major institutions and parks were taking shape.
Grant is now most widely remembered for his role in promoting eugenics and scientific racism. His 1916 book The Passing of the Great Race argued a racial hierarchy topped by so-called "Nordics," and his ideas were tied to immigration restriction and other discriminatory policies in the United States. Because of that legacy, he remains a deeply controversial historical figure.
He died on May 30, 1937. Today, writing about Grant usually means holding two truths together at once: he played a real part in American conservation history, and he also helped spread ideas that were profoundly racist and damaging.