author
Paul Popenoe
1888–1979
Best known for shaping early marriage counseling in the United States, he also had a much darker role as a prominent advocate of eugenics and forced sterilization. His life and work sit at the uneasy intersection of popular psychology, family advice, and some of the most harmful social ideas of the twentieth century.
1 Audiobook
Applied Eugenics
by Paul Popenoe, Roswell H. (Roswell Hill) Johnson
About the author
Born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1888, he grew up in California and first built a career as a writer and agricultural explorer. He became known for work on heredity and plant breeding before turning those interests toward human heredity.
In the early twentieth century, he was a leading American promoter of eugenics. He co-wrote influential studies defending sterilization programs and helped popularize policies that targeted people labeled mentally ill or disabled. That part of his legacy is central to understanding his place in history.
Later, he became widely known for marriage counseling and helped found the American Institute of Family Relations in Los Angeles, which made him an important figure in the growth of family counseling as a public service. He died in 1979, remembered both for his influence on marriage guidance and for his damaging role in the eugenics movement.