Paul Dwight Moody

American religious figure (1879–1947)

Dwight L. Moody (father)

Paul Dwight Moody (April 11, 1879^[1] – August 18, 1947^[2]), son of Dwight L. Moody, served at South Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, Vermont from 1912 to 1917 and as the 10th president of Middlebury College from 1921 until 1943.

During his tenure, two of Middlebury's most important institutions, the Bread Loaf School of English and the Middlebury College Language Schools saw growth in both quality and reputation. One of Moody's chief goals was the creation of a wholly separate women's college at Middlebury, as opposed to the semi-integrated system that had prevailed since women were first accepted in 1883. However, the Great Depression and World War II ultimately stymied his efforts at segregation by gender.

In addition to his position as President of Middlebury College, Moody was simultaneously Chairman of the committee that supervised the 1930 Survey that resulted in the Fourth Annual Report of the Eugenics Survey of Vermont, published under the auspices of the University of Vermont.^[3] Middlebury College at the time had "extensive involvement in the eugenics movement," and had been teaching eugenics since at least 1914.^[4] Moody was also Chairman^[a] of the Committee for the Human Factor, which was "essentially a continuation of the Eugenics Survey."^[b]

Notes

^ "the Committee on the Human Factor (chaired by Middlebury College's Paul Moody"^[5]
^ "the Committee for the Human Factor, essentially a continuation of the Eugenics Survey"^[6]

References

^ "Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915". FamilySearch. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
^ "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954". FamilySearch. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
^ "Foreword". Fourth Annual Report of the Eugenics Survey of Vermont. Auspices of the University of Vermont. March 1930. p. 3. Retrieved August 10, 2023. Eugenics Survey of Vermont has been cooperating as fully as possible under the general supervision of the Committee on the Human Factor of which President Paul Moody of Middlebury College is Chairman
^ RACHEL LU (July 19, 2023). "A Vermont College Removed the Name of a Eugenicist From Its Campus. Is That Enough?". The Nation. Retrieved August 10, 2023. its own extensive involvement in the eugenics movement." [...] In a 1914 list published by the Journal of Heredity, Middlebury was among 44 colleges offering courses on eugenics through subjects such as pedagogy, biology, and sociology
^ Dann 1991, p. 21.
^ Dann 1991, p. 19.

Bibliography

Dann, Kevin (Winter 1991). "From Degeneration to Regeneration: The Eugenics Survey of Vermont, 1925-1936" (PDF). The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society. 59 (1). Barre. ISSN 0042-4161. Retrieved August 11, 2023.