What organizations and individuals financed the Eugenics Record Office?

The Eugenics Record Office (ERO), established in 1910 at Cold Spring Harbor, New York, relied on significant private and institutional financial support to conduct its activities.

The office was initially opened with funding from the legacy of the railroad magnate Edward Henry Harriman. To sustain and expand its operations—which included serving as a national repository for eugenics data, training fieldworkers, and promoting eugenic policies—the ERO secured additional financial backing from the following sources:1

• The Carnegie Institution of Washington1
• John D. Rockefeller, Jr.1
• The Battle Creek Race Betterment Foundation1
• The Human Betterment Foundation1

These organizations and individuals provided the resources that allowed the ERO to exert substantial influence on American social policy, including the promotion of immigration restrictions and involuntary sterilization programs, until the institution formally closed the office at the end of 1939.12