Winning family of the Fittest Family award stands outside of the Eugenics Building, 1925
The American Eugenics Society presented eugenics exhibits at state fairs throughout the USA, and provided information encouraging “high-grade” people to reproduce at a greater rate for the benefit of society. The Society even sponsored Fitter Family contests.
First appearing in 1920 at the Kansas Free Fair, Fitter Family competitions, continued all the way until WWII. There were several different categories that families were judged in: size of the family, overall attractiveness, and health of the family, all of which helped to determine the likelihood of having healthy children. These competitions promoted certain physical and mental qualities.










