The Heredity Commission was a eugenic

Eugenics

Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...

 advisory group to the government of the United States of America during the early 20th century. It was founded in 1906 by Willet M. Hays

Willet M. Hays

Willet Martin Hays was an American plant breeder and U. S. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.-Education:Hays was born 1859 on a farm near Eldora, Iowa. He graduated from Drake University in 1885 and obtained a master's degree in agriculture from the Iowa State College at Ames...

 (1), Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and president and founder of the American Breeders' Association (ABA)

Hays selected scientists who were members of the ABA. The purpose of the commission was "to investigate all proper means" of influencing heredity to "better the race". It aimed to increase "families of good blood" and to discourage the "vicious elements in the cross-bred American civilization." The commission was also asked to study if "a new species of human being could be consciously evolved."

Note

1. The name of the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture is listed as William Hayes by the 1906 New York Times article.