Life Extension Institute
Encyclopedia
The Life Extension Institute was an organization formed in the United States
in 1913 with the philanthropic goal of prolonging human life through hygiene and disease prevention. Its organizational officers included many celebrity-philanthropists such as William Howard Taft
, Alexander Graham Bell
, and Mabel Thorp Boardman
but also genuine medical experts including William James Mayo
, Russell Henry Chittenden
, and J. H. Kellogg
and a "Hygiene Reference Board" of dozens of nationally recognized physicians of that era such as Mazÿck Porcher Ravenel and Major General William Crawford Gorgas
.
A major project of the institute which fulfilled its mission to disseminate knowledge was publication of the book How to Live, Rules for Healthful Living Based on Modern Science, now in the public domain
.
The institute was a proponent of eugenics
including sterilization of "unfit" individuals:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1913 with the philanthropic goal of prolonging human life through hygiene and disease prevention. Its organizational officers included many celebrity-philanthropists such as William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
, and Mabel Thorp Boardman
Mabel Thorp Boardman
Mabel Thorp Boardman was an American philanthropist involved with the American Red Cross. She led the Red Cross in the United States following its receiving congressional charter in 1905 until World War I, however she did not take up the post of chairman since she believed the organisation would...
but also genuine medical experts including William James Mayo
William James Mayo
William James Mayo, M.D. was a physician in the United States and one of the seven founders of the Mayo Clinic. He and his brother, Charles Horace Mayo, both joined their father's private medical practice in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, after graduating from medical school in the 1880s...
, Russell Henry Chittenden
Russell Henry Chittenden
Russell Henry Chittenden was an American physiological chemist. He conducted pioneering research in the biochemistry of digestion and nutrition....
, and J. H. Kellogg
John Harvey Kellogg
John Harvey Kellogg was an American medical doctor in Battle Creek, Michigan, who ran a sanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular focus on nutrition, enemas and exercise. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism and is best known for the invention of the corn flakes breakfast cereal...
and a "Hygiene Reference Board" of dozens of nationally recognized physicians of that era such as Mazÿck Porcher Ravenel and Major General William Crawford Gorgas
William C. Gorgas
William Crawford Gorgas KCMG was a United States Army physician and 22nd Surgeon General of the U.S. Army...
.
A major project of the institute which fulfilled its mission to disseminate knowledge was publication of the book How to Live, Rules for Healthful Living Based on Modern Science, now in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.
The institute was a proponent of eugenics
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,...
including sterilization of "unfit" individuals: