Racial mapping during the Progressive Era played into the political narratives of eugenic intervention and immigration restriction. This article argues that the racial cartographic work of the Yale geographer and prolific eugenicist Ellsworth Huntington was both developed within and contributed to this racist milieu. Huntington’s middle-class and educated upbringing, his familial history, and his expertise as a well-travelled geographer all conspired to shape his views on eugenics, race, and immigration. By applying the critical cartographic theories of John Brian Harley, Denis Wood, Heather Winlow, and others, I show that Huntington’s racial maps were a product of his cultural and political environment. The success of a map’s impact was often due to maps being seen as objective depictions of spatial variation. Indeed, for Huntington they performed an essential role in communicating and portraying racial information. But, as I argue, they were susceptible to bias, misunderstanding, and intentional manipulation. I show that Huntington’s maps are not accurate snapshots of reality, but rather cultural texts or rhetorical images intended to create a narrative and convince the reader of a particular subjective point of view.

进步时代的种族映射在优生干预和移民限制的政治叙述中发挥了作用。本文认为，耶鲁大学地理学家和多产的优生学家埃尔斯沃思亨廷顿的种族制图工作既是在这种种族主义环境中发展的，也是对这种环境的贡献。亨廷顿的中产阶级和受过良好教育的成长、他的家族历史以及他作为一位游历广泛的地理学家的专业知识，都共同塑造了他对优生学、种族和移民的看法。通过应用约翰·布赖恩·哈雷、丹尼斯·伍德、希瑟·温洛等人的批判性制图理论，我表明亨廷顿的种族地图是他的文化和政治环境的产物。地图影响的成功通常是由于地图被视为对空间变化的客观描述。的确，对于亨廷顿来说，他们在传达和描绘种族信息方面发挥了重要作用。但是，正如我所说，他们容易受到偏见、误解和故意操纵的影响。我表明，亨廷顿的地图不是对现实的准确快照，而是旨在创造叙事并使读者相信特定主观观点的文化文本或修辞图像。