The archives of the State Institute for Racial Biology
The Swedish State Institute for Racial Biology was established in Uppsala in 1922, following a parliamentary decision. One of the Institute’s promoters was Herman Lundborg (1868-1943), who became its first director.
Lundborg was succeeded in 1935 by Gunnar Dahlberg (1893-1956) who, unlike Lundborg, was highly critical of racial biology as a scientific method. As a result, the activities at the Institute changed and the research undertaken there became engaged in medical genetics and social medicine instead of racial biology. In 1959 the Institute closed and the research section merged with the Institute of Medical Genetics at Uppsala University.
Documents from the activities at the Institute were later delivered to the Uppsala University Archives. The Institute’s archives are now held by Uppsala University Library. The records also include the Institute’s photographic collection, which was handed over to the University Library in 1981 by the Institute of Medical Genetics. In the University Library you will also find publications by and about the Institute, as well as its own library. A large collection of Herman Lundborg’s correspondence is also preserved in the University Library. Taken together, all these collections make it possible to study the Institute’s activities.
Containing more than 12,000 photographs, taken by or on behalf of the Institute during the period 1916-1935, it also includes portrait photographs sent to the Institute by individuals. The Institute’s documents include accounts, annual reports and correspondence.
Further reading
Literature published by the institute and its staff
- Dahlberg, Gunnar & Wahlund, Sten, The race biology of the Swedish Lapps P. 2 Anthropometrical survey, Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsala, 1941.
- Linders, Frans Josua & Lundborg, Herman (red.), The racial characters of the Swedish nation: Anthropologia suecica..., Uppsala, 1926.
- Lundborg, Herman & Runnström, John, The Swedish nation in word and picture,Stockholm, 1921.
- Lundborg, Herman, Svenska folktyper: bildgalleri, ordnat efter rasbiologiskaprinciper och försett med en orienterande översikt, Tullberg, Stockholm, 1919.
- Lundborg, Herman, Svensk raskunskap, Folkuppl. med text, kartor, diagram och planscher, Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsala, 1927.
- Wahlund, Sten & Lundborg, Herman (red.), The race biology of the Swedish Lapps P.1 General survey. Prehistory. Demography. Future of the Lapps, Almqvist & Wiksell,Uppsala, 1932.
Literature about the institute
- Björkman, Maria, Den anfrätta stammen: Nils von Hofsten, eugeniken ochsteriliseringarna 1909-1963, Lund 2011.
- Broberg, Gunnar, Statlig rasforskning : en historik över Rasbiologiska institutet, Lund 1995.
- Broberg, Gunnar & Tydén, Mattias, Oönskade i folkhemmet : rashygien ochsterilisering i Sverige, Stockholm 1991.
- Broberg, Gunnar, ”Statens institut för rasbiologi - tillkomståren”, i: Broberg, Gunnar,Eriksson, Gunnar, Johannisson, Karin & Frängsmyr, Tore (red.), Kunskapensträdgårdar : om institutioner och institutionaliseringar i vetenskapen och livet,Stockholm 1988, s. 178-219.
- Broberg, Gunnar, Statlig rasforskning : en historik över Rasbiologiska institutet, Lund 1995.
- Dahlgren, Eva F., Fallna kvinnor : när samhällets bottensats skulle lära sig vetahut, Stockholm 2013.
- Dahlgren, Eva F., Farfar var rasbiolog : en berättelse om människovärde igår och idag, Stockholm 2002.
- Furuhagen, Björn, Den svenska rasbiologins idéhistoriska rötter : en inventering av forskningen, Stockholm 2007.
- Hagerman, Maja, Käraste Herman : rasbiologen Herman Lundborgs gåta, Stockholm 2015.
- Hagerman, Maja, Det rena landet : om konsten att uppfinna sina förfäder, Stockholm 2006.
- Kjellman, Ulrika, "A Whiter Shade of Pale", i: Scandinavian Journal of History, 2013, 38:2, s. 180-201.
- Lindquist, Bosse, Förädlade svenskar : drömmen om att skapa en bättre människa, Stockholm 1991.
- Lundmark, Lennart, Allt som kan mätas är inte vetenskap : en populärhistorisk skrift om Rasbiologiska institutet, Stockholm 2007.
- Lundmark, Lennart, ”Lappen är ombytlig, ostadig och obekväm” : svenska statens samepolitik i rasismens tidevarv, Bjurholm 2002.
