Bankrolling racism: “science” and the Pioneer Fund

Founded by Wickliffe Preston Draper in 1937, the Pioneer Fund has long been the major source of support for researchers who conclude that blacks are genetically less intelligent than whites. The fund’s president, New York attorney Harry F. Weyher, has steadfastly maintained that his only interest has been to promote the advancement of scientific knowledge. Archival records indicate, however, that Weyher, Draper and others connected with the fund have a lengthy history of surreptitiously opposing the extension of constitutional guarantees to black citizens.