Dr. Nels Christian Nelson was Associate Curator of Archeology at the American Museum of Natural History. Born in Denmark, Nelson initially focused on excavations in the American Southwest. His used archeological research to plot out the historical development of human cultures. Nelson helped Henry Faifield Osborn research the evolution of prehistoric humans and curate the Hall of the Age of Man. Eugenicists sought to identify patterns in human history in order to isolate factors they could manipulate to shape society.