Harry Laughlin, circa 1929
One of the reasons eugenics laws were so disturbing is because their targets were so loosely defined.
Harry Laughlin’s Model Eugenical Sterilization Law in 1914 spelled out just how nebulous the so-called “undesirable” element of a population could be. He proposed to authorize sterilization of what he called the socially inadequate–and the list of these people was long and frightening. Continue reading
Carrie Buck and Emma Buck, 1924, courtesy of the University of Albany, New York
As eugenics became more popular (see last post), sterilization laws were adopted in many states. One of the most notorious and tragic cases involving forced sterilization was Carrie Buck’s. In 1927, Buck was the first person to be sterilized under Virginia’s 1924 law. She had had an illegitimate daughter, and at 17 years old, joined her own mother at the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded. Both were considered feeble-minded and promiscuous, and Carrie’s daugher, Vivian, also received the feeble-minded diagnosis. Carrie’s mother had been involuntarily institutionalized, but Carrie was additionally involuntarily sterilized. Writing for the majority, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes declared that “. . . Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Even though sterilization was legal, Carrie’s diagnosis made no sense. She had done well at school, and her daughter made the honor roll in elementary school, several years later. Obviously, neither of these females was feeble-minded. However, Carrie had been raped by a member of her foster family, and apparently they (with her defense lawyer and the lawyer for the Virginia Colony ) conspired to send her to an institution to help the family avoid shame and to test the state’s sterilization law.
Over the years, institutionalization had been used as a tool by many families to cover up or hide problems in both male and female members, and this classic miscarriage of justice was just one of many instances of its misuse. Carrie’s younger sister was also sterilized after being told she was going to the hospital for appendicitis surgery.
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. kn Buck v. Bell, courtesy Library of Congress
Virginia State Epileptic Colony Cottage for Feeble-Minded Women
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Officials Wanted to Keep Unfit People Out of the U.S., courtesy missouri.edu
Many people, both lay and professional, passionately debate the very essence of insanity. Some people believe that insanity is mainly a social construct, which can change over time as society itself changes. That is, what was once considered insane is now accepted as normal, or vice versa. Are there truly “insane” behaviors which every society, in every time period, agrees are insane? If not, how can insanity really be established if its definition changes over time?
This societal construct particularly gave trouble for those who didn’t fit mainstream society and weren’t protected by laws or tests which took culture or country into account. Early immigrants often faced criticism as they tried to integrate into American culture. Their different ways were either seen as merely odd or “foreign” and tolerated, or were actively disdained and suppressed. The real problem arose when someone with particularly odd behavior came to the attention of authorities. When the question of insanity arose, the standard that immigrants were judged against was not their own culture and what was accepted within it, but by the Anglo-based white culture in their new country. When immigrants came before an insanity commission or a typical alienist, they often did not present themselves to advantage. If the suspected lunatic could not speak English well, acted out nervousness and fear in odd ways, or refused to answer questions due to fear or confusion, he helped build a case for his insanity.
Ellis Island, courtesy Library of Congress
Immigrants Waiting Examination, courtesy Library of Congress
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Sir Francis Galton
Around the turn of the 20th century, the United States was heavily involved in a new science called eugenics, a word coined in 1883 by Charles Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton. Galton thought the human race could be improved by better breeding practices, which were considered positive eugenics. Preventing the reproduction of undesirables was termed negative eugenics.
In the United States, many people agreed with the idea behind eugenics. Biologist Charles Davenport was director of the Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory in New York, where he founded the Eugenics Record Office. This office kept pedigree records on thousands of families in the U.S. Money for the laboratory came from the Rockefeller Foundation and other philanthropic institutes. Eugenics enthusiasts formed organizations like the American Eugenics Society, the American Breeders Association, and the Race Betterment Foundation.
Americans supported the sterilization of “unfit” people, and in 1907, Indiana became the first state to enact a sterilization law. By 1941, over 60,000 people (mostly women) had been sterilized, some against their will. Eugenics fell out of favor as science began to show that many of the undesirable traits eugenicists studied weren’t inherited at all. Hitler’s eugenics programs horrified Americans when they came to light, and the American eugenics movement fell from favor.
Average Family Winner, Fitter Family Contest in Eastern States Exposition, courtesy American Philosophical Society
Eugenics Exhibit
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