Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
No where were the principles of eugenics more accepted than America. Eugenics was adopted by the Oneida Community in the mid-19th century. The first American eugenics law was passed in Indiana in 1907 and by 1936 there were 35 states that had such laws. As a result, large numbers of individuals in America were forcibly sterilized--primarily poor children taken in by state institutions. We do not
have an estimate yet of the actual number of people sterilized. As these operations were sometimes conducted covertly, an accurate assessment is probably not possible. The mentally ill and retarded were the most frequent victims of this program. There were also, however, children and youths sterilized. These included unwed
mothers and boys in reformatories and orphanages, especially if they were judged to be retarded. The extent of the sterilizations varied widely from state to state, but was most pronounced in states that were largely Protestant because of the opposition of the Catholic Church. There were also large numbers of sterilizations conducted on
blacks in the South by the largely white medical establishment. These were known as Mississippi appendectomies. An outgrowth of the eugenics movement was the popularity of beautiful baby competitions in the early 20th century.
Eugenics was looked on by many as a scientific approach to creating a genetically superior human race. Many including prominant Americans expoused the idea despite the fact that the science of genetics was at a very primitie states. The breeding of livestock, however, is as old as civilkization. Thus egenecicts commonly focused on breeding. No where were the principles of eugenics more accepted than America. The American eugenics movement focused on people considered to be mental defectives. The theory was that eliminating mental defectives could address a variety of social problems, including as poverty and crime.
Many major magazines and newspapers carried articles on eugenics, usually claming a scientific basis for the programs being expoused. There were even magazines specifically devoted to eugenics, including Eugenics Quarterly.
Eugenics apparently became the central theme of some movies, although I am unsure just what movies were involved here.
Eugenics was adopted by the Oneida Community in the mid-19th century.
Oneida is a recognized industrial concern in the United States. Its heritage is very different from other American industrial concerns which were organized on the
basis of the limited corporation created by Alexander Hamilton when he founded the first National Bank of the United States. The origins of Oneida are religious,
utopian, and socialistic.
The first American eugenics law was passed in Indiana in 1907 and by 1936 there were 35 states that had such laws.
One approach of the eugenicists was sterilization. The principle was that sterilizing large numbers of "defective" people could prevent the perpetuation of targeted defects and genetic diseases. The state eugenics laws were tested in the courts. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the eugenicists in Buck vs. Bell (1927). Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes speaking for the Court, wrote, "three
generations of imbeciles are enough". State governments under the authority of these laws forcibly sterilized thousands of Americans. Most of those sterilized were poor children being cared for in various state institutions. Many did not known what was being done to them ast the time. The operations were caried out foricibly if the individuals objected. We do not have an estimate yet of the actual number of people sterilized. As these operations were sometimes conducted covertly, an accurate assessment is probably not possible. An estimated 60,000 to 100,000 people are believed to have been sterilized, but in fact there are no precise records. The mentally ill and retarded were the most frequent victims of this program. There were also, however, children and youths sterilized. These included unwed mothers and boys in reformatories and orphanages, especially if they were judged to be retarded. The extent of the sterilizations varied widely from state to state, but was most pronounced in states that were largely Protestant because of the opposition of the Catholic Church. There were also large numbers of sterilizations conducted on blacks in the South by the largely white medical establishment. These were known as Mississippi appendectomies.
A ABC investigative report looked into the case of one Michigan boy. "One man who has carried this dark secret with him was Fred Aslin. When Aslin was a boy in
1936, his father died, leaving his mother to bring up nine children. For unknown reasons, Michigan state representatives deemed her unable to care for her children, and they were taken to a state mental institution and left there. When Aslin was first admitted, doctors’ reports labeled him 'a feebleminded moron', but during his years at the institution, he received glowing reports from his teachers. Nevertheless, the
"feebleminded" label stuck, and when Aslin turned 18 he was told that he would be sterilized. "I [didn’t] want anybody cutting on me and they knew I wasn’t crazy; they knew I wasn’t retarded," says Aslin. Although he protested, a court order supported the surgery, and he was sterilized." [Parker]
Indiana had one of the strongest eugenics laws in the nation. The state set up a Committee on Mental Defectives, funded in part by the state Legislature. This Committe acted like the hereditary courts that the NAZIs established in Germany during the 1930s. This committee collected information from doctors, hospitls, teachers and various government officials. Surveyors would make home visits and submit assessnents of suspected individual mental defectives as well as whole families suspected of being mentally defective. The Committe submitted an annual report to the givernor. The Committee defined "mental defective" as including the insane, epileptics and the feebleminded. The Committee claimed on a scientific foundation that mental defects were "transmitted from parent to offspring". The feebleminded were put in three categories: idiot, imbecile and moron. ABC reviewed some of the Committee's with relatives who were shocked to ind that thei families were surepticiously invetigated. [Parker]
The central thrust of the eugenics movement was preventing inferior people from diluting the gene pool. Sterilization was one way of doing this, isolation was another. Mentally defective individuals were isolated in state homes. Intelligence was widely believed to be heritary and some believed that newly developed intelligence tests could be used to select out indivifuals who should be institutionalized. Two of the problemns assovciated with this effort was that 1) early intelligence tests were of questionable accuracy and 2) the environmental aspect of intellience was just beginning to be understood. As a result, many children of normal intelligence with deprived background were wearhoused in these state institutions. One such facility wa the Walter F. Fernald State School in Waltham, Massachusetts. These facilities varied greatly. Some were chambers of horror where younger children were brutalized by older children. In many cases the staff was also abusive. The educational program was a best defecuent and often entirely absent. Many of the individuls referred to as state boiys were institutionalized for life. Only in the 1960s did better educated staffs and new social policies began to prepare these boys for life in the outside world. [D'Antonio]
The eugenics movement was a very dangerous one. One very eloquent author warned that pseudo sience and poorly conceived scientific theories pose great dangers if used to deal with socia; problems. [Gould] Nothing could be a better example of this than the eugenics movement. Eugenecists claimed that their program was founded by science. In fact it was not. Genetics was very poorly understood at the time. DNA would not be discovered for several decades. Also many of the disorders they targeted were poorly understood, especially the genetic component. Assesing mental rtardation was another problem. This is not a simple matter today and in the early 20th century little solid scientic work had been done on such assessments. Often other disorders such as dsylexia were confused with intelligence. Race and social class were other troubling factors. The poor and racial minorities were more likely to be sterilized than middle-class whites.
One interesting aspect of the debate over eugenics was the people who supported and opposed it. Some prominent progressives wre important supporters of eugenics. One of the most notable was Margaret Sanger the crusader for birth control. A major opponent was perenial Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. Jennings opposed eugenics in pat because of his opposition to teach evolution in schools. Most of us are familiar with the drama, "Inherit the Wind". The play does not fully depict Bryan's view of evolution. It was not just because he believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible. Bryan though that equating man and animals would adversely affect public morals. He also thought that the principle of survival of the fitest in human society would lead to war and Bryan was a noted pacifist. He also saw it as being used to justify the sterilization of the poor and less inteligent. TYhis is not far fetched because this is precisely what happened. It also should be noted that while Bryan did not want evolution taught in the schools, he dod not object to scientific research. [Kazin]
An outgrowth of the eugenics movement was the popularity of beautiful baby competitions in the early 20th century. Better Babies" contests were part of the Eugenics movement. Eugenics became a popular concept, and at its height, it infused many areas of American culture. There were magazines such as Eugenics Quarterly, and many state fairs featured
contests searching for "Fitter Families" and "Better Babies". The topic even became the central theme of some movies. When turning over history's stones, sometimes you find some nasty bugs hidden underneath.
D'Antonio, Michael. The State Boys' Rebellion (Simon & Schuster, 2004), 308p.
Gould, Stephen Jay. Mismeasure of Man.
Kazin, Michael. A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan.
Parker, Valerie. "Breeding beeter citizens: A Hidden chapter of American history," ABC News March 22, 2000?.
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