1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey y'all, it's Eaves and welcome to another 3 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: episode of This Day in History Class. Like a lot 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,879 Speaker 1: of other people around the world right now, I am 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: at home because of the coronavirus. But This Day in 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: History Class fortunately can still go on because I can 7 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: record from home. So that's where I am in my closet, 8 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: bringing you another episode of the podcast. So on with 9 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: the show. Today's March. The day was March twentie n 10 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: the U S State of Virginia approved an act that 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: subjected people in state institutions to sterilization. The Virginia Sterilization 12 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: Act was implemented during the height of the eugenics movement 13 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: in the US. Eugenics is the practice of the elective 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: breeding and human populations with the goal of improving the 15 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: genetics of future generations. The practice is rooted in prejudices 16 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: such as racism, classism, and able is um. British scientists 17 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: Francis Galton coined the term eugenics in eighteen eighty three 18 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: in his book Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development. 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: He advocated creating what he believed would be a better 20 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: human race by encouraging people he deemed healthy and of 21 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: high intelligence to have children together. The eugenics movement spread 22 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: quickly across Europe and the United States. In the early 23 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: twentieth century, laws prohibiting people with physical and mental disabilities 24 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: from marrying popped up around the US, and eugenic supporters 25 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: promoted the idea that the practice would help maintain the 26 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: purity of the American in other words, Anglo Saxon white race. 27 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: The American Breeders Association was formed in nineteen o three 28 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: and played a big role in uplifting the eugenics movement. 29 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: Then there was the Race Betterment Foundation, founded by John 30 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: Harvey Kellogg of Kellogg's serial fame. US President Theodore Roosevelt 31 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: even warned white people that they would commit quote race 32 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: suicide if they did not have large families, since immigrants 33 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: and other non white people were having babies at higher rates. 34 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: The Eugenics Record Office was established in New York in 35 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, with Harry Laughlin as the first director. The 36 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: office was particularly concerned with the inheritance of so called 37 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: undesirable traits such as mental disability and promiscuity. After World 38 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: War One, eugenic supporters began to believe that the us 39 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: is economic and political strength would suffer if more people 40 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: with undesirable traits lived in America. While states had already 41 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: passed sterilization acts based on eugenics, sterilization laws became more 42 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: common after Laughlin drafted the model sterilization law, which was 43 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: published in his book Eugenical Sterilization in the United States 44 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty two. In the book, he promoted forced 45 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: sterilization under the guise of bettering humanity. Laughlin banked on 46 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: state legislatures designing their own eugenics laws based on his recommendations. 47 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: Albert Pretty was the superintendent of the Virginia Colony for 48 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: the Epileptic and Feeble Minded in Lynchburg, Virginia. Pretty was 49 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: a huge supporter of institutionalizing people deemed feeble minded and 50 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: compulsory sterilization. He contacted Legislator Aubrey Strode, who drafted Virginia's 51 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: Eugenical Sterilization Act. Though the courts had struck down many 52 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: states sterilization laws, Virginia Governor Albert Lee Trinkle promoted the 53 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: sterilization bill as a way for institutions that housed so 54 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: called defective people to save money. Compulsory sterilization would also 55 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: mean that people could not leave institutions and have more 56 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: people eugenic supporters deemed defective. In the bill, Strode said 57 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: that sterilization was a public health concern and necessary to 58 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: protect society. The bill said that sterilization would be a 59 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: safe and relatively painless procedure. It stated that heredity played 60 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: a big role in the quote transmission of sanity, idiocy, imbecility, epilepsy, 61 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: and crime. The Virginia Sterilization Act was approved on March 62 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:35,359 Speaker 1: twentieth nine, providing for people in state institutions to be 63 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: sterilized in certain cases. Carrie Buck was set to be 64 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: sterilized under the Virginia Act. Buck's case made it to 65 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: the U. S. Supreme Court, which ruled that it was 66 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: in the state's best interest to have Buck sterilized so 67 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: that the nation would not be quote swamped with incompetence. 68 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: The ruling legitimized sterilization and boosted the eugenics movement across 69 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: the United States. Thousands of unions were sterilized, mainly non 70 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: white and poor white people after the act was passed. 71 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: Major parts of the nine Act were repealed in nineteen 72 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: seventy four, Virginia agreed to pay sterilization survivors two dollars 73 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: each as compensation. Reportedly, only eleven survivors of for sterilization 74 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: in Virginia were identified at the time. I'm each Jeffcote 75 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 76 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,720 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. And if you'd like to hit 77 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: us up on social media, you can do so on Instagram, Facebook, 78 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: and Twitter at t d i h C Podcast. If 79 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: you prefer to hit us up by email, you can 80 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: shoot us a note at this Day at I heeart 81 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks again for listening and we'll see 82 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: you tomorrow. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit 83 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 84 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.