The Feebleminded Phenomenon and the Sterilization Solution
"One who is capable of earning his living under favorable circumstances, but is incapable from mental defect existing from birth or from an early age of competing on equal terms with his normal fellows or of managing himself and his affairs with equal prudence."
- Definition of feebleminded from the Royal College of Physicians in England
Beginning in the 1920s, a new term was used by eugenicists to describe the defective hordes that menaced America: feebleminded. Feeblemindedness encompassed anything from actual mental disability to "shiftlessness" and waywardness, not to mention the plague of feebleminded women who flagrantly disobeyed societal convention regarding "promiscuity and sexual immorality."
“In recent years surgeons have discovered another method which has many advantages. This is also sometimes incorrectly referred to as asexualization. It is more properly spoken of as sterilization, the distinction being that it does not have any effect on the sex qualities of the man or woman, but does artificially take away the power of procreation by rendering the person sterile. The operation itself is almost as simple in males as having a tooth pulled. In females it is not much more serious. The results are generally permanent and sure.”
- Henry Goddard, The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeblemindedness
- Definition of feebleminded from the Royal College of Physicians in England
Beginning in the 1920s, a new term was used by eugenicists to describe the defective hordes that menaced America: feebleminded. Feeblemindedness encompassed anything from actual mental disability to "shiftlessness" and waywardness, not to mention the plague of feebleminded women who flagrantly disobeyed societal convention regarding "promiscuity and sexual immorality."
“In recent years surgeons have discovered another method which has many advantages. This is also sometimes incorrectly referred to as asexualization. It is more properly spoken of as sterilization, the distinction being that it does not have any effect on the sex qualities of the man or woman, but does artificially take away the power of procreation by rendering the person sterile. The operation itself is almost as simple in males as having a tooth pulled. In females it is not much more serious. The results are generally permanent and sure.”
- Henry Goddard, The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeblemindedness
“Others will look at the chart and say, 'The difficulty began with the nameless feeble-minded girl; had she been taken care of, all of this trouble would have been avoided.’”
- Henry Goddard, The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-mindedness (1912)
“The problem in the care of the female defective is this question of preventing reproduction. Women have to be kept under custodial care during childbearing life. A feebleminded man has to find a feebleminded woman before he can procreate; a feebleminded woman has no such limitation. A movement of this sort would immensely increase the production of defectives in the community.”
- Harry C. Sharp, Vasectomy As A Means Of Preventing Procreation In Defectives (1909)
"Therefore, Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Indiana, That on and after the passage of this act it shall be compulsory for each and every institution in the state, entrusted with the care of confirmed criminals, idiots, rapists and imbeciles, to appoint upon its staff, in addition to the regular institutional physician, two (2) skilled surgeons of recognized ability, whose duty it shall be, in conjunction with the chief physician of the institution, to examine the mental and physical condition of such inmates as are recommended by the institutional physician and board of managers. If, in the judgment of this committee of experts and the board of managers, procreation is inadvisable and there is no probability of improvement of the mental condition of the inmate, it shall be lawful for the surgeons to perform such operation for the prevention of procreation as shall be decided safest and most effective."
- 1907 Indiana sterilization law, first involuntary sterilization statute to be passed in the USA
- Henry Goddard, The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-mindedness (1912)
“The problem in the care of the female defective is this question of preventing reproduction. Women have to be kept under custodial care during childbearing life. A feebleminded man has to find a feebleminded woman before he can procreate; a feebleminded woman has no such limitation. A movement of this sort would immensely increase the production of defectives in the community.”
- Harry C. Sharp, Vasectomy As A Means Of Preventing Procreation In Defectives (1909)
"Therefore, Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Indiana, That on and after the passage of this act it shall be compulsory for each and every institution in the state, entrusted with the care of confirmed criminals, idiots, rapists and imbeciles, to appoint upon its staff, in addition to the regular institutional physician, two (2) skilled surgeons of recognized ability, whose duty it shall be, in conjunction with the chief physician of the institution, to examine the mental and physical condition of such inmates as are recommended by the institutional physician and board of managers. If, in the judgment of this committee of experts and the board of managers, procreation is inadvisable and there is no probability of improvement of the mental condition of the inmate, it shall be lawful for the surgeons to perform such operation for the prevention of procreation as shall be decided safest and most effective."
- 1907 Indiana sterilization law, first involuntary sterilization statute to be passed in the USA
States that performed legal sterilizations.
States that have performed illegal sterilizations.
Lynchburg, Virginia, Location of the Virginia Colony for the Epileptic and Feebleminded, where Carrie Buck was institutionalized.
McAlester Prison, the site of Skinner's imprisonment and the site of the "Brain Trust" who put together the Skinner v. Oklahoma case.
Charlottesville, Virginia, hometown of Carrie Buck, plaintiff of Buck v. Bell.
States that have performed illegal sterilizations.
Lynchburg, Virginia, Location of the Virginia Colony for the Epileptic and Feebleminded, where Carrie Buck was institutionalized.
McAlester Prison, the site of Skinner's imprisonment and the site of the "Brain Trust" who put together the Skinner v. Oklahoma case.
Charlottesville, Virginia, hometown of Carrie Buck, plaintiff of Buck v. Bell.