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Eugenics

Eugenics refers to a pseudoscientific ideology rooted in racism, ableism, sexism, and colonialism that became popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when scientists argued that selective breeding for ideal traits could improve humankind [1]. Consequently, the United States and other countries implemented sterilization laws to prevent people with undesirable attributes—disabled people, poor people, some immigrants, people convicted of a crime, and people of color—from reproducing. 

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Content Warning: The violent and oppressive history of eugenics may be disturbing or triggering. Content may include rape, suicide,

medical experimentation, and other forms of violence. Please take care when engaging with this history. 

Carrie Buck and Emma Buck

Carrie Buck (left) and her mother, Emma Buck (right). Credit: Arthur Estabrook Papers, Special Collections & Archives, University at Albany, SUNY

Carrie and Emma Buck were institutionalized and sterilized for "feeblemindedness" at the Lynchburg Colony in Virginia.

A Brief History of Eugenics

The following timeline presents the history of eugenics from when Francis Galton first coined the term in 1883 to the beginning of the twenty-first century. It focuses on major events during the eugenics era in the United States, and it emphasizes how recent and emerging practices threaten to eliminate disability and continue to deprive oppressed groups of their right to reproduce. 

 

Many timeline entries include links to more information. Please click underlined terms to learn more. 

2003

Scientists announced the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 [10]. Emerging genetic testing and gene editing technologies made possible by the completion of the human genome project renew fears of genetic discrimination and disability elimination. 

1933

The Nazis' obsession with racial hygiene fueled the forced sterilization and mass murder of hundreds of thousands of disabled people, Jewish people, Romani people, and others before and during the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945 [7].  Many people are shocked to learn that the German eugenics movement took inspiration from United States sterilization laws. 

1928

By 1928, 376 colleges and universities offered eugenics courses, and 90% of high school biology textbooks included eugenics content [1]. Eugenics was taught at the University of Washington by Professor Trevor Kincaid (as in Kincaid Hall). Click here to see a University of Washington course catalog from 1915. Go to page 186 in the PDF to find the "Evolution and Eugenics" course listing. Also, click here to view an advertisement for a public lecture on eugenics given by Professor Kincaid from 1924. 

1927

In the 1927 case Buck v. Bell, the United States Supreme Court ruled that forced sterilization was constitutional for the "feebleminded" [6]. The case centered around a poor, white woman from Virginia named Carrie Buck. Buck was institutionalized for "feeblemindedness" after becoming pregnant as a teenager as a result of rape. Buck v. Bell has not been overturned. 

1920s

"Fitter Families for Fitter Firesides" and "Better Babies" contests became popular at state fairs in the United States in the 1920s [1]. Parents often brought their children to the fair to be judged alongside pigs, cows, and other livestock. These contests occurred in Washington State. Click here to view a Seattle Sunday Times article from February 27, 1916 and here to view a Seattle Daily Times article from August 19, 1919. 

1910

Charles Davenport established the Eugenics Record Office in the United States in 1910 [1]. He convinced wealthy donors to fund his research into eugenics and human heredity. 

1907

Indiana passed the first compulsory sterilization law in the United States in 1907 [3]. The law required the sterilization of criminals and the "feebleminded"—a vague classification assigned by doctors to women, poor people, disabled people, and anyone the state wanted to control. More than 60,000 people were sterilized against their will under U.S. sterilization laws in 32 states across the country.

1909

Washington State passed its first compulsory sterilization law in 1909 [4]. It was the second state in the United States to pass sterilization legislation. The law legalized sterilization as a punishment for convicted criminals, particularly persons convicted of sexual crimes.

1921

Washington State passed its second compulsory sterilization law in 1921 [4]. The 1921 law targeted residents of state institutions, and remained in effect until 1942. 

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At least 685 people were sterilized under the 1921 law [5]. 75% of these individuals were women, and the majority of sterilized people were diagnosed with mental illness. 

1883

Francis Galton coined the term "eugenics" in 1883 [1]. It translates to "good genes" or "good in birth." Galton claimed that traits such as intellect, temperament, and morality depended on a person's heredity. He suggested that controlling reproduction could improve humankind. 

1904

German physician Alfred Ploetz coined the term "racial hygiene" in 1904 [2]. Ploetz and other eugenicists obsessed over the possible deterioration of the white race if the birth rate of non-white babies exceeded the birthrate of white babies. Concerns over racial hygiene contributed to the rise of Nazism and the genocide of European Jewish people during the Holocaust.

2013

CRISPR Cas9 gene editing technology was used to edit the human genome in 2013 [13]. The emergence of this technology prompts us to question what gene editing our society should and should not perform. 

2007

The parents of a girl with developmental and cognitive disabilities—Ashley X—elected to have her reproductive organs removed and her growth stunted at Seattle Children's Hospital [12]. They argued that these procedures would make it easier to care for Ashley, and they call her their "Pillow Angel." Click here to see a website Ashley's parents made about her. 

1970s

California hospitals sterilized Latina women without their informed consent by performing tubal ligation procedures during Cesarean sections [8]. Watch No Más Bebés to learn more. 

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Approximately 1 in 4 indigenous women were sterilized during the 1960s and 1970s [9]. 

2000s - 2010s

The state of California continued to sterilize incarcerated individuals in the 2000s and 2010s [11]. Watch Belly of the Beast to learn more. 

2020s

ICE Detention centers continued to perform coerced hysterectomies at the U.S. border [14]. 

​References

  1. Paul, Diane B. “What Is Eugenics? Why Does It Matter?” Controlling Human Heredity: 1865 to the Present, Humanity Books, Amherst, NY, 1995, pp. 1–21. 

  2. “Ploetz, Alfred.” The Eugenics Archives, The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, https://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/tree/52329bae5c2ec5000000000a. 

  3. Stern, Alexandra. “Forced Sterilization Policies in the US Targeted Minorities and Those with Disabilities – and Lasted into the 21st Century.” University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, Sept. 2020, https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/forced-sterilization-policies-us-targeted-minorities-and-those-disabilities-and-lasted-21st.  

  4. “Washington Eugenics.” Eugenics: Compulsory Sterilization in 50 American States, https://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/WA/WA.html.

  5. Woiak, Joanne. “History of Eugenics in Washington State.” YouTube, Talkingsticktv, 22 Oct. 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f204e9VtXfk.

  6. Clare, Eli. “Yearning Toward Carrie Buck.” Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, vol. 8, no. 3, Liverpool University Press, 2014, pp. 335–344.

  7. Heberer, Patricia. “Targeting the ‘Unfit’ and Radical Public Health Strategies in Nazi Germany.” Deaf People in Hitler’s Europe, edited by Donna F. Ryan and John S. Schuchman, Gallaudet University Press, Washington D.C., 2002, pp. 49-70.

  8. “No Más Bebés.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 3 Mar. 2022, https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/no-mas-bebes/.

  9. Theobald, Brianna. “The Native American Women Who Fought Mass Sterilization.” Time, Time, 5 Dec. 2019, https://time.com/5737080/native-american-sterilization-history/.

  10. “The Human Genome Project.” National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health , Dec. 2020, https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project. 

  11. Jindia, Shilpa. “Belly of the Beast: California's Dark History of Forced Sterilizations.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 June 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/30/california-prisons-forced-sterilizations-belly-beast.

  12. “The Ashley Treatment: 'Her Life Is as Good as We Can Possibly Make It'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 15 Mar. 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/mar/15/ashley-treatment-email-exchange.

  13. “CRISPR-Cas9: Timeline of Key Events.” WhatisBiotechnology, https://www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/timeline/science/CRISPR-Cas9.

  14. Finoh, Maya. “Allegations of Forced Sterilization in Ice Detention Evoke a Long Legacy of Eugenics in the United States.” Center for Constitutional Rights, 18 Sept. 2020, https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/2020/09/18/allegations-forced-sterilization-ice-detention-evoke-long-legacy-eugenics.

More Resources to Explore Eugenics

Engage with the history of eugenics by listening to survivor stories, learning more about forced sterilization practices in the United States, and understanding how eugenics threatens to return under the guise of genetic testing and gene-editing. Resources to learn more about eugenics range from historical archives, to documentaries, to podcasts and interviews.* ​

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Try to engage with eugenics content with a critical lens. What stories are told? Who are they told by? What does the history teach us?

Please take care when learning the oppressive history of eugenics. 

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*Not all resources are accessible to all due to lack of accurate captioning

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We are a group of bioengineering graduates from the University of Washington hoping to spread awareness of lesser-known issues in bioethics.

The viewpoints discussed in this virtual resource do not represent the views of the University of Washington Department of Bioengineering. 

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