1945 Sterilization Information Pamphlet · Counternarratives Digital Archive

Title of the Document: 1945 Sterilization Information Pamphlet
One Line Summary: This document serves as a public information “test” regarding eugenics. Most notably, it depicts the effects of the “feebleminded” on family dynamics.
Author: Human Betterment League of North Carolina
Date Created: 1945
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Type of Document: Pamphlet
Publisher: Human Betterment League of North Carolina
Transcription: What Do You Know About– STERILIZATION

North Carolina is one of the progressive states with laws providing for the sterilization of the mentally unfit.
Test your knowledge of this important health and social measure
Answer these questions “YES” or “NO”
…

4. If a child does not inherit the mental defect of his parent can he be harmed by the parent’s medical affliction? (Yes/ No)

…

4. YES It is possible for insane or feebleminded parents to give birth to mentally normal children,
but such children are often psychologically affected for life by their home surroundings.
Children reared by mentally deficient parents start life with an environmental handicap
from which they may never recover.
Provenance: “Informational Pamphlet on Sterilization in North Carolina, 1945." Eugenics Movement in the United States, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, box 10.