Forced Sterlization and David Starr Jordan, Alina Utrata

California Forced Sterilization Program (broad)

               Between 1909 and 1979, California forcibly sterilized more than 20,000 people it deemed racially inferior. It was the most effective program in the country, accounting for nearly a third of all the forced sterilization conducted in the United States. The California law targeted those with “mental disease, which may have been inherited and is likely to be transmitted to descendants.”^[1] The law was predicated on eugenics, a concept that became very popular in the United States at the turn of the century (and which would ultimately influence Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party’s ideas in the 1930s and 1940s). Eugenics purported that human characteristics like intelligence were inheritable; therefore, it was important to regulate who was allowed reproduce in order to promote a better society—and to forcibly prevent certain citizens from having children if necessary. The legacy of this program can still be seen in California today. Between 2006 and 2010, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized over 150 female inmates.

               I am considering writing a paper analyzing how and who carried about these forced sterilizations. Some preliminary questions I think this paper would answer:

•   Who decided who/when people would be sterilized?

•   How did authorities go about bringing people in for sterilization?

•   Did doctors and/or health professionals take on a policing role?

•   What authority was dedicated to forcibly sterilizing citizens? Clearly prisons and hospitals were involved, but who was making decisions? Were there specific people dedicated to overseeing or carrying out this project?

•   Are there still vestiges of this practice?

•   Who makes decisions about who should be forcibly sterilized in prisons today?

               The problem I face is that while there is some information on the program, most of it focuses on laws/constitutionality and who it targeted. There is very little information about who/how these procedures were carried out. I’m also not entirely sure where to start with primary sources because a lot of the records are sealed due to patient confidentiality.

Sources

“Sterilized in the Name of Public Health: Race, Immigration, and Reproductive Control in Modern California.” By Alexandra Minna Stern, PhD (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449330/)

California State University, Sacramento Library --  Goethe (Charles M.) Papers Bulk, 1948-1966

David Starr Jordan and Stanford University in particular

I am interested in researching the role of Stanford University, and particularly its first president David Starr Jordan, in the forced sterilization program. Stanford was certainly involved in the study of eugenics. Jordan himself was a very influential eugenist—his 1902 book “Blood of a Nation” argued that human characteristics and conditions were passed through the blood. It is unclear, however, what role Jordan played in the government’s forced sterilization program itself. He was a Board of Trustee member of the Human Betterment Foundation, a eugenic organization which supported the forced sterilization program. Other Stanford faculty were likely involved in the forced program as well. For example, Stanford psychologist Lewis Terman, who invented the IQ test, was a Board of Trustees member of the Human Betterment Foundation along with Jordan.^[2]

               My research project would focus on the role of David Starr Jordan, and subsequently Stanford University in general, in the forced sterilization program. Some preliminary questions I want to address are:

•   Was Jordan simply a supporter of the forced sterilization program, or did he actively participate in it?

•   Where did the initiative for the forced sterilization program originate in the government, and were civil society activists like Jordan and the Human Betterment Foundation influential in starting/continuing the program?

•   How involved was the University at large with the program? Was it only Jordan and Terman? Were there other Stanford faculty supportive or involved? Did any medical doctors actually conduct forced sterilizations?

Sources

Hoover Archives – David Starr Jordan Papers

Green Library Archives – Lewis Terman Papers

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^[1] Bold, Mark. “It's time for California to compensate its forced-sterilization victims.” The Los Angeles Times. 5 March 2015.

^[2] "Human Sterilization," Human Betterment Foundation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. < https://www.dnalc.org/view/11673--Human-Sterilization-Human-Betterment-Foundation-5-.html>