Uncovering Eugenics: Documenting the History of Coerced Sterilizations in 20th Century America

Description of research project:

A key component of the American eugenics movement, compulsory sterilization laws were implemented by state administrative boards staffed by doctors, psychiatric institution administrators, and public health officials in thirty-three U.S. states during the 20th century. Eugenics refers to 1) the belief that “physical, social, and moral” traits vary naturally between social groups, and 2) the practice of encouraging “good” (eu) births (genos) while minimizing bad ones in a population (Galton, 1904). The eugenic notion of reproductive fitness was at once biological (treated as an innate feature of racialized, sexed, and dis/abled bodies) and morally laden (related to concepts of goodness and worth; Hitlin & Vaisey, 2013). Yet despite the relevance of morality to eugenics, sociological accounts largely lack specific attention to eugenics as a racialized moral project. 

This project investigates morality’s role in the state’s implementation of these laws over time. Specifically: how did moral evaluations factor into administrative panels’ decisions to forcibly sterilize those they determined to be “unfit to reproduce” in the United States during the 20th century?

Description of work:

Students will read case files which Iowa's 20th century State Eugenics Board reviewed to determine who should be nonconsensually sterilized. Students will code salient text from these files in a spreadsheet, and will reflect on their coding experience in periodic written memos.

Supervising Faculty Member: Roi Livne

Graduate Student: Levity Smith

Contact information: levitys@umich.edu

Average hours of work per week: 3-6

Range of credit hours students can earn: 1-2

Number of positions available: 2-3