Primary Source Set

The Eugenics Movement in North Carolina

Between 1929 and 1974, over 7,600 people were sterilized, or made unable to have children, in North Carolina. Sterilization was a key part of eugenics, a theory and movement that claimed it could improve humankind through selective breeding. Through sterilization, North Carolina restricted the fertility of individuals that were considered “undesirable.” Many were forced or coerced into sterilization. This primary source set uses newspaper articles, newspaper advertisements, and a bulletin to illustrate the effects of sterilization, eugenic ideas, and eugenic legislation in North Carolina.

Proceed with caution and care through these materials as the content may be disturbing or difficult to review. Many primary sources in this set use eugenicist ideas to support the discrimination of non-white people and people with mental illness or mental disability. Please read DigitalNC’s Harmful Content statement for further guidance.

Time Period

1912-2014

Grade Level

Undergraduate

Transcript

BETTER BABIES HEALTH CONTEST. Over $400 in Prizes–Enter Your Baby. Better livestock at our fairs has been the hue and cry for years. Now we are going to have it. No, we don’t mean fatter hogs, faster horses or bigger cattle. They will be there in those fine new stock barns, to be sure. What we mean is the greatest crop, the finest blooded livestock the Old North State produces, her babies. Yes, babies, babies from all over the State in a Better Babies Contest. No, it will not be a beauty show in any sense of the word. It is going to be a health contest out and out. Yes,, and there will be judges, too, but they are not going to be the common run of judges. There will not be any politicians, mayors or congressmen. Neither will there be any grandmas, grandpas, aunties not “mammies” on the job. Not even the regular fair judges will have a “look in” on this work. The whole matter of judging the babies will be under the direction of the foremost doctors and children’s specialists of the State, assisted by trained nurses. These experts and their corps of assistants and trained nurses will examine the babies presented every day during the State Fair, from October 20th to 25th, and mark or grade the babies on their physical qualities, just as a teacher marks or grades the pupils in her school. If they have perfect eyes, ears or teeth, they are marked 100 for that particular feature. If there is any slight defect they will be given a somewhat lower mark. But right here is the best part of the whole matter. If baby gets 100 for having perfect eyes, nose, lungs or what not, that is fine, but if baby gets only 90 or 95 on his eyes, teeth, ears, weight, or some other feature, these experts will point out the defect to the parents and tell the parents how to remedy it. This entire Better Babies Contest is made possible by the Better Babies prizes offered by the Woman’s Home Companion, by the woman’s clubs of the State, by the State Fair Association, by the Department of Agriculture, and by the Raleigh merchants, co-operating with the State Board of Health. The active work of conducting the contest is being undertaken by the State Board of Health. Details of the Contest. The Better Babies Contest will be held in four of the nicest and largest booths in the east wing of Floral Hall, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of State Fair week. The first room will be the reception room. Here mothers and babies will be welcomed by a committee of ladies who will learn baby’s name, age, weight at birth, number of teeth, mother’s and father’s names, address, etc., all of which will be entered on a score card. From the reception room the mother and child will be taken to the second room, secluded and kept very quiet, where a trained physician will conduct the delicate mental test. Of course, this test will depend upon the age of the baby. For instance, a six months’ old baby should show an inclination to play with simple objects such as a spoon or a pencil; he should grasp for a watch; look in the direction of unexpected noises, etc.; while a two year old baby should be able to run, to join a few words together, be interested in pictures, point to its eyes, ears, nose, etc. If in the opinion of the judge, the baby is normal, it is scored 100, and if below normal, a reasonable rating is given. From the mental test room the mother and baby will be taken to the weighing and measuring room. Here baby is stripped, weighted, and measured by trained nurses under a physician’s direction. If baby’s weight and measurements fall within the proper limits for his age, he is scored 100 points and passed on to the fourth and last room. The last examination given is by all odds the most important and far-reaching of any. Several experts will carefully examine baby literally from head to foot. They will examine his hair and scalp, eyes, ears, teeth, tonsils, throat, lungs, his chest, abdomen, arms, legs, muscles, and, in fact, everything about the baby. Every time even the slightest defect is found, the mothers attention will be called to it, and she will be told how it may be remedied. Object of the Contest. The real object of the contest is, of course, not so much to give away so many hundred dollars worth of prizes, as it is to teach parents how to raise better babies. Such contest have proven of tremendous educational value to the mothers in other states, and will certainly be of great value here. Great improvement is noted in babies that have already been in one contest and enter another the next year. In fact, it is already contemplated having a special set of prizes for the babies entering the Better Babies Contest next year who show the greatest amount of improvement over their record this year. In Iowa one baby who made a very poor showing one year became a prize winner next year, simply because the parents were shown the baby’s defects at the first contest and told how to overcome them. Then the parents set about to overcome these defects, and they succeeded. That is just what is wanted here. Over $400 in Prizes. Something like 68 prizes in all will be offered for Better Babies. Four sets of 16 prizes each will be offered for babies from different sections of the State, and the Woman’s Home Companion, of New York City, offers four special prizes to the best babies, boys or girls of any age, from any part of the State–the championship prizes. The first championship prize will consist of a beautiful gold metal made from a twenty dollar gold piece. The second championship prize will be a handsome silver medal about two inches in diameter, while the third and fourth prizes will be bronze metals, all of which will be beautifully engraved with the winner’s name and presented after the contest. Besides the valuable medals, the Woman’s Home Companion will give each of the four winners a large, beautifully engraved certificate. As for the four sets of prizes, the Raleigh merchants have already expressed themselves as ready to furnish 16 prizes for the best Raleigh babies, as follows: First, second, third and fourth prizes for the best boy baby over 6 and under 24 months of age; first second, third and fourth for the best boy over 24 and under 36 months of age; and similar sets of prizes for the best girl babies in Raleigh. Then the Wake County Betterment Association and other organizations are providing a similar set of 16 prizes for babies in Wake county, outside of Raleigh. Two other similar sets of prizes have been provided, one for babies east of Wake county, and another set for babies west of Wake county. The exact value or amount of each cash prize can not be stated yet, as the prize funds are not all in, but it is confidently expected that the first prize in each case will range between $10 and $15, the second between $5 and $8, the third between $2 and $3, and the fourth about $1. The total value of each of the four sets of prizes will be over $100, and the grand total value of all the prizes given will be between $400 and $500. For the benefit of tired mother and sleepy babies the State Board of Health has arranged two large tents provided with cots, chairs, running water, toilets, and everything that makes for the health, comfort, and welfare of mothers and babies. These tents will be in charge of trained nurses, and mothers may leave their babies for a nap in perfect safety while they visit the fair. How to Enter Babies in the Contest. Entrance to the contest is free, and very simple. All you have to do is to address the Better Babies Contest Department, care of the State Board of Health, Raleigh, stating that you have a baby you wish to enter, giving the day on which you expect to attend the Fair, and the hour at which it would be most convenient for you to have the baby examined. You will then be sent an entry card and an application card. On these cards will be stated the exact time at which the baby can be judged, if presented promptly. The time stated on the cards will be made to conform as nearly as possible to the time suggested by the parents. It will not take over 20 to 30 minutes to judge the baby when once presented. The application card should be filled out and returned to the Better Babies Contest Department, while the entry card is kept by the parents. Present the entry card with the baby at the appointed hour, and the contest authorities will attend to the rest.

"Better Babies Health Contest," The Smithfield Herald

During the early 20th century, state fairs across the country held “Better Babies” contests, where infants were inspected by physicians and nurses and then judged on various physical and mental qualities. According to this article from The Smithfield Herald, which promotes and provides information on a Better Babies contest at Raleigh’s state fair, winners of the event received a medal and a cash prize. The article claims that the contest was to teach parents how to improve their children’s health. However, Better Babies contests were closely tied to eugenics, as they encouraged parents to “improve” bloodlines and create “better” humans.

Contributed to DigitalNC by Johnston County Heritage Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

View Original View Transcript

Smithfield, N.C. (Johnston County)

The Eugenics Movement in North Carolina

Print/Download

Background

First proposed by Sir Francis Galton in 1883, eugenics claims humankind can improve through selectively breeding for traits that are considered desirable or superior. Although eugenics is scientifically incorrect and unethical, the early to mid-twentieth century saw the eugenics movement gain widespread popularity across the United States, including North Carolina. From 1929 to the late 1970s, North Carolina upheld and validated the eugenics movement through legislation and public promotion of sterilization.

Sterilization procedures allowed North Carolina to restrict or eliminate the fertility of people who were considered “undesirable.” Some examples of “undesirable” people included individuals with mental disabilities. In the articles and advertisements in this set, these individuals are often referred to as “feebleminded” and “mentally defective.” Eugenics supporters believed that the children of such people could inherit their “inferior” traits, causing a “burden” on the parents, the public, and the state. By sterilizing people, they thought the burden could be alleviated. While sterilization was aimed at people with disabilities, the procedure was also used extensively on non-white people or people whose sexual or social behavior was considered “defective.” Selective sterilization groups like the Human Betterment League claimed that the procedure was done with the consent of the patient or their family. However, many individuals were forced or coerced into sterilization.

In 1929, the General Assembly passed a law that permitted the sterilization of individuals held in any charitable or penal institutions in North Carolina when the sterilization was determined to be the best course of action for the individual or for the public good. In 1933, the General Assembly established the North Carolina Eugenics Board. Made up of five state government members, the Eugenics Board was responsible for reviewing and approving all sterilization procedures in North Carolina. In 1937, Assembly members passed another act that permitted state hospitals to temporarily admit and sterilize people who had been approved for the procedure by the Eugenics Board. While sterilization and eugenics were normalized and embraced in North Carolina during the early to mid-20th century, the 1970s saw public criticism rise. After a name change from the Eugenics Board to the Eugenics Commission in 1973, the group was abolished by the General Assembly in 1977.

In 2002, Governor Michael Easley made an official declaration to victims of forced or coerced sterilization. He apologized for the role that the North Carolina government had played in supporting and promoting selective sterilization. Easley also established a Eugenics Study Committee. In 2003, he repealed legislation that still made sterilization legal in the state. In a report made by the Eugenics Study Committee, members stated their belief that North Carolina should provide financial compensation to victims. Representative Larry Womble, who was part of the committee, later introduced a bill to give a sum of money to those affected by forced sterilization. However, it was not until 2010, when the Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims was created, that a compensation plan was put in place. By 2014, eligible individuals who made a claim to the Office received $20,000 or more as payment. Some have called the program flawed, as many victims were thought to have died by the time it was created. Moreover, only individuals whose sterilizations were approved by the Eugenics Board could file a claim; others who were sterilized under a different authority’s mandate were not able to receive compensation from the Office.

Discussion Questions

  1. Consider the first and second newspaper advertisement from the Human Betterment League. How do they describe the consequences of not sterilizing “feebleminded” and “mentally deficient” individuals? What tactics do they use to defend and justify sterilization procedures?

  2. Many of the primary sources in this set are newspaper articles or advertisements that promote selective sterilization to the public. How did mass media–like newspapers–influence the North Carolina public’s perspective on eugenics and sterilization?

  3. From the early to mid-twentieth century, selective sterilization was normalized and even encouraged in North Carolina. What factors contributed to the normalization and general support of sterilization?

  4. While the North Carolina government eventually established a compensation initiative for forced sterilization victims in 2010 and began payments in 2014, many have pointed out the flaws in the initiative. What are some of the issues in the compensation program, and what could the North Carolina government have done to better support victims of forced sterilization? Is there anything North Carolina can do today?

  5. Consider the viewpoints in The Carolina Times article, The North Carolina Catholic article, and The News-Journal article. What different perspectives do you notice in each piece? How does criticism of sterilization in The Carolina Times article differ from that in The North Carolina Catholic piece?

  6. Take a look at the article from The Smithfield Herald, making sure to notice the ways in which “better babies” are described. How does the “Better Babies Health Contest” connect to other eugenicist concepts, like selective sterilization?

This primary source set was compiled by Isabella Walker.

Updated January 2025