NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY OF HEALTH DIGITAL COLLECTION
Biennial Report of the Eugenics Board of North Carolina
Volume 11 (July 1954 – June 1956)
DOCUMENT NO. NCHH-08-011
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|| http://hsl.lib.unc.edu/specialcollections/nchealthhistory || Biennial Report OF The Euj^enics Board of North Carolina
JULY 1, 1954 TO JUNE 30, 1956
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Membership, Eugenics Board of North Carolina 4 Letter of Transmittal 5 Introduction 7 Developments During Biennium 7
Program Statistics 8
Financial Report of Eugenics Board 11
Statistical Report on Eugenical Sterilizations (Table 1 — 10) 13
Table 1. Operations Performed by Type of Operation and origin of Petition, July 1954 - June 1956 14
Table 2. Cases Handled by Fiscal Year, July 1954-June 1956 14
Table 3. Operations Performed by Length of Time Between Authori- zation and Operation, July 1954 — June 1955 15
Table 4. State Institutional Operations by institution, Type of operation, and Fiscal Year, July 1954-June 1956 15
Table 5. State Institutional Operations Authorized and Performed, by County of Residence, July 1954-June 1956 16 Table 6. Non-Institutional Operations Authorized and Performed, by County of Residence, July 1954-June 1956 18 Table 7. Operations Performed by Type of Operation and Race, July 1954 - June 1956 20 Table 8. Type of Operation Performed by Age and Sex of Person, July 1954-June 1956 20
Table 9. Operations Performed by Type of Diagnosis, Source of Petition and Marital Status, July 1954- June 1956 21
Table 10. Individuals Having Children Prior to Sterilization, by Marital Status and Number of Children, July 1954-June 1956 21 Historical Data on Eugenical Sterilization in North Carolina (Table 11-18) 23 Table 11. Cas3s Handled by Biennial Periods- July 1933-June 1956 25 Table 12. Operations Performed Annually by Sex and Type of Operation, July 1929 -June 1956 26 Table 13. State Institutional Operations Performed Annually by Sex and Type of Operation, July 1929 -June 1956 27 Table 14. Non-Institutional Operations Performed Annually by Sex and Type of Operation, July 1929 -June 1956 28 Table 15. State Institutional Operations by Institution, Sex, and Type of Operation, July 1929- June 1956 29 Table 16. Operations Performed by Type of Operation and Race July 1929 -June 1956 30 Table 17. Type of Operation Performed by Age and Sex of Person, July 1929 -June 1956 30 Table 18. Operations Performed by Type of Diagnosis, Source of Petition and Marital Status, July 1929 - June 1956 31 EUGENICS BOARD OF NORTH CAROLINA
Ellen Winston, Ph. D., Commissioner of Public Welfare, Chairman
J. W. R. Norton, M. D., State Health Officer
George B. PaTTON, Attorney General of North Carolina
Walter A. SiKES, M. D., Superintendent, State Hospital, Raleigh
M. M. VITOLS, M. D., Acting Superintendent, State Hospital, Goldsboro
Ethel SPEAS, Executive Secretary LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
To his Excellency, LUTHER H. HODGES Governor of North Carolina
Dear Sir:
I have the honor of submitting herewith the report of the Eugenics
Board of North Carolina for the biennial period dating from July 1, 1954 through June 30, 1956.
Sincerely yours,
Chai rman
INTRODUCTION
The North Carolina sterilization law provides specifically for the sterilization of three types of cases under authorization of the Eugenics Board: (1) feebleminded, (2) epileptic, and (3) mentally diseased persons.
These persons may be sterilized when it is shown that:
(1) An operation would be for the best interest of the person con- cerned;
(2) An operation would be for the public good; or when
(3) A child or children might be born who would have a tendency to serious mental or nervous disease or deficiency.
The heads of state institutions and county superintendents of public welfare are designated by law to institute sterilization proceedings by filing petitions with the Eugenics Board.
The petition presented *o the Eugenics Board from either one of these sources gives pertinent physical, psychological, psychiatric, and social information relating to the individual for whom the petition is filed. The purpose of these data is to establish one of the three diag- noses as specified in the law and to set forth the other factors that have entered into the decision for the petition to be submitted.
The law provides for both a hearing before the Eugenics Board and the right of appeal to the Superior Court.
DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE BIENNIUM
The Eugenics Board has held regular monthly meetings. Special meetings have been held when the circumstances in the individual case called for immediate action.
In addition to the technical phases of the work, the Eugenics Board has sponsored a broad educational program. This program has placed emphasis on bringing about the joint efforts of State institutions, wel- fare and health departments, together with the close cooperation of private physicians, nurses, and voluntary agencies, to carry out the purpose of the sterilization law. Effort has also been directed toward developing a well informed citizenry with respect to the meaning and value of sterilization to the individual.
1 Article 1 , Chapter 35 of the General Statutes, Session 1933 8 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina
As a part of the educational program, the Executive Secretary visited thirty county welfare departments during the biennium to discuss the program. In most instances the staff of the local health departments met jointly with the welfare staffs for these discussions. Meetings were held with the gynecology and obstetrical staffs of both Duke and Memorial Hospitals. Staff meetings were attended at the State Hospitals and the State school for mentally deficient. Discussions were held with the public health supervising nurses and with the field staff of the State Board of Public Welfare. Help was given in a number of instances on request to individuals who wanted to make talks on the program. Educational material was furnished in connection with nurses' training courses.
The pamphlet "Steril ization - the North Carolina Program" was issued with 5,200 copies distributed. In cooperation with the State Medical Society 3,200 copies were sent to the physicians of the State. Duke, Memorial, and Bowman Gray Hospitals distributed quantities of these pamphlets to medical students. Among other groups in the State to receive the pamphlet were welfare, health, and education depart- ments, schools of nursing, State hospitals. State training schools, clerks of court, libraries, ministers, and various individuals. A number of these pamphlets were also sent to other states.
The Eugenics Board is a member of the North Carolina Healtli Council and the State Mental Health Council and has been represented regularly at the meetings of each.
In closing out this biennium, the Eugenics Board extends its appreci- ation to the State institutions, the welfare departments, and the many other groups and individuals who have cooperated in promoting the program.
PROGRAM STATISTICS
During the biennium 657 petitions were presented to the Eugenics Board for review. Operations were authorized in 634 cases, amounting to 96.5 per cent of the petitions. There were 556 operations performed, or 87.7 per cent of the operations authorized. However, some of the operations performed had been authorized in the previous biennium, and some of the operations authorized during the 1954-56 biennium could not be performed until the following biennium.
Of the 556 operations, 425 — or 76.4 per cent— were performed upon women and 131 were performed upon men. In the previous biennium only 16.8 per cent of the persons having operations were men, as com- pared with 23.6 per cent during the 1954-56 biennium. This reflects an increasing awareness of the fact that eugenical sterilizations are likely Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina 9
to be equally as beneficial in the cases of men who meet the criteria established by law as among women. However, the institutional opera- tions account for a large proportion of the operations upon men; 65.6 per cent of the operations upon men originated in State institutions, while only 32.9 per cent of the operations performed upon women origi- nated there.
Operations for asexualization are rarely ordered by the Eugenics Board. Only three were performed during the biennium — one castration and two ovariectomies.
Two hundred twenty-six operations performed were for patients of State institutions: 110 at the State Hospital at Morganton, 90 at Cas- well Training School, 18 at the State Hospital at Goldsboro, and 8 at the State Hospital at Raleigh. There were none for patients at the State Hospital at Butner. The remaining 330 persons having the opera- tions were non-institutional; petitions for their operations originated in county departments of public welfare.
The 397 non-institutional operations authorized resulted from petitions received from 82 of the 100 counties of the State. The 330 non-insti- tutional operations were performed for 75 different counties. Counties with the highest numbers of non-institutional operations performed during the biennium were Mecklenburg — 29 operations, Moore— 18, Anson- 16, Pitt- 11, and Franklin- 10.
Of the 556 persons having the operations, 357 were white, 198 Negro, and one Indian. This distribution corresponds closely to the distribu- tion of the entire North Carolina population according to race.
The majority of the persons sterilized were adolescents or young adults: 72 per cent were under 30 years of age, and 38.5 per cent were under 20.
The operations for sterilization were performed because of the follow- ing conditions: 427, or 76.8 per cent, because of feeble-mindedness; 125, or 22.5 per cent, because of mental disease; and 4, or 0.7 per cent, because of epilepsy.
Nearly two-thirds (65.8 per cent) of the persons sterilized were single. Another 25.2 per cent were married, and 9.0 per cent were widowed, divorced, or separated from their spouses.
Nearly one-half of the 556 persons having the operations (272 per- sons) had already had children prior to the operations. Sixty-four had had five children or more. The 272 persons were the parents of 875 children; 204 of these children were reported to have been born out of wedlock. These data emphasize the need for continuing an increased effort to plan the indicated sterilizations early in the lives of the recipients. 10 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina
The number of petitions submitted, operations authorized, and opera- tions performed declined from the 1950-52 biennium to the 1952-54 biennium, and again from the latter to the 1954-56 biennium. However, the numbers for this last biennium were still much higher than they had been for any biennium prior to July, 1950.
A comparison of Tables 13 and 14 makes clear that the recent decline in total operations has been due to a marked decrease in State insti- tutional operations. Non-institutional operations have continued to increase, and in 1955 there were 253 — a larger number than in any previous year. Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina n
FINANCIAL REPORT OF EUGENICS BOARD, 1954-1956
Expenditures Item
Actual Actual 1954.55 1955-56
Sal aries , $ 7,918.00 $ 8,156.00 Supplies and Materials 90.00 100.00 Postage, Telephone and Telegraph 90.00 121.00 Travel Expense 300.00 283.00 Printing and Binding 296.00 118.00
Subscriptions and Dues , 10.00 10.00 Equipment 2.00 92.00 Total $ 8,706.00 $ 8,880.00
TABLES 1-10
STATISTICAL REPORT ON EUGENICAL STERILIZATIONS
DURING THE 1954-1956 BIENNIUM 14 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina
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TABLE 5
State Institutional Operations Authorized and Performed, by County of Residence - July 1954-June 1956
County of Residence Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina 17
TABLE 5 (Continued) -2- 18 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina
TABLE 6
Non-Institutional Operations Authorized and Performed, by County of Residence Jul/ 1954 -June 1956
July 1954-June 1955 July 1955-June 19 County of Residence Total Operalions Operations Operations
Author- Per- Author- Per- Author
ized formed ized formed i zed
Total .... 397 ?30 185 163 212
Alamance ., 6 1
Alexander . 1 1
Alleghany . Anson 22 16 15 13 7
Ashe 3 3 2 1 1
Avery 1 1 1 1
Beaufort- .... 1 1 1 Bertie 5 4 3 3 2 Bladen 10 5 4 4 6
Brunswick , 1 1 1
Buncombe . 6 5 2 4 4 Burke 5 6 3 2 2
Cabarrus ... 4 4 3 4 1
Caldwell ... 4 3 2 2 2 Camden Carteret Caswell
Catawba .... 5 6 3 3
Chatham .... 5 4 4
Cherokee ... 2 1
Chowan , 1 1 Clay
Cleveland . 2 1
Columbus .. 4 3
Craven 1 1 Cumberland 10 5
Currituck ... 1 1 Dare
Davidson ... 2 3
Davie 2 1 Duplin n 8 Durham 9 6
Edgecombe 1 Forsyth 9 7
Franklin .... 10 10. Gaston 6 5 Gates 5 5
Graham 1
Granville ... 1 Greene Guilford 9 Halifax 2
Harnett 1
Haywood ....
Henderson . Hertford 10
Hoke 1 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina 19
TABLE 6 (Continued)
July 1954-June 1955 July 1955-June 1956 Total Operations County of Residence Operations Operations
Author- Per- Author- Per- Author- Per-
ized formed i zed formed i zed formed
Hyde redell 7 3 Jackson 1 1 1 Johnston 3 3 2 |Jones _ee 3 _enoir 5 6 _incoln 2 1 1 •v^acon 1 1 Madison 1 2 1 Martin 1 1 McDowell 1 1 1 1 29 10 10 23 19 Mecklenburg . 33 Mitchell
Montgomery ... Moore 22 18 13 11 9 Nash 2 2 New Hanover 1 1 2 1 1 Northampton . 3 3 Onslow 3 3 3 3 4 2 1 2 3 Orange , 4 Pamlico 3 3 3 1 2 3 Posquotank .. 5 5 2 2 Pender 4 Perquimans .. 4 Person 1 1 Pitt 10 11 5 6 Polk 1 1 1 1 Randolph 2 2 2 1 1 Richmond 5 6 2 2 3 4 Robeson 7 5 3 2 4 3 2 1 4 Rockingham .. 4 6 3 Rowan 4 3 4 2 1 1 Rutherford .... 1 2 1 1 Sampson Q 8 8 7 1 1 Scotland 5 5 2 3 3 2 1 Stanly 1 1 1 Stokes 5 7 1 3 4 4 Surry 3 3 1 1 2 2 Swain 2 2 2 2 Transylvania 4 4 4 Tyrrell [ 1 Union 2 1 2 t 3 2 I 2 Vonce , 5 3 Wake 8 9 6 2 4 Warren 12 8 4 8 6
' Washington ... Watauga
Wayne 1 1 1 'Wilkes 5 5 2 3
' Wilson 3 2 1 1 2 Yadkin 3 3 3 2 Yancey 20 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina
TABLE 7 Operations Performed by Type of Operation and Race July 1954 - June 1956 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina 21
TABLES n-18
HISTORICAL DATA ON EUGENICAL STERILIZATION
IN NORTH CAROLINA
Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina 25
TABLE 11 Cases Handled by Biennial Periods - July 1933 to June 1956
Biennial Period 26 3iennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina
TABLE 12 Operations Performed Annually by Sex and Type of Operations July 1929 - June 1956
Year 3iennial Report of The Eugenics 3oard of North Carolina 27
TABLE 13
State Institutional Operations Performed Annually by Sex and Type of Operation
July l''29 - June i
TABLE 14 Non-Institutional Operations Performed Annually by Sex and Type of Operation July 1929 - June 1956 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Soord of North Carolina 29
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