Eugenics in Minnesota
[1] The practice of eugenics aims to improve the genetic quality of a population which has historically occurred through selective breeding, forced sterilization, and genocide.
County probate judges were given the ability to commit any "feebleminded", "inebriate", or "insane" person without the consent of parents, guardians, or nearest kin.
[3] This policy was shaped by Arthur C. Rogers, superintendent of the Minnesota School for the Feebleminded in Faribault, who supported compulsory commitment in the state.
The results of the study showed an "appalling amount" of hereditary "defectiveness" in Hog Hollow, a community in Minnesota.
The report, Dwellers in the Vale of Siddem, depicted mentally ill and disabled people as social menaces and described the living conditions of those in Hog Hollow as lower than that of animals.
From 1924 to 1959, probate judges and Mildred Thomson, director of the control board's Bureau for the Feebleminded and Epileptic, made decisions on which children to commit to institutions.
Factors like physical health, family relations, school and work records, home environment, appearance, and IQ scores influenced commitment decisions.
Low economic status and atypical behavior were considered symptoms of "feeblemindedness", which led to disproportionate commitment rates of working-class women.
[4] Rogers brought Frederick Kuhlmann, a psychologist, to the state, who would become one of Minnesota's most effective advocates for eugenics usage.
[1] In 1910, Kuhlmann, director of research at the Faribault School for the Feebleminded, pushed for IQ testing as a measure for "defectiveness".
[1] He also helped to develop special education classes in the public schools of Minnesota to segregate student populations.
Eugenics was seen as a way to reduce the overpopulation problem in state institutions and most of the survivors were discharged three months after sterilizations were performed on them.
The fair also hosted the Baby Health Contest, which was grounded in eugenic ideology, that aimed to show off "human fitness".
Between 1921 and 1935, Dight wrote over 300 articles on eugenics that appeared in Minnesota newspapers as well as hosting radio talks and lectures on the subject.
[9] In 1925, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill, drafted by Representative Edwin L. MacLean,[15] which would sterilize the "feebleminded" and "insane", living in the state's mental asylums.
[8] Dight considered people who were mentally ill, developmentally disabled, epileptic, criminals, and "sexual deviants" to be "feebleminded".
[9][16] Dr. George G. Eitel, vice present of the Minnesota Eugenics Society, performed the first 150 sterilization surgeries in the state.
Dr. William Mayo declined an invitation from Charles Fremont Dight to join the Minnesota Eugenics Society as its vice president in 1926.
[19][14] After the murder of George Floyd, as a program to divest from white supremacy, the Minnesota Disability Justice Network and City Council Member Andrew Johnson worked to rename the street.
[25] Sterilization and state guardianship in the Minnesota School for the Feebleminded is depicted in "Sequel to Love", a fictional short story by Meridel Le Sueur.
