Virginia's "Eugenical Sterilization Act" repealed

1974 Carrie Buck was the first of more than 8,000 Virginians who were sterilized under Virginia’s sterilization laws after they were enacted in 1924. The most relevant parts of those laws were repealed in 1974.

In 2002, the state of Virginia issued a formal apology to the victims of sterilization, and the Department of Historic Resources erected a marker in Charlottesville, Virginia, which reads as follows:

In 1924, Virginia, like a majority of states then, enacted eugenic sterilization laws. Virginia’s law allowed state institutions to operate on individuals to prevent the conception of what were believed to be “genetically inferior” children. Charlottesville native Carrie Buck (1906-1983), involuntarily committed to a state facility near Lynchburg, was chosen as the first person to be sterilized under the new law. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck vs. Bell, on May 2 1927, affirmed the Virginia law. After Buck more than 8,000 other Virginians were sterilized before the most relevant parts of the Act were repealed in 1974. Later evidence eventually showed that Buck and many others had no “hereditary defects.” She is buried south of here.

-Caroline Lyster

Virginia's "Eugenical Sterilization Act" repealed

1974 Carrie Buck was the first of more than 8,000 Virginians who were sterilized under Virginia’s sterilization laws after they were enacted in 1924. The most relevant parts of those laws were repealed in 1974.

In 2002, the state of Virginia issued a formal apology to the victims of sterilization, and the Department of Historic Resources erected a marker in Charlottesville, Virginia, which reads as follows:

In 1924, Virginia, like a majority of states then, enacted eugenic sterilization laws. Virginia’s law allowed state institutions to operate on individuals to prevent the conception of what were believed to be “genetically inferior” children. Charlottesville native Carrie Buck (1906-1983), involuntarily committed to a state facility near Lynchburg, was chosen as the first person to be sterilized under the new law. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck vs. Bell, on May 2 1927, affirmed the Virginia law. After Buck more than 8,000 other Virginians were sterilized before the most relevant parts of the Act were repealed in 1974. Later evidence eventually showed that Buck and many others had no “hereditary defects.” She is buried south of here.

-Caroline Lyster