Dr. William Harrop Hattie and the Nova Scotia Medical Society lobby for institutionalization of all “feebleminded” persons in the province.

1897. Dr William Harrop Hattie (later Medical Superintendent of the Nova Scotia Hospital for the Insane) headed a special committee of the Nova Scotia Medical Society that lobbied the provincial government for institutionalization of all feebleminded individuals in the province (Prince, 1930, p. 129). Such segregation was common practice in Canada, especially as the eugenics movement gained momentum.

Although Hattie actively campaigned for the institutionalization of individuals assessed as feebleminded he did not recommend sexual sterilization, setting him apart from his Western counterparts. (Hattie, 1918; Baker, n.d., p. 19).

-Leslie Baker

  • Baker, L.E. (n.d.). Institutionalizing Eugenics: Class, Gender, and Education in Nova Scotia’s Eugenic Policies, 1890-1931. (Doctoral dissertation in progress). University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

  • Hattie, W.H. (1918). Report Respecting Feeble-Minded in Nova Scotia, Journals and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, 1917, Part 2. Commission of Public Works and Mines: Halifax.

  • Prince, S. H. (1930), Mental Hygiene Part II. Nova Scotia Medical Bulletin,9(2), 126-131.

Dr. William Harrop Hattie and the Nova Scotia Medical Society lobby for institutionalization of all “feebleminded” persons in the province.

1897. Dr William Harrop Hattie (later Medical Superintendent of the Nova Scotia Hospital for the Insane) headed a special committee of the Nova Scotia Medical Society that lobbied the provincial government for institutionalization of all feebleminded individuals in the province (Prince, 1930, p. 129). Such segregation was common practice in Canada, especially as the eugenics movement gained momentum.

Although Hattie actively campaigned for the institutionalization of individuals assessed as feebleminded he did not recommend sexual sterilization, setting him apart from his Western counterparts. (Hattie, 1918; Baker, n.d., p. 19).

-Leslie Baker

  • Baker, L.E. (n.d.). Institutionalizing Eugenics: Class, Gender, and Education in Nova Scotia’s Eugenic Policies, 1890-1931. (Doctoral dissertation in progress). University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

  • Hattie, W.H. (1918). Report Respecting Feeble-Minded in Nova Scotia, Journals and Proceedings of the House of Assembly, 1917, Part 2. Commission of Public Works and Mines: Halifax.

  • Prince, S. H. (1930), Mental Hygiene Part II. Nova Scotia Medical Bulletin,9(2), 126-131.