Date of Award:
5-2017
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
History
Committee Chair(s)
Colleen O’Neill
Committee
Colleen O’Neill
Committee
David Rich Lewis
Committee
Candi Carter Olson
Abstract
Compulsory sterilization as a tool of eugenics occurred in the United States from before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its’ constitutionality in 1927 until the early 1970s. Initial justification for removing a person’s ability to procreate was rooted in hereditarian assertions that disability was transmitted from parent to offspring, and incorporated an economic argument that individuals with disabilities placed a financial burden on the state for care. Due to scientific deconstruction of the hereditarian argument, rationalization for sterilization evolved into an anxiety over the perceived inability of the disabled to parent. The state of Utah sterilized 738 individuals with intellectual disabilities from 1935 to 1974. This paper explores how Utah was similar to other states in terms of implementing compulsory sterilization through the establishment of the Utah State Training School and the philosophy of its leadership team.
Checksum
12abbd7619f9457e873ad99d62b91284
Recommended Citation
Rust, Jennifer, "Propagating Perfection: Eugenic Sterilization at the Utah State Training School, 1935 - 1974" (2017). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 5338.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/5338
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