Product Description

A timely and gripping history of the controversial eugenics movement in Americaand the scientists, social reformers and progressives who supported it.In , Harry Bruinius charts the little known history of eugenics in Americaa movement that began in the early twentieth century and resulted in the forced sterilization of more than 65,000 people. Bruinius tells the stories of Emma and Carrie Buck, two women trapped in poverty who became the test case in the 1927 supreme court decision allowing forced sterilization for those deemed unfit to procreate. From the reformers who turned local charities into government-run welfare systems promoting social and moral purity, to the influence the American policies had on Nazi Germanys development of racial hygiene, Bruinius masterfully exposes the players and legislation behind one of Americas darkest secrets.