Biennial Report of the Eugenics Board of North Carolina [Vol. 16,...

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY OF HEALTH

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Biennial Report of the Eugenics Board of North Carolina

Volume 16 (July 1964 – June 1966)

DOCUMENT NO. NCHH-08-016

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Biennial ReportOF

The Eugenics Board

of North CaroHna

JULY 1, 1964

TO

JUNE 30, 1966

(

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Membership, Eugenics Board of North Carolina -— - 4

Letter of Transmittal _. 5

Introduction _ 7

Developments during Biennium 8

Program Statistics _ , 8

Financial Report of Eugenics Board 11

Statistical Report on Eugenical Sterilization (Tables 1-10) 13

Table 1. Operations Performed, by Type of Operation and

Origin of Petition, July 1964-June 1966 14

Table 2. Cases Handled by Fiscal Year, July 1964-June 1966 14

Table 3. Operations Performed, by Length of Time between

Authorization and Operation, July 1964-June 1966 15

Table 4. State Institutional Operations, by Institution, Type

of Operation, and Fiscal Year, July 1964-June 1966 15

Table 5. State Institutional Operations Authorized and Per-

formed, by County of Residence, July 1964-June 1966 16

Table 6. Non-Institutional Operations Authorized and Performed,

by County of Residence, July 1964-June 1966 18

Table 7. Operations Performed, by Type of Operation and Race,

July 1 964-June 1 966 20

Table 8. Type of Operation Performed, by Age and Sex of Person,

July 1964-June 1966 20

Table 9. Operations Performed, by Type of Diagnosis, Source of

Petition, and Marital Status, July 1964-June 1966 21

Table 10. Individuals Having Children Prior to Sterilization, by

Marital Status and Number of Children, July 1964-June 1966 22

Historical Data on Eugenical Sterilization in North Carolina (Table 11-18) _ _-..23

Table 11. Cases Handled by Biennial Periods, July 1933-June 1966 25

Table 12. Operations Performed Annually, by Sex and Type of Operation,

July 1 929-June 1 966 26

Table 13. State Institutional Operations Performed Annually, by Sex and

and Type of Operation, July 1 929-June 1966 27

Table 14. Non-Institutional Operations Performed Annually, by Sex and

Type of Operation, July 1 929-June 1966 28

Table 15. State Institutional Operations, by Institution, Sex, and

Type of Operation, July 1 929-June 1966 29

Table 16. Operations Performed, by Type of Operation and Race,

July 1 929-June 1 966 30

Table 17. Type of Operation Performed, by Age and Sex of Person,

July 1 929-June 1 966 30

Table 18. Operations Performed, by Type of Diagnosis, Source of

Petition, and Marital Status, July 1 929-June 1966 ._. 31

EUGENICS BOARD OF NORTH CAROLINA

R. EUGENE BROWN, Commissioner of Public Welfare, Chairman

T. WADE BRUTON, Attorney General of North Carolina

J. F. ELLIOTT, M.D., Superintendent, Murdoch Center, Butner,

North Carolina

EUGENE A. HARGROVE, M.D., Commissioner, North CarolinaDepartment of Mental Health

JACOB KOOMEN, M.D., State Health Director

SUE L. CASEBOLT, Executive Secretary

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

To his Excellency, DAN K. MOOREGovernor of North Carolina

Dear Sir:

I have the honor of submitting herewith the report of theEugenics Board of North Carolina for the biennial period datingfrom July 1, 1964 through June 30, 1966.

Respectfully yours,

(\5^J.^dP*^'t'^-^2-. i&V^^-w^

Chairman

INTRODUCTION

The eugenical sterilization program of North Carolina is admin-istered under Article 7, Chapter 35, of the General Statutes of

North Carolina, enacted in 1933. This law provides for the sterili-

zation of persons who are mentally ill, mentally retarded, or epilep-

tic. The law refers to the first two disabilities as the "mentallydiseased" and "feebleminded." in addition to objective evidence of

one of the three impairments, it must be shown as the result of

social, medical, psychiatric, and/or psychological study that sterili-

zation is applicable to the needs of the particular individual.

The purpose of sterilization as it is administered under the

North Carolina program is to protect persons from parenthoodwhose impairments would seriously handicap them in assumingthe responsibilities of parents.

The law protects the individual in that it provides for the written

consent of the husband or wife or the nearest relative. It also pro-

vides for the right of a hearing and an appeal to the courts. Theselatter rights are seldom exercised due to the fact that the in-

dividual and husband, or wife, or close relative usually participate

in the plan and make their own decision in favor of the operation

before the petition is initiated.

Petitions for the sterilization of non-institutional persons are

submitted to the Eugenics Board by the county directors of public

welfare. Petitions for the sterilization of State institutional resi-

dents are submitted by the superintendents of the institutions.

The program is administered by the Eugenics Board of NorthCarolina with the assistance of an Executive Secretary. The Boardis composed of five members: The Commissioner of Public Welfareof North Carolina; the Director of the State Board of Health; the

chief Medical officer of an institution for the mentally ill, or the

mentally retarded; the Commissioner of the State of North Caro-lina Department of Mental Health; and the Attorney General of

North Carolina.

The eugenical sterilization program has now been in operation

for over twenty-five years. During this time the increased knowl-

edge in the field of mental health has revealed many causative

factors for mental illnes and mental retardation. Hereditary fac-

tors take their place among a vast number of other reasons for

these disabilities.

In keeping abreast of the expanding knowledge in the field of

mental health, the Eugenics Board has recognized that in order for

the sterilization program to be effective it must be regarded as an

integral part of a broad system of protection and supervision of

those individuals unable to meet their responsibilities as parents.

Over a period of years there has been a trend toward giving in-

creased emphasis to the value of sterilization for the particular

individual. Seldom is there evidence that sterilization is considered

as a single means of solving a problem. To the contrary, the pro-

vision is used increasingly qs one among many of the essential

resources in taking care of the needs of certain individuals. This

improvement in the use of the sterilization program is attributed

8 Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina

in a large degree to better qualified staffs in public welfare depart-

ments and in institutions and to the increased interest and co-

operation on the part of the medical profession.

DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE BIENNIUM

During the biennium, the Eugenics Board has held regular

monthly meetings and in addition has held special n-ieetings at the

request of petitioners. With the retirement of State Health Direc-

tor, Dr. J. W. R. Norton, his successor, Dr. Jacob Koomen, has

taken his place upon the Board.

To promote the program and its effective use, the Eugenics

Board has continued to use all available means of interpretation.

Because of unusual demands upon the staff in the county depart-

ments of public welfare, group meetings were temporarily dis-

continued, but discussion of the program has continued on an

individual basis with the staff of county departments of public

welfare, the State institutions for the mentally ill and mentally re-

tarded, and public health personnel. This has been chiefly the

responsibility of the Executive Secretary, and she has been aided

in individual cases by the field representatives, child welfare con-

sultants, and psychologists of the State Board of Public Welfare.

Attendance at a variety of meetings, both state and local, also has

been used to promote the program.The Executive Secretary participated in a Management Seminar

conducted by the Institute of Government during this period as

well OS special institutes on the needs of the mentally retarded.

The Eugenics Board is a member of the North Carolina Health

Council and the Mental Health Council and has been regularly

represented at the meetings of these organizations.

Feature articles have been prepared for the press as well as for

publications of various State agencies.

The manual of the Eugenics Board has been kept up-to-date as

changes have occurred and has been widely distributed to appro-

priate agencies in the State.

There has been consistent interest in the use of the program

and as lower case loads in welfare departments become more wide-

spread, this is expected to increase.

PROGRAM STATISTICS

During the biennium, 461 petitions were presented to the

Eugenics Board for review. Operations were authorized in 368cases, amounting to 79.8 per cent of the petitions. There were 356operations performed, or 96.7 per cent of the operations author-

ized. Some of the operations performed hod been authorized in the

previous biennium, and some of the operations authorized during

the 1964-66 biennium could not be performed until the following

biennium.

Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina 9

Of the 356 operations, 350 were performed upon women andonly 6— 1.7 per cent of the total—were performed upon men.

Rarely are asexualizations ordered by the Eugenics Board, andthere were none ordered during the biennium.

Fifty-eight operations performed were for persons in State insti-

tutions: Eighteen at Cherry Hospital at Goldsboro; seventeen at

Broughton l-iospital at Morganton; five at John Umstead Hospitalat Butner; three at Dorothea Dix Hospital at Raleigh; ten at

Caswell Center at Kinston; three at Murdoch Center at Butner;and two at O'Berry Center at Goldsboro. The remaining 298 per-

sons having operations were non-institutional cases. Petitions for

their operations originated in county departments of public wel-fare.

The 316 non-institutional operations authorized were upon peti-

tions received from 73 of the 100 counties of the State. The 298non-institutional operations performed were for 75 different coun-ties. Counties with the highest number of non-institutional opera-tions during the biennium were: Mecklenburg—26; Rowan— 12;Wayne— 12; Durham— 11; New Hanover— 10.

Of the 356 persons having operations, 124 were white, 228Neg.-o, and 4 Indian. The majority of the persons sterilized wereadolescents or young adults: 38.2 per cent were between 20 and 30years of age, and 46.6 per cent were under 20.

The operations for sterilization were performed because of the

following conditions: 308, or 86.5 per cent, because of "feeble-

mindedness"; 47, or 13.2 per cent, because of "mental disease";

and 1, or 0.3 per cent, because of "epilepsy."

More than three-fourths, or 274 persons, sterilized were single.

One in ten, or 38 persons, were married. The remaining 44 werewidowed, divorced, or separated from their spouses.

Seventy-three per cent of the 356 persons having operations

(261 persons) had already had children prior to the operation, ',l^-

cluding 55 who had had five children or more each. The 261

persons were the parents of 775 children; 425, or 55 per cent, of

these children were reported to have been born out-of-wedlock.

There continues to be a decline in the number of sterilizations

requested by State institutions, and the general improvement in as

well as wider availability of medical means of birth control havemade sterilization of non-institutional persons less pressing.

The Eugenics Board wishes to express its appreciation to the

professional persons and to the general public who have con-

tributed to the success of the program.

Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina n

FINANCIAL REPORT OF EUGENICS BOARD, 1964-1966

Item

Expenditures

Actual

1 964-65

Actual

1965-66

Salaries and Wages

Supplies and Materials ——

Postage, Telephone and Telegraph

Travel Expense -—

Printing and Binding —

.

General Expense

Equipment

Repairs and Alterations

$11,008.00

26.43

403.98

147.10

262.56

15.00

67.62

36.73

$12,466.00

49.07

302.22

9.85

190.47

15.00

21.42

$11,967.42 $13,054.03

TABLE 1-10

STATISTICAL REPORT ON EUGENICAL STERILIZATION

DURING THE 1964-1966 BIENNIUM


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TABLE 5

Institutional Operations Authorized and Performed,

by County of Residence

July 1964 -June 1966


TABLE 5 (Continued)

County of

Residence

HydeIredell

Jackson

Johnston

Jones

Lee

Lenoir

Lincoln

MaconMadison

Martin

McDowell

Mecklenburg _

Mitchell

Montgomery .

MooreNosh

New Hanover

Northampton

Onslow

OrangePamlico

Pasquotank —Pender

Perquimans —

.

Person

Pitt

Polk

Randolph

Richmond

Robeson

Rockingham

RowanRutherford

SampsonScotland

Stanly

Stokes

Surry

Swain

Transylvania _.

Tyrrell

Union

Vance

iWakeWarrenWashington ....

WataugaWayne

I Wilkes

Wilson .-

'' Yadkin

Yancey

Total Operations

Authorized Performed

2

1

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

3

2

2

1

July 1964-June 1965

Operations

Authorized

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

Performed

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

July 1965-June 1966

Operations



TABLE 6

Non-Institutional Operations Authorized and Performed,

by County of Residence

July 1964-June 1966


TABLE 6 (Continued)

County of

Residence

HydeIredell

Jackson

Johnston

Jones

Lee

Lenoir

Lincoln

MaconMadison

Martin

McDowell

Mecklenburg

Mitchell

Montgomery .

MooreNash

New Hanover

Northampton

Onslow

OrangePamlico

Pasquotank ...

Pender

Perquimans .__

Person

Pitt

Polk

Randolph ._

Richmond

Robeson

Rockingham ._

Rowan

Rutherford

SampsonScotland

Stanly

Stokes

Surry

Swain

Transylvania -

Tyrrell

Union

Vance

WakeWarrenWashington —WataugaWayneWilkes

Wilson

Yadkin

Yancey

Total Operations


3

1

6

4

1

1

2

1

2

29

4

5

14

1

6

2

2

5

2

5

7

5

1

2

14

1

2

10

3

1

1

1

1

10

5

1

14

2

3

1

4

1

7

1

4

1

1

1

1

2

26

3

4

10

3

3

3

1

5

1

5

7

4

1

4

12

1

2

9

1

1

1

1

8

3

1

12

2

4

1

July 1964-June 1965

Operations

Authorized

1

3

2

1

1

1

1

13

4

1

6

1

5

1

1

4

1

4

6

10

1

4

1

1

6

2

1

9

1

2

1

Performed

4

1

3

16

2

1

5

3

2

1

4

1

4

2

1

3

11

1

1

3

1

1

July 1965-June 1966

Operations

Authorized

2

1

3

2

1

16

4

8

4

1

2

4

1

1

6

2

1

1

4

3

5

1

1

Performed

1

1

3

1

1

1

2

10

1

3

5

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

3

1

1

1

6

1

1

6

3

1

7

2

1


TABLE 7

Operations Performed, by Type of Operation and Race

July 1964-June 1966


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TABLES 11-18

HISTORICAL DATA ON EUGENICAL STERILIZATION

IN NORTH CAROLINA


TABLE 11

Coses Handled by Biennial Periods


Biennial Period


TABLE 12

Operations Performed Annually, by Sex and Type of Operation



TABLE 13

State Institutional Operations Performed Annually,by Sex and Type of Operation



TABLE 14

Non-Institutional Operations Perfornned Annuallyby Sex and Type of Operation


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TABLE 16

Operations Performed, by Type of Operation and Race

July 1929-June 1966

Type of Operation

Biennial Report of The Eugenics Board of North Carolina

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