Page 5 |
Previous | 22 of 169 | Next |
|
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
Loading content ...
Human Betterment League was organized, the focus was on the problem of quality more than number. Dr. Clarence J. Gamble of Milton, Mass., a geneticist who built an international reputation at both Harvard University and at the University of Pennsylvania, was particularly concerned with genetic and economic folly in human breeding. Draft Rejectees In the period immediately after World War II, Gamble became intrigued by North Carolina's startling rejection rate (14 per cent in 1942 and 48 per cent in 1944) of draftees for reasons of mental illness or mental retardation. At Gamble's instigation, Miss Else Wulkop, a medical social worker, came to the state to explore the facts behind these statistics. With the assistance of Dr. A. M. Jordan, an educational psychologist at the University of North Carolina, the intelligence level of the school children of a rural county (Orange) was tested. The results of this test caught the eye of James G. Hanes, then president of the Hanes Hosiery Corp. Hanes asked that a similar study be made of the children of an urban county. This was done in Forsyth County. The results of the two studies—each reflecting an alarming incidence of mental problems, both illness and retardation—was combined with additional data gathered by Miss Wulkop and resulted in the formation of the Human Betterment League in 1947. It was the first of a number of such leagues. Its essential purpose, then and now, was to educate the people of the state regarding the need for an effective, intelligent program of birth control and to instruct them regarding the tools — and the use of the tools — of birth conrtol. Broadens Emphasis Initially, the league emphasized the quality by concentrating on programs calculated to curb births, control the least fit. More recently the league has added its voice to those of similar organizations around the world to preach the need to control human numbers lest we breed ourselves out of standing room. During its format! ve years, the league pushed for more effective use of the state's Eugenics Law. This law, adopted in 1933 and since amended, creates a Eugenics Board which consists of the secretary of the State Board of Health, the commissioner of public welfare, the attorney general, the chief medical officer of the State Hospital in Raleigh and one other medical officer from a public mental institution elsewhere in the state. The board, operating on a limited ($25,000 for the 1964-66) budget meets quarterly to pass on cases proposed for selective sterilization by the directors of the state's hospitals for the mentally ill and retarded and from the superintendents of the various county public health departments. The Eugenics Board can order sterilization in four types of cases: —Where it is in the best interest of the patient, mentally, physically or morally. —Where the operation is ruled to be in the public interest. —Where there is a request made by the guardian of a mental patient. —Where hereditary mental or physical ailments are likely to be transmitted to the child. Appeals from the board's orders to the courts are possible, but they are uncommon because the cases are carefully selected. The operation is simple. For males January, 1 968 THE HEALTH BULLETIN 15
Object Description
Rating | |
Fixed Title * | NCHH-04: The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Document Title | The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Contributor | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh, North Carolina State Board of Health. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1968 |
Identifier | NCHH-04-083 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 83 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-04/nchh-04-083.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-b; nchh-04 |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-04-083 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-04 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1296443 |
Description
Fixed Title * | Page 5 |
Document Title | The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Contributor | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh, North Carolina State Board of Health. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1968 |
Identifier | NCHH-04-083-0025 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Page Type | all; article |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Filename | healthbulletinse83nort_0025.jp2 |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 83 |
Issue Number | 2 |
Page Number | 5 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Full Text | Human Betterment League was organized, the focus was on the problem of quality more than number. Dr. Clarence J. Gamble of Milton, Mass., a geneticist who built an international reputation at both Harvard University and at the University of Pennsylvania, was particularly concerned with genetic and economic folly in human breeding. Draft Rejectees In the period immediately after World War II, Gamble became intrigued by North Carolina's startling rejection rate (14 per cent in 1942 and 48 per cent in 1944) of draftees for reasons of mental illness or mental retardation. At Gamble's instigation, Miss Else Wulkop, a medical social worker, came to the state to explore the facts behind these statistics. With the assistance of Dr. A. M. Jordan, an educational psychologist at the University of North Carolina, the intelligence level of the school children of a rural county (Orange) was tested. The results of this test caught the eye of James G. Hanes, then president of the Hanes Hosiery Corp. Hanes asked that a similar study be made of the children of an urban county. This was done in Forsyth County. The results of the two studies—each reflecting an alarming incidence of mental problems, both illness and retardation—was combined with additional data gathered by Miss Wulkop and resulted in the formation of the Human Betterment League in 1947. It was the first of a number of such leagues. Its essential purpose, then and now, was to educate the people of the state regarding the need for an effective, intelligent program of birth control and to instruct them regarding the tools — and the use of the tools — of birth conrtol. Broadens Emphasis Initially, the league emphasized the quality by concentrating on programs calculated to curb births, control the least fit. More recently the league has added its voice to those of similar organizations around the world to preach the need to control human numbers lest we breed ourselves out of standing room. During its format! ve years, the league pushed for more effective use of the state's Eugenics Law. This law, adopted in 1933 and since amended, creates a Eugenics Board which consists of the secretary of the State Board of Health, the commissioner of public welfare, the attorney general, the chief medical officer of the State Hospital in Raleigh and one other medical officer from a public mental institution elsewhere in the state. The board, operating on a limited ($25,000 for the 1964-66) budget meets quarterly to pass on cases proposed for selective sterilization by the directors of the state's hospitals for the mentally ill and retarded and from the superintendents of the various county public health departments. The Eugenics Board can order sterilization in four types of cases: —Where it is in the best interest of the patient, mentally, physically or morally. —Where the operation is ruled to be in the public interest. —Where there is a request made by the guardian of a mental patient. —Where hereditary mental or physical ailments are likely to be transmitted to the child. Appeals from the board's orders to the courts are possible, but they are uncommon because the cases are carefully selected. The operation is simple. For males January, 1 968 THE HEALTH BULLETIN 15 |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-04/nchh-04-083.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-b; nchh-04 |
Article Title | The North Carolina Human Betterment League: An Idea Come of Age |
Article Author | Davis, Chester |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-04-083 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-04 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1296443 |
Tags
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 5