Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded

The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded opened in 1910 as the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics near Lynchburg, Virginia in Madison Heights. It was authorized by a 1906 bill written by eugenicist and social welfare advocate Aubrey Strode, in collaboration with eugenicists Albert Priddy and Joseph DeJarnette. Priddy served as the first superintendent of the colony. In 1914, Priddy asked the state legislature to expand the Colony's purview to include the feebleminded. The name was then changed to reflect the Colony's new mission.[1] The Colony is notorious for having been the home of both Emma Buck and her daughter, Carrie Buck, who played a major role in the history of the American eugenics movement which culminated in the Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell.[2] The name was changed to Lynchburg State Colony in 1940, Lynchburg Training School and Hospital in 1954, and since 1983, has been known as the Central Virginia Training Center.[3] The records of Central Virginia Training Center can be found at the Library of Virginia.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Bruinius, Harry (2007). Better for All the World: The Secret History of Forced Sterilization and America's Quest for Racial Purity. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-375-71305-7.
  2. ↑ "Buck v. Bell 274 U.S. 200". justitia.com. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "CVTC History". Central Virginia Training Center. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "A Guide to the Records of the Central Virginia Training Center, circa 1909-2000s". Virginia Heritage. Retrieved 8 May 2014.

Coordinates: 37°24′57″N 79°7′11″W / 37.41583°N 79.11972°W