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Coming To Terms With Vermont's Dark History Of Eugenics

Patients and staff at the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury around 1900.
Courtesy, Vermont State Archives
Patients and staff at the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury around 1900. The State Hospital was one of the sites that participated in sterilization and institutionalization as part of Vermont's eugenics movement in the early twentieth century.

Vermont's prominent role in the American eugenics movement of the early 20th century is an often overlooked part of the state’s history.  The state's brutal history of sterilization, forced institutionalization, and racist pseudoscience is the focus of a new academic paper by our guest.

We're joined by Dartmouth College senior Mercedes de Guardiola. Her thesis covering the eugenics movement in Vermont is "Blood has told": The Eugenical Campaign in the Green Mountain State.

Broadcast live on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for Vermont Public. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning Vermont Public program Vermont Edition.
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