- This topic has 6 voices and 10 replies.
-
Posts
-
The Eugenics Movement of the 1920’s had a cause celebré in Buck vs. Bell. Eugenics proponents found in the Buck family what they thought was a perfect example of the kind of people who should be eliminated from the gene pool. Carrie was born illegitimate and poor, and had given birth to another illegimate child, who, at 7 months of age, was judged, along with her mother and grandmother, to be feebleminded. (It is now known that the pregnancy was the result of her rape by the nephew of her foster parents.) A suit was brought to the Supreme Court, where no less than Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes declared it legal for the State of Virginia to forcibly sterilize her, bringing on a victory for the Eugenics Movement, and fifty years of legally sanctioned forced sterilizations across the country. Mon-gol-oid: 1: of, constituing, or characteristic of a major racial stock native to Asia as classified according to physical feastures (as the presence of an epicanthic fold) that includes peoples of northern and eastern Asia, Malaysians, Eskimos, and often American Indians. 2: of, relating to, or affected with Down’s syndrome. – Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. _
Carrie Buck was from the Lynchburg, VA area. When whites first explored the area the Tutelo Indians were living there. Many of them eventually fled to Canada, where they were adopted by the Cayuga.
John Buck, Chief of the Tutelo, d. February 17, 1936.A notable Chief of the Tutelo incorporated with the Six Nations, perhaps the last man to hold that title, was John Buck. There are a good many Tutelo descendants among the Cayuga to this day by the name of Buck. The name is also associated with Virginia families believed to be of Tutelo origin.
A made-for-TV movie was made about Carrie’s life called “Against Her Wil.” A review of it can be seen at http://clem.mscd.edu/~princer/review3.htm.
The reviewer, R. Prince, reports that some of the movie is factual: “Carrie’s separation from her infant, Vivian and her forced encarceration in the Lynchburg Colony for having been an unwed mother are accurate. So is the contrived `kangaroo court’ process which leads her case from the Lynchburg Colony [for Epileptics and the Feebleminded] in 1924 to the Supreme Court
on May 2, 1927 which was soon followed by Buck’s sterilization.”
R. Prince goes on to say:
Far less plausible – one has to wonder why she was thus portrayed – was the portrayal of Carrie as mildly mentally retarded. There is nothing – no factual data – to indicate that she was anything but normal. There is no indication that she spoke with some kind of speech impediment or that she was mentally anything other than normal. This odd portrayal could suggest that perhaps she deserved what she got. I found it disturbing. – R. Prince
The movie added an inappropriate romantic twist. Carrie’s lawyer was played by Melissa Gilbert, who, if the plot is accurate was the fiancée of the attorney who was pleading IN FAVOR of Carrie’s sterilization. Uh, isn’t that’s what’s known as a CONFLICT OF INTEREST?? How could such a flagrant irregularity make it all the way to the Supreme Court?
The subplot of this relationship was apparently employed to beef up the story. Obviously, the filmmakers missed the real subplot that those of here at http://www.saponitown.com could have told them. We know she was one of our own. She was a marooned Eastern Siouan “Saponi/Tutelo” descendant who was, because of her origins, seen by the legal and medical clowns sealing her fate as belonging “to the shiftless, ignorant, and worthless class of anti-social whites of the South.” In Canada, people like us were called Metís. But the preceding quote from the man who ran the asylum to which she was committed, sums up what many of us were called stateside.
I had a friend who was a comic. He had a routine he whipped on me once when he had me gasping for air after a string of extreme witticisms. He confided that he was mentally retarded. “Yeah, right,” I said, “you’re one of the cleverest people I know.” He told me that was just my prejudice against retarded people. They can be clever too. Then he got very serious and told me, it was true, he was documented as retarded on his birth certificate. He was listed as “mongoloid.”
His dad was a Mexican Indian. My friend looked just like his dad. They listed him as mongoloid because he looked Indian. Superb line, but not the kind you laugh at. You just kind of gasp in awe at such a trenchant indictment of a people who would use the same word to describe the largest group of people on the planet, and mental retardation — Mongoloid — Mongolism. In the white, racist world of the twenties, apparently, the two were indistinguishable.
Carrie’s daughter lived to be only seven, dying of an illness. But she did complete the first grade.
She was an honor student.
See also: http://www.dnalc.org/resources/buckvbell.html. (This site is published by a DNA research group who have also looked at the evidence and found no proof of retardation.)
I’m planning on putting the above article, which I wrote last night, on the main page. About 500 people a month search on the word eugenics, so this article would get our site circulating to those folks. I’d like people to know that it was one of our people who was the first victim of this gross era in our history. Should I go for it?
Dear Linda,
I enjoyed our phone conversation on Sat., and I’m glad that I called you!
I would like to thank you for posting the information above, regarding Carrie Buck. I was happy to share the information with you, & if you or anyone else needs more information regarding Eugenics please feel free to email me, as I have many copies of original documents. I have spent many hours & made a few friends along the way, as I hunt for records.The eugenics archive has a wealth of information. It may at times be difficult to handle, due to the subject content. However the Eugenics’ Movement is a sad & disturbing part of our history, that we need never forget.
Linda, I’m so glad that you agreed with me about Carrie & Emma Buck being American Indian. No one else has believed me! I have said this to others that supposedly care about what happened to Carrie, but they just don’t believe that Carrie & Emma are Indian. With exception of my Mother, of course. As I told you, we have a cousin that was put in Lynchburgs Colony for Epileptics & Feebleminded , when she was just a child. She was there with Carrie & Emma. She is still there today.
I wish I could find the strength to visit the now, “Lynchburg Training Center”, as it is called. But since I have Epilepsy, it makes me sick to think that people like me with Epilepsy were STERILIZED at this hospital.The main website for the Eugenics Archive is , http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/
You can access this site via the site Linda has provided at the end of her post.
Take care & God Bless.
Sincerely,
CoheeLady
Cohee Lady,
You are so correct and as heart wrenching as it is, it is one that is very real and one that musn’t be forgotten. It is an excellent site and a wealth of information. Anyone who hasn’t navigated it yet, I highly recommend it.
I find it hard to believe anybody could look at that mother and daughter’s pictures and not see that they are Native. They’ve both got some classic Native features, especially for folks around here.
I’d like to know what the hard evidence is as to her IQ. I know the eugenics site writer said there was no hard evidence she was retarded, and the reviewer said so too, but I haven’t gone through the paper trail myself, and if you have I’d appreciate your input. The article needs to be filled out with that. I’d be sure and credit you for that contribution. I wonder if anyone in her immediate family is still around and could be questioned.
I keep looking at that girl’s face. She doesn’t look at all like someone with Down’s syndrome. That’s a Mongolian or epicanthic fold on her upper eyelid. She looks like an Indian girl raped by the system, all the way to Oliver Wendell Holmes. That’s the look on her face. She looks to be on the verge of tears.
Oh, by the way, I didn’t mention in the article, they justified sterilizing her because of her “promiscuity” in having an illegitimate baby. She was raped by her foster parent’s nephew. So, I meant that literally, she was raped by the system.
Yep, back then they called her family a “Shiftless class of worthless, antisocial whites.” Nowadays, in that neck of the woods, the family would be called Monacan. They look like some Monacans I know.
Dear Linda,
I couldn’t agree with you more, I also find it strange that others aren’t able to look into Carrie & Emma Buck’s eyes & not notice their Indian features. But it’s possible, as my husband would tell me about his friend that he saw every morning at the store where he got his morning coffee. When I finally met the man, he looked at me with a big smile on his face & said “You got Indian in you!” I told him yes & I see you do too. My husband never noticed that his friend was Indian. So it is possible for others not to notice what you & I see.
Any credit should go to the main source, like the Eugenics Archive website. I have only shared information. Linda, one thing that’s important is that you get permission from their site to use their material on your website. As permission needs to be granted before hand. Just thought I’d let you know.
Almost forgot, There was no proof of Feeblemindness, regarding Carrie. Her child Vivian wasn’t “tested” until the night prior to the court case, as someone from the Eugenics Record Office was sent here to examine the child. Carrie was from Amherst county, this is where my family is from.
Thanks to all that care!
God Bless
Sincerely,
CoheeLady
To anyone who wants to listen,
This is my last post. I have enjoyed talking via internet to those of you that have the same surnames, as I do. However, I now feel like the unwanted guest that has over stayed her welcome. I sent an email of apology to someone, no names, I do have class no matter what some people may think of me here. I just received a reponse from that person.
They did say thanks for the note & said that they were not that bothered by my posts. That I had added a lot of useful information to the site. But, that my posts were sometimes filled with angst & were unprofessional.
May you all find the key to your ancestors that will fill the void, regarding your American Indian ancestry. I hope everyone stays healthy & strong, & don’t forget to spend time with your family. As we tend to spend too much time, chasing after the deceased. When our family is right in front of us.
To all those that are Patterson’s, Turner’s, Goings, etc., take care & don’t give up. I just want to stress the importance of getting permission, before using the Carrie Buck information, & I want my name to be left out. I do things because I care, not for credit, as that isn’t important.
I received a previous email from someone, that one really hurt. I read it to my husband he said what’s wrong with these people? I do not need this type of treatment from others. If Crystal, Emma, or Brenda want to send me an email than you are welcome to. Well Emma & I will always be talking until we get answers about the disappearance of Sergeant Alan Two Crow. God bless everyone.
GOODBYE,
COHEELADY
Hello Cohee LAdy, well if people can’t get on with it, quite frankly, screw ’em, perhaps they need to yank their heads out and give their fingers a chance!
Now that’s offensive!
Cohee I do look forward to your postings and hope that one day I meet you, stand by your guns and hang in there, to all ouf my fellow Saponi town members, the same goes for all, just be yourselves and share what you can.Tom
CoheeLady,
I am so sorry to see you go. I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to answer my questions via e-mail. I’ve found you to be a very valuable and helpful member at this site.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
