Exhibits and Online Resources

• Eugenics: Three Generations, No Imbeciles Virginia, Eugenics and Buck v. Bell. This online exhibit from 2004 provides a brief history of eugenics, forced sterilization, and the Supreme Court's landmark Buck v. Bell case. Alison White and Ina Hofland, staff members at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, created this resource with the assistance of Paul Lombardo.

• Confronting Legacies: Eugenics at UVA. In 2020, as a part of a series called "Confronting Legacies," Jakob Cansler at WUVA created a 4-minute video summarizing the history of eugenics at the University of Virginia.

Books, Articles, and Presentations

Below is a list of books, articles, and presentations related to the history of eugenics and race science at UVA Health. The list is arranged in chronological order.

• Jones, J.H.; Gamble, V.N.; Reverby, S.M.; Sullivan, P.A.; Lombardo, P.A.; Fletcher, J.; Fraser, G. (1994). Doing Bad in the Name of Good? The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Its Legacy. Presentations for the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series. University of Virginia, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

• Jones, J.H., Lombardo, P.A., Childress, M.D. (1999). After the Apology: The Lingering Shadow of Tuskegee in American Medicine. Medical Center Hour Series. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia.

• Dorr, G.M. (1999). Rearing Human Thoroughbreds: Eugenics, Public Health, and Medical Education at the University of Virginia. Presentation for the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series. University of Virginia, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

• Dorr, G.M. (2000). Segregation's Science: The American Eugenics Movement and Virginia, 1900-1980. (Dissertation). University of Virginia.

• Dorr, G.M. (2000). Assuring America's Place in the Sun: Ivey Forman Lewis and the Teaching of Eugenics at the University of Virginia, 1915-1953. The Journal of Southern History. Vol. 66 No. 2. pp. 257-296.

• Lombardo, P.A. (2002). Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Virginia Eugenics and Buck V. Bell. Presentation for the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series. University of Virginia, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

• Lombardo, P.A.; Dorr, G.M. (2006). Eugenics, Medical Education, and the Public Health Service: Another Perspective on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Vol. 80 No. 2. pp. 291-316.

• Lombardo, P.A. (2008). Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court, and Buck V. Bell. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press.

• Dorr, G.M. (2008). Segregation's Science: Eugenics and Society in Virginia. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press.

• Lombardo, P.A. (2017). The Continuing Relevance of America's Eugenic Legacy. Presentation for the Medical Center Hour Lecture Series. University of Virginia, School of Medicine.

• ABCDMAG. (2018). Eugenics' Racist Chains on U.Va. ABCD Magazine. Charlottesville, Va.: The Cavalier Daily.

• Reynolds, P.P. (2018). Eugenics at the University of Virginia and Its Legacy in Health Disparities. Charlottesville 2017: The Legacy of Race and Inequity. Nelson, L.P. and Harold, C.N. editors. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press.

• Reynolds, P.P. (2020). UVA and the History of Race: Eugenics, the Racial Integrity Act, Health Disparities. UVA Today. University of Virginia.

• Reynolds, P.P. (2020). History and Legacy of Eugenics. Past, Present, and Future of Racial Bias in Science-Based Policies Seminar Series. The University of Virginia, Science Policy Initiative.

• Morgan, J. (January 17, 2022). The Legacy of Eugenics at U.Va. The Cavalier Daily. 

Records and Other Archival Materials

Disclaimer

The respective archives of the University of Virginia value access to the growing collections of materials that document the history of UVA and its wider community. Some of these materials may not be consistent with the positions, norms, and values of the University of Virginia community. These materials are products of their particular time and place and may represent positions, norms, values, and language that patrons may find offensive or disturbing. However, these records reflect the shared attitudes and values of the community from which they were collected and thus constitute an important social record.

Contemporary Publications (in chronological order)

Below, is a list of essays and articles written by eugenicists and race scientists associated with the UVA School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and Medical Center. The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library does not in any way endorse abhorrent views and arguments found in these materials. We are sharing these primary sources online for purposes of historical research.

• Cabell, J.L. (1859). The Testimony of Modern Science to the Unity of Mankind; being a summary of the conclusions announced by the highest authorities in the several departments of physiology, zoology and comparative philology in favor of the specific unity and common origin of all the varieties of man. New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.

• Barringer, P.B. (1900). The Sacrifice of a Race: An Address Delivered by Him Before the Race Conference at Montgomery, Ala., May 10th, 1900. Charlottesville, Va.: Anderson Brothers.

• Barringer, P.B. (1900). The American Negro His Past and Future. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards and Broughton.

• Bean, R.B. (1906). Some Racial Peculiarities of the Negro Brain. The American Journal of Anatomy. Vol. 5 No. 4. Baltimore, Md.

• Jordan, H.E. (1911). A Comparative Microscopic Study of the Melanin Content of Pigmented Skins With Special Reference to the Question of Color Inheritance Among Mulattos. The American Naturalist. Vol. 45 No. 536. pp. 449-470.

• Jordan, H.E. (1911). Heredity as a Factor in the Improvement of Social Conditions. American Breeders Magazine. Vol. 2 No. 4. pp. 246-254.

• Jordan, H.E. (1912). Eugenics: The Rearing of the Human Thoroughbred. Address Delivered Before the American Association for Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality. Cleveland, Ohio.

• Jordan, H.E. (1912). Eugenic Bearing on the Efforts for Infant Conservation. Transactions of the American Association for Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality. Vol. 2. pp. 117-124.

• Jordan, H.E. (1913). Eugenical Aspects of Venereal Disease. Transactions of the American Association to Prevent Infant Mortality. Vol. 3. pp. 156-163.

• Jordan, H.E. (June 1913). The Biological Status and Social Worth of the Mulatto. Popular Science Monthly. Lancaster, Pa. pp. 573-582.

• Jordan, H.E. (1914). Eugenics: Its Data, Scope and Promise as Seen by the Anatomist. Eugenics: Twelve University Lectures. pp. 107-138.

• Jordan, H.E. and Jordan, D.S. (1914). War's Aftermath; a preliminary study of the eugenics of war as illustrated by the civil war of the United States and the late wars in the Balkans. Boston, Ma.: Houghton Mifflin Company.

• Bean, R.B. (1925). Types of Man in the Yellow-brown Race. The American Journal of Anatomy. Vol. 35 No.1. Philadelphia. Pa.: The Wistar Institute Press.

• Jordan, H.E. and Kindred, J.E. (1926). A Textbook of Embryology. New York: D. Appleton and Company. : See Chapter 27, "Eugenics".

• Bean, R.B. (1932). The Races of Man; Differentiation and Dispersal of Man. New York: The University Society Inc.