Resources.

Resources for educators, researchers, and further reading.

Digital Resources

Screenshot of the Sonoma State Hospital Narrative and Visual History Site. Links out to the external site.
Sonoma State Hospital Narrative and Visual History. Justin Joque, Kayla Kingston, Nicole Novak, Alexandra Minna Stern, Kate O'Connor, and Jacqueline Wernimont.

​Eugenic Rubicon: California's Sterilization Stories. Jacqueline Wernimont and Alexandra Minna Stern.

"The Movement that Inspired the Holocaust," TEDx Animation

Trace the history of the eugenics movement in the US, and discover how the belief in ideal genetics led to forced sterilizations.

Since ancient Greece, humans have controlled populations via reproduction, retaining some traits and removing others. But in the 19th century, a new scientific movement dedicated to this endeavor emerged: eugenics. Scientists believed they could improve society by ensuring that only desirable traits were passed down. Alexandra Minna Stern and Natalie Lira detail the history of eugenics in the US.

Lesson by Alexandra Minna Stern and Natalie Lira, directed by Héloïse Dorsan-Rachet.​

Archives, Collections, and Further Reading

Archives and Collections
  1. California State Archives, Sacramento, CA
Access to Reproductive Care
  1. Mieke C. W. Eeckhaut and Megan M. Sweeney. “The Perplexing Links between Contraceptive Sterilization and (Dis)Advantage in Ten Low-Fertility Countries.” Population Studies: A Journal of Demography 70, no 1 (January 2016): 39–58.
  2. Liza Fuentes, Sharon Lebenkoff, Kari White, Caitlin Gerdts, Kristine Hopkins, Joseph E. Potter, and Daniel Grossman. “Women’s Experiences Seeking Abortion Care Shortly after the Closure of Clinics due to a Restrictive Law in Texas.” Contraception 93, no. 4 (April 2016): 292–297.
  3. Ginny Garcia, Dawn M. Richardson, Kelly L. Gonzales, and Adolfo G. Cuevas. “Trends and Disparities in Postpartum Sterilization after Cesarean Section, 2000 through 2008.” Women's Health Issues 25, no. 6 (November–December 2015): 634–640.
  4. Anu Manchikanti Gomez, Liza Fuentes, and Amy Allina. “Women or LARC First? Reproductive Autonomy and the Promotion of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Methods.” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 46, no. 3 (September 2014): 171–175.
  5. National Women’s Health Network and Sister Song. “Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Statement of Principles.” April 2016.
Disability and Reproductive Autonomy
  1. Molly Ladd-Taylor. “Contraception or Eugenics? Sterilization and 'Mental Retardation' in the 1970s and 1980s.” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 31, no. 1 (Spring 2014): 189–211.
Genetics, Race, and Eugenics
  1. Emily Klancher Merchant, Lisa Dive, and Osagie Obasogie (Moderator). “Ensuring Equitable Use of New Genetic Technologies: Lessons from Eugenics.” ELSIhub. 14 January 2022.
  2. Natalie Lira, Nicole Novak, Elyse Thulin, and Alexandra Minna Stern. “Studying America’s Eugenics Era through an ELSI Lens: Data, Context, and Relevance.” ELSIhub. June 2020.
  3. Jo C. Phelan, Bruce G. Link, and Narumi M. Feldman. “The Genomic Revolution and Beliefs about Essential Racial Differences: A Backdoor to Eugenics?” American Sociological Review 78, No. 2 (1 April 2013): 167–191.
  4. Sarah Zhang. “Will the Alt-Right Promote a New Kind of Racist Genetics?” The Atlantic. 29 December 2016.
Institutional Histories
  1. Marilyn Brookwood. The Orphans of Davenport: Eugenics, the Great Depression, and the War over Children’s Intelligence (Harvard University Press, 2021).
  2. Karin Lorene Zipf, Bad Girls at Samarcand: Sexuality and Sterilization in a Southern Juvenile Reformatory (LSU Press, 2016).
Racial and Ethnic Disparities
  1. Sonya Borrero, Cara Nikolajski, Keri L. Rodriguez, Mitchell D. Creinin, Robert M. Arnold, and Said A. Ibrahim. “‘Everything I Know I Learned from my Mother ... or Not’: Perspectives of African-American and White Women on Decisions about Tubal Sterilization.” Journal of General Internal Medicine 24, no. 3 (March 2009): 312–319.
  2. Ginny Garcia-Alexander, Kelly Gonzales, and Elizabeth Carol Hauck. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Desire for Reversal of Sterilization among U.S. Women.” Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations (31 March 2016): 1–16.
  3. Natalie Lira and Alexandra Minna Stern. “Mexican Americans and Eugenic Sterilization: Resisting Reproductive Injustice in California, 1920–1950.” Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies 39, no. 2 (Fall 2014): 9–34.
Reparations and Policy
  1. Carolyn Said, “‘There’s no amount of money that can take away how I felt’: California Pays Reparations to Survivors of State-Sanctioned Sterilizations,” San Francisco Chronicle, 11 February 2022.
  2. Alexandra Minna Stern, Nicole L. Novak, Natalie Lira, Kate O'Connor, Siobán Harlow, and Sharon Kardia. “California's Sterilization Survivors: An Estimate and Call for Redress.” American Journal of Public Health 107, No. 1 (January 2017): 50–54.
State Policy and Eugenics
  1. Elizabeth Catte. Pure America: Eugenics and the Making of Modern Virginia. Belt Publishing. 2021.
Sterilization, Welfare, and Reproductive Control
  1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Ethics. “Sterilization of Women: Ethical Issues and Considerations.” ​Committee Opinion 695 (April 2017): 1–8.
  2. Sonya Borrero, Nikki Zite, Joseph E. Potter, and James Trussell. “Medicaid Policy on Sterilization—Anachronistic or Still Relevant?” The New England Journal of Medicine 370. (January 2014): 102–104.
  3. Sonya Borrero, Nikki Zite, Joseph E. Potter, James Trussell, and Kenneth Smith. “Potential Unintended Pregnancies Averted and Cost Savings Associated with a Revised Medicaid Sterilization Policy.” Contraception 88, no. 6 (December 2013): 691–696.
  4. Sonya Borrero, Kaleab Abebe, Christine Dehlendorf, Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, Mitchell D. Creinin, Cara Nikolajski, and Said Ibrahim. “Racial Variation in Tubal Sterilization Rates: Role of Patient-Level Factors.” Fertility and Sterility 95, no. 1 (January 2011): 17–22.
  5. Ben Bradford. “New Law: Repeal of '90s Welfare Rule Takes Effect.” Capital Public Radio. 2 January 2017.
  6. Ben Christopher. “State Stops Refusing Extra Welfare to Moms Who Have More Children.” CALmatters. 11 January 2017.
  7. Molly Ladd-Taylor. "Saving Babies and Sterilizing Mothers: Eugenics and Welfare Politics in the Interwar United States." Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society 4, no. 1. Spring 1997. 136–153.
  8. Sabrina Tavernise. “Medicaid Finds Opportune Time to Offer Birth Control: Right after Birth.” New York Times. 28 October 2016.
  9. Justine P. Wu, Michael M. McKee, Kimberly S. Mckee, Michelle A. Meade, Melissa Plegue, and Ananda Sen. “Female Sterilization is More Common among Women with Physical and/or Sensory Disabilities than Women without Disabilities in the United States.” Disability and Health Journal 10, No. 3 (July 2017): 400–405.