Human Betterment League of North Carolina, Inc. Records, 1947-1988

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Summary

Creator:
Human Betterment League of North Carolina, Inc.
Abstract:

The Human Betterment League of North Carolina, a voluntary organization founded in 1947, promoted eugenic sterilization and sought to educate the public about the causes and prevention of mental illnesses and handicaps. In its later years, the organization shifted its focus to family planning and genetic counseling, changing its name to the Human Genetics League of North Carolina in 1984. The organization was dissolved at the end of 1988.

Correspondence, reports, minutes, financial and legal records, films, and other materials of the Human Betterment League of North Carolina, Inc., and its successor, the Human Genetics League of North Carolina, Inc. The collection consists of the files of Marian Moser, executive director, circa 1946-1979; Kate Garner, president, circa 1982-1988; and Louise Smith, secretary and historian, 1968-1988.

Extent:
4000 items (6.0 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

The Human Betterment League of North Carolina was a voluntary organization founded in 1947 to promote the study and prevention of mental handicaps. Shortly after World War II, Clarence J. Gamble, a geneticist from Milton, Mass., became aware of the high rejection rate for service of North Carolina men due to mental disease or deficiency during the war. He provided for a study of the intelligence of school children in rural Orange County, N.C. This study, conducted by A. M. Jordan, professor of Educational Psychology at the University of North Carolina, and a similar study arranged by Winston-Salem industrialist James G. Hanes in the Winston-Salem city schools, revealed what was perceived as a high incidence of mental disabilities in these two North Carolina school systems. Jordan and Hanes organized the Human Betterment League to reduce what they saw as the rising number of mentally disabled people in North Carolina.

In its early years, the League promoted eugenic sterilization. It sought to educate the medical community as well as public officials, civic leaders, and members of the general public about North Carolina's Eugenics Law which allowed for the sterilization of the "mentally ill and defective" with the approval of the State Eugenics Board. The Human Betterment League was a member of the Human Betterment Federation, formed in 1949 and uniting Human Betterment Leagues in seven states.

In its later years, the Human Betterment League of North Carolina shifted its focus to family planning and genetic counseling. It produced the family planning film Windsong in 1971 and the genetic counseling film Wednesday's Child in 1975. Both films won gold medals in their respective years at the International Film and TV Festival of New York. The organization changed its name to the Human Genetics League in 1984, which existed until 1988.

Scope and content:

This collection consists of the files of Marian Moser, executive director, circa 1957-1979; Kate Garner, president, circa 1982-1988; and Louise Smith, secretary and historian, 1968-1988. Included are files on various Human Betterment League boards and committees, the original charter, various North Carolina mental health and family planning organizations, mental health legislation, correspondence, and newsletters. Also included are the films Wednesday's Child and Windsong, and information related to them.

Acquisition information:

Received from Louise J. Smith of Greensboro, N.C., in August 1988.

Processing information:

Processed by: Gina Overcash, Michael Van Cott, January 1989

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Human Betterment League of North Carolina, Inc. Records #4519, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu