Human Sterilization - Tackling Difficult Topics

I came across this pamphlet in Governor of Washington State, Ernest Lister's (1913-1919) papers. This is an example of finding a distraction while research something else. As mentioned before (see post from June 2023, Meet Ollie Parrish), I am interested in the Women's Industrial Home and Clinic that opened briefly from September 1920 to March 1921. My question was why was it opened and what else happened to determine it was no longer needed? I took a closer look at what else was happening during this time period. In Washington State and possibly in other states, looking into the Governor's records can show what issues are brought to the Governor. This file on "Red Light Abatement" had letters and brochures from Purity conferences in other states. A fear of loose women and the passing of venereal diseases were on the forefront of those writing to the governor as well as a fear the "wrong" people were procreating. To find out more about this in Oregon, here is a link.

Washington State had a Girls School - otherwise known as a reformatory for women under the age of 18. The Girls School opened in 1914 and according to the first biennial report submitted, "Believing that every girl would rather be a nice girl than not a nice girl, if properly directed..." the superintendent Mary Campbell goes on to say keeping them busy is a necessity. Apparently, the Girls School did not have enough room for everyone who needed help. My personal theory was that the families on the East Side of Washington did not want to send their girls to the West Side, but rather keep them closer to home. Governor Lister opened the Women's Industrial Home and Clinic to train women to do "honest work." and Governor Louis F. Hart (1919-1921) thought it redundant and closed it right away. Letters would stream into Governor Hart and others after him asking about its reopening.

This Purity Movement and Human Sterilization are two things I have not researched thoroughly, but imagine I will start finding things as I move forward. I did some digging in the Board of Health records before I left Washington State to see if I could find anything out about either topic and did find some leads. Of course, this is all a distraction to my current project, the history of the Washington State Archives. I am sure I will return to this at some point.


 

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