Better for all the world: the secret history of forced sterilization and America's quest for racial purity

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bk. 1. Introduction -- I. Prologue : a simple and painless procedure -- II. An epic quest in the modern world -- bk. 2. Three generations of imbeciles -- III. The purity of our women -- IV. A forgotten gravestone -- bk. 3. The sins of the fathers -- V. Hottentots in Kantsaywhere -- VI. A city upon a hill -- VII. The hideous serpent of hopelessly vicious protoplasm -- VIII. But, oh, alas for youthful pride -- IX. Oh, the bliss of being a mother! -- X. Citizens of the wrong type -- XI. Catechisms old and new -- XII. The making of a master race -- XIII. Neighborly love and beyond -- XIV. Harry's secret -- bk. 4. Generations lost -- XV. The palace of justice -- XVI. "What they did to me was sexual murder" -- XVII. Epilogue : the apex of civilization.;A timely and gripping history of the controversial eugenics movement in America'and the scientists, social reformers and progressives who supported it. In Better for All the World, Harry Bruinius charts the little known history of eugenics in America'a movement that began in the early twentieth century and resulted in the forced sterilization of more than 65,000 people. Bruinius tells the stories of Emma and Carrie Buck, two women trapped in poverty who became the test case in the 1927 supreme court decision allowing forced sterilization for those deemed unfit to procreate. From the reformers who turned local charities into government-run welfare systems promoting social and moral purity, to the influence the American policies had on Nazi Germany's development of "racial hygiene," Bruinius masterfully exposes the players and legislation behind one of America's darkest secrets. From the Trade Paperback edition. bk. 1. Introduction -- I. Prologue : a simple and painless procedure -- II. An epic quest in the modern world -- bk. 2. Three generations of imbeciles -- III. The purity of our women -- IV. A forgotten gravestone -- bk. 3. The sins of the fathers -- V. Hottentots in Kantsaywhere -- VI. A city upon a hill -- VII. The hideous serpent of hopelessly vicious protoplasm -- VIII. But, oh, alas for youthful pride -- IX. Oh, the bliss of being a mother! -- X. Citizens of the wrong type -- XI. Catechisms old and new -- XII. The making of a master race -- XIII. Neighborly love and beyond -- XIV. Harry's secret -- bk. 4. Generations lost -- XV. The palace of justice -- XVI. "What they did to me was sexual murder" -- XVII. Epilogue : the apex of civilization.